You know you're in culinary heaven when your host, the proprietor of the five-star Relais & Chateaux Hostellerie de Levernois just outside Beaune, France, apologizes that his restaurant "only" has one Michelin star. Given that my recent weeklong trek though the French regions of Burgundy and Champagne also included dinners at a pair of three-Michelin-star restaurants, however, I suspect he was only half-joking.
In fact, few regions of the world have identified themselves as successfully with gourmet cuisine as this part of France, and with that in mind, I knew that the most important item to pack for the journey was my appetite.
BurgundyWe began our trip at the top of the food chain at Relais & Chateaux La Cote Saint-Jacques in the medieval town of Joigny, just over two hours from Paris' Gare de Lyon via train (even quicker if you take advantage of the property's helipad).
The 32-room hotel is owned and operated by Jean-Michel Lorain, a three-Michelin-star chef whose prominence in gastronomic circles dominates the culture of the property, from the in-house chocolaterie to the cellar housing thousands of bottles of wine. Lorain offers guests cooking classes that can include everything from trips to the market to private lunches and wine tastings in Chablis.
The hotel is situated in two buildings across the street from each other, connected by a grotto-like tunnel, and the 22 rooms in the newer part of the property overlook the Yonne River. Other features include summer and winter lounges, a children's dining area and a full-service spa.
Dinner that night, each course of which was punctuated with wine pairings, went on for hours, but the highlight of the meal was Lorain's signature dish, Bresse chicken steamed in champagne, served with much fanfare and followed by rose ice cream in crystallized rose petals.
The hotel's four suites are priced from about $690 per night.
We drove 40 minutes to nearby Chablis for a tour and wine tasting at Les Clos, a Grand Cru vineyard, where we learned that the region's soil was a seabed eons ago and that its fossilized sea creatures give the wine its prized flavor. There are 150 winemakers in Chablis overall, who do everything from growing the grapes to bottling.
The Hostellerie de Levernois, a 15-room country manor on the river Bouzaize, was our next stop. Owned by former Relais & Chateau CEO Jean-Louis Bottigliero and his wife, Suzanne, the property is situated in a lush park with walking paths, gardens and a children's play area, and guests can choose from such activities as golf, tennis and horseback riding.
The guestrooms are elegant and just a touch quirky -- one of our group had a room with a huge round window, for example -- and all boast polished wood accents, antique furnishings and oversize, princess-worthy bathrooms.
After an aperitif on the terrace, we moved inside to the one-Michelin-star Le Restaurant Gastronomique, where we dined on mushroom risotto, breast of pigeon and a selection of cheeses so extensive that we monopolized the maitre d' as he patiently explained the provenance of each one.
A Gastronomic package, priced from about $360 per person, per night, includes breakfast, a four-course dinner excluding drinks and a visit to the kitchen.
The next day we explored Beaune, a historical center of Burgundy, before lunch and a wine tasting at the Table Comte Senard in Aloxe-Corton, the only area in Burgundy that grows both white and red Grand Cru vintages. Here, wine lovers sit at tables equipped with turntables on which a multilingual staff places bottles of wine to go with each course.
The menu, a bargain from about $55 including four wines, is simple and includes such local fare as beef Bourguignon and coq au vin.
Dijon, our next stop, is a city that suffers at first glance from a preponderance of construction for a tram project that will transform the traffic in city center when it debuts in September. Beyond the bustle, however, the city revealed itself to be a gem of ancient architecture, ranging from the 15th century to the Revolution. We took in the archaeological museum, full of Gallo-Roman artifacts, including the statues that once adorned the city's original walls, as well as the 12th century Notre Dame church with its three tiers of gargoyles and mechanical clock, the winding streets of Old Town and the vibrant Rue Odebert marketplace.
Mustard lovers can taste several varieties at the Maille shop on Rue de Liberte, where the staff will package your choice in a crockery container to take home. Those who like to wander on their own can pick up a map at the tourist office then follow the owl images imbedded in the streets to sites of historical interest.
