Region · France
The French capital: Michelin-starred restaurants, cheese cellars and gastronomic excellence
About the region
A tasting of great Bordeaux and Burgundy wines in Saint-Germain’s historic cellars, carved into limestone under Louis XIV. A day in Champagne: Moët & Chandon, private récoltants-manipulants and Blanc de Blancs from the Côte des Blancs. And a Grand Cru tasting overlooking UNESCO vineyards.
From three Michelin stars to tiny bistronomique restaurants where one chef creates a menu for twenty. You taste Paris in every gastronomic dimension: classic, avant-garde and what Parisians simply call 'bon'.
A cheese tasting with a maître fromager: Comté36 mois, Brie de Meaux AOP, Roquefort Carles and chèvre cendré. A croissant workshop with a Parisian boulanger. A chocolate atelier in Saint-Germain, from bean to bar.
A new neighbourhood every morning. Montmartre, with its artists and Clos Montmartre vineyard. Le Marais, with cheese cellars and falafel. Saint-Germain-des-Prés, with literary cafés and antique wine cellars.
What to see
Places from the personally designed tour programme. Swipe through: the map shows where you are.
Saint-Germain
Your journey begins in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the district where Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir debated over coffee and Hemingway wrote in the Luxembourg Gardens. Meet at CDG or Orly airport and transfer to a hotel in the heart of Saint-Germain. The first note is a 17th-century wine cellar cut into limestone under Louis XIV: a labyrinth of vaulted rooms holding Bordeaux and Burgundy Grands Crus. A private tasting with a sommelier: Château Margaux, Château d’Yquem and Gevrey-Chambertin. Afterwards, lunch at Michelin-level bistronomie. A walk through the Quartier Latin: Rue Mouffetard and its marché, Shakespeare & Company bookshop and the Musée de Cluny courtyard. An evening aperitif at Les Deux Magots, where Picasso, Camus and Hemingway drank coffee. A welcome dinner in a one-Michelin-star restaurant.
Montmartre
We begin in Montmartre, Paris's most picturesque hill. A croissant workshop with a Parisian boulanger: détrempe, tourage and feuilletage, learning to make the perfect croissant. Breakfast with your own croissants and café crème. Then a Montmartre walk: artists on Place du Tertre, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur with views across Paris, and Clos Montmartre, Paris's last vineyard, producing 1,000 bottles a year. Lunch in a classic bistro at the foot of the hill. After lunch, the 9th arrondissement: Galeries Lafayette with its Belle Époque dome and terrace overlooking the Opéra. An evening French sauce lesson with a bistronomique chef: beurre blanc, sauce bordelaise, sauce au poivre—five classic sauces that transform cooking.
Le Marais
A day in Le Marais, where medieval mansions sit beside the finest cheese shops and legendary falafel places. Morning: Marché des Enfants Rouges, Paris’s oldest covered market, dating from 1615. A cheese atelier with a maître fromager in a seventeenth-century cheese cave: 36-month Comté, Brie de Meaux AOP, Roquefort Carles, chèvre cendré, raw-milk Camembert, Ossau-Iraty and Tomme de Savoie. With a glass of Sancerre blanc. Lunch: the famous falafel on rue des Rosiers, where there is always a queue, or a Breton crêperie. In the afternoon, Île de la Cité: Sainte-Chapelle’s thirteenth-century stained glass, considered a pinnacle of Gothic art. A walk across the island to Notre-Dame, viewed from outside, and the flower market. In the evening, a Marais wine bar: Beaujolais, Loire and Jura, the new wave of French winemaking.
Champagne
The day in Champagne may be the tour's highlight. Departure from Paris, a one-and-a-half-hour scenic drive through vineyards. First stop: Épernay, Avenue de Champagne, the world's most expensive avenue, with over 200 million bottles stored underground. A Moët & Chandon visit: 28 km of underground cellars listed by UNESCO, the house's history since 1743, and Moët Impérial and Grand Vintage tastings. Lunch at a private récoltant-manipulant in the Côte des Blancs: a winemaker who grows grapes and makes Champagne himself. A Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru tasting in the vineyard. In the evening, a family Champagne house in Aÿ, comparing three styles: Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and Rosé de saignée. Return to Paris.
