Bordeaux, France: Sipping our Way through Sauternais - November 2016

The suit-clad concierge circled a region on our tattered map and said with a grin, “Just go here. This is wine country. Knock on the doors; you don’t need any reservations. The locals are friendly and will welcome you in.”

And so just like that we set out to explore the best of France’s Bordeaux wine region. After visiting an overhyped wine museum and twice feasting at the city's best kept secret, we ventured out of the city and headed south towards the towns of Sauternes and Barsac.

The country roads took us past wooden chalets, over winding rivers and alongside sprawling vineyards. At every road crossing, signs decorated with grape clusters listed the wine-makers in the area.

Parking our rental car in a gravel driveway, we mustered the courage to walk up to the first chateau and knock on the door. Upon entering the dimly lit room, we were handed a brochure and delighted to learn that the region was hosting a seasonal tasting and that forty-some local vineyards were taking part.

The Sauternais region of the Graves section of Bordeaux is known for some of the finest sweet white wines in all of France. Made of Semillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle grapes affected by noble rot, the wines in this area are distinctively flavored and can be very expensive due to variable production conditions. Often times, the dessert wines from this region are characterized by flavor notes of apricots, honey and peaches, are best served chilled and classically paired with Foie gras.

Over the next few hours, we visited seven vineyards. The friendly locals invited us into their chateaus walking us through the cellars and explaining the wine-making process. We were welcomed to sample a variety of wines at each stop, and several even offered multi-course dinner pairings. At many of the chateaus, local vendors set up tables selling homemade goods from artwork and jewelry, to honey, chocolate and cured meats.

What’s better than spending an afternoon hopping from chateau to chateau sampling some of the finest French wines? Not much, I dare say, and so this is how we spent one beautiful autumn day in southern France.

Bordeaux, France: A Date with Secret Sauce - November 2016

Ideally located across the street from the main pedestrian shopping area in Bordeaux, L'Entrecote can best be found by spotting the long, winding queue of people wrapping around the block.

The flood of locals and tourists begin to amass well before the restaurant opens its doors for the lunch service at noon and again at quarter past seven in the evening, and for good reason. L’Entrecote is known far and wide for having the most delicious meal.

You heard that right: THE most delicious meal. L’Entrecote has a set menu with only one selection which includes fresh baked bread, walnut salad and the main dish of thinly sliced, trimmed sirloin steak served in a secret sauce with a heaping portion of lightly salted matchbox fries.

Swimming in an unknown concoction of velvety butter and dijonnaise, the perfectly prepared beef is the star of the dining event and truly melts in your mouth. In addition to its famous nineteen euro dish, the restaurant also offers both house red and white wine and a full dessert menu for an additional fee.

Conveniently located in the five French cities of Toulouse, Nantes, Montpellier, Lyon and Bordeaux, L’Entrecote has embodied the motto, “focus on just one thing and do it really well,” for its last fifty years in business.

In Bordeaux, the restaurant is a finely tuned machine filling up its four floors with nearly two hundred hungry patrons within minutes of opening and serving up “delish” without delay. During our weekend stay, we visited L’Entrecote twice and are keen to check out the other locations next time we find ourselves in France.

Bordeaux, France: Red Wine Rapids & Champagne Waterfalls - November 2016

Touted as the ultimate amusement park for wine lovers, I envisioned La Cite du Vin to be something like an adult Disney World with a Splash Mountain roller coaster gliding through red wine rapids and champagne waterfalls.

At very least, I fully expected the wine to be flowing freely and to come away from the experience with a joyful buzz.

But to my dismay I learned that you can’t believe everything you see on a two-minute online infomercial.

After walking 35 minutes from our hotel in the drizzling rain, at the door steps of the La Cite du Vin we were brutally slapped with reality. There were no roller coasters. No grape stomping. No wine tastings. Not even any wine for sale other than at two very crowed high-priced restaurants.

Instead, we were thrust into a mob of people, shoulder-to-shoulder, exploring what could very accurately be described as a wine museum. I don’t know about you, but I feel there is a big difference between an amusement park and a museum. After purchasing the twenty-dollar entrance tickets, we learned that the workshops advertised online offering wine sampling were sold out.

Nevertheless, equipped with an audio guide to help us navigate the endless maze of interactive video kiosks and glass-enclosed displays, we wandered through the three-story building shaped like an angry snake and were schooled for the next couple hours on the history of wine-making and exporting, and the grape growing process.

Although we walked away from La Cite du Vin thirsty and feeling duped, we do now know a lot about grapes and learned a valuable lesson about internet advertising. Some things in life are just too good to be true. And in the case of La Cite du Vin, do yourself a favor and disregard the hype, erase it from your travel checklist, and instead beeline it to one of the many wine bars in Bordeaux that do in fact deliver on their promises.

Rhine River Cruise with Family - May 2014

In the spring of 2014 our family spent eight days sailing down the Rhine River in Western Europe. My parents had generously gifted us with a Viking River Cruise with ports of call in The Netherlands, Germany and France, and a wonderful opportunity to spend time together and enjoy somewhere new.

While it was new to most of us, the cruise took us to region frequented many times by my parents when they lived in Germany decades prior while my Dad was serving in the Air Force.

The Viking Ship was smaller than a typical ocean cruise liner, but very luxurious. We each had a comfortable room with a balcony, with all meals and drinks included and access to the ship's numerous amenities. We explored the cities of Amsterdam, Kinderdijk, Cologne, Koblenz, Rudesheim, Speyer, Heidelberg, Strasbourg and Breisach before debarking in Basel.

One of the highlights of the cruise for me was sitting on the upper deck of the boat and slowly drifting down the river watching the castles, vineyards and small towns pass by on the land. We spotted castle after castle tucked high above in the hillside surrounded by lush, green, rows of grapes. I also loved the bold colors of the architecture in Strasbourg and Colmar, France. We drank our weight in wine that week and also shared memories that will last a lifetime.