Bonjour,

Well, it's hard to believe but our long awaited trip to France has come and gone. Their whole focus and sense of being is centered around a daily celebration of fine food and wine. Thanks to Peg Williamson (our guide) and Jeanne Moss at Olde Ipswich Tours. We were treated to some of the best food and wine that France has to offer. Two of the highlights of the trip were visiting the Medieval Village of "Perouge" constructed in the twelfth century, and a full day spent at the Paul Bocuse Institute. Did I forget to mention "Les Halle", the French market? WOW!

Three of our cooking classes were held at "Le Contretete" a little French Bistro adjacent to the famed "Tetedoie". The classes were instructed by a local chef and French cuisine consultant named Jean Marc Villard. I have included a recipe from one of our sessions. However, I will try to post them all to the website under "Culinary Adventures".

On our last evening we toured the wine cellars of "Maison Champy", a nine-generation family winery. Their cellars housed more than a million bottles of wine dating as far back as 1858. Their cellar is valued at over twenty million dollars. All of these cellars, or wine caves as they are called, were constructed by Monks in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I think that I learned more about wine on our afternoon tour of the vineyards in Beaune than all of the other wine classes that I have ever attended in my entire career.

Check out photos from this fabulous trip under "Photo Gallery" - "Vacation Memories".