Having lived in the countryside south of Paris and then Champagne for a few years, I know vineyards are majestic throughout the year. But there’s no better time than summer when the vines are heavy with grape and the sunshine exaggerates all the fabulous colours and shapes of the landscape.
Burgundy, Loire, Dordogne and Champagne are obviously inland so you can miss the summer crowds while enjoying the regions at their peak. Travel midweek and you also avoid the weekend travel supplements and busy-ness.
France is made for a two- or three-centre touring holiday – the access is easy, the roads are superb and you can change the topography and theme of your holiday in just two hours. The wine regions do not boast a great number of golf courses – after all, why sacrifice grapes for green-fees! But there are a few pleasant and very pretty parkland courses to play and I tend to combine a wine break with a few nights at a golf-centric destination en-route back to the UK.
Here are a few tried and trusted destination pairings:
Champagne & Chantilly
Ideal for a shorter holiday, the travel triangle is 2 hours from Calais to Champagne, 90 minutes from Champagne to Chantilly and 2 hours from Chantilly to Calais. Reims is a historic and wonderful city, with several good hotels and even more Michelin-starred restaurants, very much focused on Champagne and there’s a decent golf course too. Chantilly is famous for its chateau and sports facilities including a World Top 100 golf course and three other great tracks.
For Reims centre, Grand Hotel des Templiers is ideal with its spacious bedrooms, free car park and indoor pool. La Briqueterie Champagne in Epernay is a Relais & Chateaux hotel with food and service to match and the three-star Hotel Le Chantilly is perfectly placed (and priced) for your last few nights.
Champagne, Burgundy & Versailles
This holiday is more serious! A few nights in Champagne, followed by a two-hour drive to the glorious spaces of Burgundy littered with renowned vineyards and a few golf courses here and there. We can organise private tastings, or most of the hotels we offer can pair you up with larger tasting tours. From Burgundy, take the two-hour drive to Versailles and either choose to stay on the outskirts or in the midst of the elegant and cosmopolitan town. Versailles boasts several superb golf courses – including Saint Germain, Racing Club and Saint Cloud (all of which welcome my clients)– or head a little west and play the hidden gems of Le Prieure, Chateau de la Chouette and Golf Parc. The drive to Calais from Versailles is three hours.
Burgundy offers the four-star golf hotel Chateau de Chailly and the newly-restored 40 bedroom Chateau La Commarine in Pommard has arguably the very best location for discerning Burgundy wine buffs. Also, newly renovated is the 49-bedroom Les Sources de Vougeot adjacent to the former abbey Chateau de Gilly and already making headlines for its food and vinotherapy spa. For Versailles, the Waldorf Astoria overlooks the chateau gardens and offers me terrific rates during the summer months.
The Loire
The Loire Valley is a mecca for wine-lovers with Sancerre making a deserved come back and Pouilly-Fume a long-standing favourite. I recommend having a few nights near Orleans (4 ½ hours from Calais) where the stunning Les Aisses Golf Club awaits (designed by Martin Hawtree, it’s rated in the Top 10 of France but very few people know about it), followed by a chateau stay near Tours where there are nearly 100 wine estates and cellars to sample! Touraine Golf Club is fun and boasted the French National Champions a few years ago. Tours is 75 minutes from Orleans and 5 hours from Calais.
My favourite hotel for near Orleans is the dated but welcoming Chateau des Muids although the multi-Michelin-starred Christophe Hay recently opened the Fleur de Loire five-star hotel on the Loire River in Blois and clients are loving it. For Tours, it’s the Chateau d’Artigny every time…When in Rome…
Just give us a call on 0207 8701258 or email [email protected] for your tailor-made “Tour de France” – we can build a holiday to suit your time, taste and holiday budget.