Galleries

After finishing my final year of medical training, my pain medicine fellowship and before starting the rest of my career, my wife Missy and I travelled with our almost 2-year old daughter Ella through France.

We rented a hybrid car and proceeded to eat and drink our way through the countryside. We visted tiny villages, low-key wineries and centuries old cathedrals and castles.

Itinerary:

Paris->  Normandy (Giverny) ->  Champagne ->  Luxembourg ->  Alsace ->  Burgundy -> Loire Valley -> Paris

 

Trip highlights and surprises:

• French people were so warm and welcoming everywhere we went. It may have been due to the fact that we traveled with our daughter but we spent time with so many charming individuals.
• Our favorite villages were in Alsace: Strasborg, Colmar and Kayersberg (but every town was charming)
• We did not research wineries. If you are a connoisseur, this would be imprudent. We drove around and would stop into family run, small batch distributors for free wine tastings and tours in Champagne, Burgundy and Loire Valley.
• The best restaurant, turned out to be the most amazing eating experinece of our lives (at the time) at Maison Lamelois. Every bite of the seven courses from the three michelin star restaurant was unique and incredible. We are so thankful to Amazon Kindle for providing the distraction to our two year old daughter to allow us to savor every bite.

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  Second place for the second best restaurant was La Maison d’a cote in the Loire Valley, which featured foraged locally sourced creative dishes.

• If you are looking for a chill, intimate, elegant hotels, we can recommend:
  •  Hotel Keppler -boutique hotel near the Champs Elysees in Paris
  • Hotel Les Haras – modern, converted horse stables in Strasborg
  • Le Clos des Tulleuls – a B&B /Chatteaux in the Burgundy countryside