Musée d'Orsay
Morning at the Musée d’Orsay, one of the world’s greatest museums, housed in a former station. Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Degas: an unrivalled Impressionist collection. After the museum, lunch in a traditional Parisian bistro overlooking the Seine: escargots de Bourgogne, canard à l’orange and crème brûlée. In the afternoon, a chocolate atelier in Saint-Germain-des-Prés: from cocoa bean to chocolate bar, working with ganache, tempering and creating your own chocolates. A tasting from top Parisian chocolatiers: Patrick Roger, Jacques Genin and La Maison du Chocolat. In the evening, a private bateau-mouche cruise on the Seine: the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre-Dame seen from the water. A glass of Champagne on board.
Rue Cler
Morning on Rue Cler, one of Paris’s finest market streets, where Parisians buy fresh produce every day. A guided walk: fromagerie, boulangerie, poissonnerie and épicerie fine. Market breakfast: pain au chocolat and freshly squeezed orange juice. Then lunch at Paris’s finest fish bistro: Marennes-Oléron oysters, homard bleu (lobster), sole meunière and a glass of Chablis Grand Cru. After lunch, a second tasting in a historic cellar, this time a duel: Bordeaux versus Burgundy. Château Latour versus Romanée-Conti, or worthy alternatives. Château d’Yquem versus Montrachet. A sommelier helps you understand the eternal debate between the two greatest wine regions. Evening brings a final dinner in a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
Saint-Honoré
The final day is light, elegant and sweet. Morning: a Saint-Germain pastry tour—Pierre Hermé (Ispahan), Ladurée (rose macarons), and Stohrer, Paris's oldest patisserie (1730), where baba au rhum was invented. A walk through the Jardin des Tuileries to Place Vendôme. Lunch in Saint-Honoré: a farewell gastronomic feast with the best of everything you tasted during the week. A final comparative tasting of the week's three best wines: Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. After lunch, time for shopping and souvenirs. A farewell transfer to CDG or Orly Airport. You take home cheeses, Champagne, croissants, chocolate and skills that will change your relationship with French food forever.
PARISIAN GASTRONOMY
The perfect Parisian croissant: 72 layers of détrempe Tourrage, AOP Poitou-Charentes butter, a golden crust and the most delicate crumb. The secret is a three-day fermentation and dough at 15°C. You will learn to make it.
Experiences
A tour of a 17th-century cheese cave, exploring storage and affinage. A tasting of seven cheeses: Comté36 mois, Brie de Meaux AOP, Roquefort Carles, chèvre cendré and raw-milk Camembert. With a glass of Sancerre blanc.
Make the perfect croissant with a Parisian baker: détrempe Tourrage laminated dough, AOP Poitou-Charentes butter and the secret of feuilletage. Afterwards, breakfast with your croissants and café crème.
A tour of a 17th-century cheese cave, exploring storage and affinage. A tasting of seven cheeses: Comté36 mois, Brie de Meaux AOP, Roquefort Carles, chèvre cendré and raw-milk Camembert. With a glass of Sancerre blanc.
Two legendary cellars: Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé versus Burgundy Premier Cru. Château Margaux, Château d'Yquem, Gevrey-Chambertin and Meursault: comparing France's two greatest wine regions.
Beurre blanc, sauce bordelaise and sauce au poivre: five classic sauces under a chef’s guidance. History, technique and secrets. You leave with a skill that will transform your cooking.
A visit to Moët & Chandon and its 28 km of UNESCO cellars. A private récoltant-manipulant in the Côte des Blancs: Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. A family house in Aÿ: comparing three Champagne styles.
From cocoa bean to bar. Working with ganache, tempering and creating your own chocolates. Tastings from the finest Parisian chocolatiers: Patrick Roger, Jacques Genin and La Maison du Chocolat.
Art Wine Guide
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