To work off some of the calories we had consumed over the last few days, we met up with a guide at Barbirey-sur-Ouche for a bike ride along the Burgundy Canal. The easy, hourlong ride took us past locks and scenic views to the 45-room Chateau de Chailly sur Armoncon, a grand hotel-restaurant where we had dined the night before next to a table of revelers on a luxury bike trip.
Our next three-Michelin-star dinner at the Relais Bernard Loiseau, a Relais & Chateaux property in Saulieu, dazzled with iconic dishes such as frog legs, foie gras and a dessert concoction dipped in gold that left us stunned. Fans of French cuisine know that the former chef owner, Bernard Loiseau, was a TV personality and celebrity chef who died in 2003. His protege Patrick Bertron, who is now the executive chef, has retained the three stars.
The 23-room, five-star property is built on multiple levels with an outdoor glass elevator reminiscent of an upscale Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, and the oversize guestrooms are elegant without being fussy.
Other features include a fitness center and spa with an indoor plunge pool, an outdoor pool adjacent to an aromatic herb garden and children's play areas.
Various packages are available, including a one-night Discovery special that features dinner with drinks and breakfast, priced from about $310 per person, per night.
ChampagneThis region is known for its historical abbeys, and we visited several, including the Abbaye de Fontenay, one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in Europe, and the privately owned Abbaye d'Auberive, which serves as a venue for rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists.
We squeezed in lunch at the Auberge du Palais Abbatial in Auberive before heading to La Boisserie, Charles de Gaulle's country home in the peaceful village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, about an hour away. The house is full of artifacts from the former French president's tenure, but the real draw is the Charles de Gaulle Memorial next door. Here visitors can relive de Gaulle's struggle against the occupation of Paris during the Nazi era through compelling, interactive displays.
The next day we tucked into an elegant lunch at the one-Michelin-star l'Hostellerie la Montagne, followed by a tour of Clairvaux Abbey, a former prison. The highlight of the day was a happy, multi-hour visit to Champagne Drappier, where we tasted the newly launched rose champagne and sampled a half-dozen other vintages in the company of the owners. Visitors are welcome, and tours of the cellars are available by prior arrangement.
It was late when we pulled into La Maison de Rhodes in Troyes, a city I confess I'd never heard of but which proved to be a highlight of our trip. The 11-room hotel was not ideal for the unfit -- I could barely carry my bags to my rooftop suite -- but after one look, I had to be coaxed to leave it for dinner. Each guestroom was uniquely shaped -- mine, which cost about $350 a night, was long and narrow and featured cathedral ceilings, while another in our group had a fireplace and a third had a bathroom bigger than my first apartment -- all grouped around an inner courtyard. Dinner at its La Commanderie restaurant was simple by comparison to some of our previous gourmet extravaganzas, but beautifully prepared, and the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul Cathedral is within yards of the front door.
The city itself is charming, with winding streets lined with 16th century half-timbered houses; a Museum of Modern Art exhibiting works by such artists as Degas, Cezanne, Modigliani and Braque; and luxury outlet shopping, with brands that include Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Hugo Boss and Burberry.
We reluctantly left Troyes only to be enchanted all over again by our last stop, Reims, where we had the supreme luck of seeing the last night of the summer sound-and-light show on the facade of Reims Cathedral. Even in a country redolent with cathedrals, Reims stands out, with its astonishing, huge statuary lining the outside of the structure and its stained-glass windows, some of which were designed by artist Marc Chagall. Every king of France was crowned here, and the light show depicts this history in dramatic lighted animation. Visitors with extra time should also take in the adjacent cathedral museum, where the original statues, some of which are more than 20 feet tall, are on display.
Reims is an easy city to navigate on foot and offers a quick, if reluctant, hourlong TGV train ride back to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.