Dordogne or Burgundy

We are going to drive from Provence to the Loire Valley on our

trip to France next year and are trying to decide if we should go

via Burgundy or take the longer route through the Dordogne Valley.

If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations, we would

love to hear them.

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What time of the year will you be going?

Burgundy has miles of beautiful scenery and is easy to drive; there are splendid cathedrals and abbeys, châteaux, charming little villages, and of course the wine roads. Burgundian food is some of the best in France., and the wines...well, what can I say? I love them.

The Dordogne offers pre-history, charming little villages, winding roads, foie gras, cassoulet, châteaux.

Hard to choose. What kind of things interest you? The route from Provence to the Loire Valley is easiest by way of Burgundy.

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Thanks, Underhill for your reply and helpful information.

We are going next June and driving from St. Remy to Amboise.

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You might want to get a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to France so that you can compare the two regions that interest you.

My own preference would be for Burgundy, as the route is more straightforward and a bit quicker.

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Not knowing exactly what interest you (as Underhill had said), but based on recent experience (late June), I woud also suggest Burgundy as your routing focus from St-Remy-de-Provence to Amboise. Two weeks ago, we did almost the exact opposite (from north to south). Whether your interest is in food, wine, small villages, or all of the above. Burgundy has a lot to offer. As Underhill said, the drive is easier. When you want to cover long distance fast, you choose the autoroutes; when you want sight-seeing, you stay off them. We particularly enjoyed the drive through the vineyards and visited cellers in Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune and Beaujolais. We based in Beaune. But if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would pick a B%26amp;B in a smaller wine village and really mingle with the locals. We also visited Auxerre and Vezelay. They are lovely towns with their own version of charm.

If you do go to Burgundy, reserve at least 3 nights of stay in Beaune (or somewhere nearby).

I have no experience with the Dordogne valley.

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Thank you Stephano.

The report of your trip was very helpful. I do know that the route is shorter via Burgundy, but I didn%26#39;t know which area would be more

interesting to visit. I really appreciate your imput.

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Dijon can be an excellent base if you want to travel around (Vezelay, Flavigny sur Ozerain, Dole, Besançon, Beaune, La Rochepot etc...)and there is a lot to see inside Dijon itself. One week is a minimum when you have a car, the countryside is so nice as well!

Welcome and happy travels!

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yvr14,

%26lt;.....Burgundy, but I didn%26#39;t know which area would be more

interesting to visit. I really appreciate your imput.%26gt;

Sorry for the delay. As far as what to do while in Burgundy. This was what we did (because we like the wine country and small villages, and of course the local cuisine). Not sure if it fits your style.

We stayed in Beaune. Beaune itself has plenty to keep you busy. Much had been posted all over various boards, including tripadvisor.com.

We did Cote de Nuits (north of Beaune) in one day. Slowly driving and making plenty of stops for visits or photos. We basically covered the following villages: Savigny-les-Beaune, Aloxe-Croton, Pernand-Vergelesse (be sure to go up to %26quot;Panarama%26quot;, which is a hill-top park; and Pernand is a colorful village), Nuits-St-Georges (we stopped here for lunch here), Vosne-Romanee (beautiful village), Vougeot (clos du Vougeot, a famous chateau winery), Marsannay-la-Cote. Then we return to Beaune. One could continue into Dijon from there.

The drive was very easy. We stopped by some smaller wineries. They welcomed us and showed us the celler, offered wine tasting. We were surprised that some cellers were actually open on Sunday (the day of our visit). At Pernand, we drove up to the hill-top %26quot;Panarama%26quot;. We met some local French people who invited us to have wine, cheese and bread with them. We found out that this family has a small winery nearby, and insisted that we visit them. Due to limited time, we told them we %26quot;rain check%26quot; it. We will reserve it for our next trip. We took some photos and exchanged email addresses. They had since received the photos. They were all so friendly!

I did my research from a wine book -Wines of the World, by DK (, plus occasional article on various wine magazines). Wine Spectators had many articles about French wines, and covered many regions in great detail. But the one piece of information that is extremely helpul is a map from the Tourist office in Beaune, aka %26quot;La Carte de la Route des Vins de Bourgogne. You can get a free copy from the tourist office near Hotel Deux.

Next day, we did Cote de Beaune (south of Beaune). The route included: Pommard, Volnay, St-Romain, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Baubigny, La Rochepot, St-Aubin and Santenay. All the villages are great. We did a late lunch in Santenay at Restaurant L%26#39;Ouilette (right in the town square). The town square is undergoing major renovation. We rated this restaurant where we had the BEST lunch of our trip. Two thumbs up for food, service, ambience. A four course prix fixe meal costs 14.50 EUR. This meal was so much better than those we had in Beaune which cost more than 2x. Even the meals in Beaune were good! Like they say, you can%26#39;t have a bad meal in France. After lunch, we returned to Beaune and spent an evening touring the town and tasting wine.

If like wine, food and country side, you should not miss Bourgogne. Have a great trip!

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If you decide on Burgundy, write to me at

jean@multiwareinc.com

and I%26#39;ll send you my two articles on Burgundy, written for the bonjourparis.com newsletter.

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Ah, yes, L%26#39;Ouillette at Santenay - it%26#39;s on our %26#39;must revisit%26#39; list every time - as a previous poster said, it%26#39;s an excellent fixed price lunch. There is a nice walk/drive behind Santenay to the Mont de Sene (3 Crosses) with good views across the Saone valley in one direction and towards the Morvan hills in the other.

We%26#39;ve been to both regions several times and I really can%26#39;t decide which I prefer. We tend to go back to Burgundy most often, but that%26#39;s ease of travel as much as anything. You%26#39;ll enjoy either!

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Any doubts about visiting Burgundy would have been answered today with the views provided by today%26#39;s Tour de France route. Magnificent!