A Virtual Trip to France

When you can’t travel overseas, the next best thing is a virtual trip to France. Especially when wine is involved!

Recently, I was honored to serve as a sponsor and travel expert for an innovative fundraising event for an organization that is near to my heart, Brooke’s Place. This central Indiana non-profit comes alongside children and families coping with the death of a loved one to provide on-going grief support.

Combining my passion for travel with a cause I believe in was an opportunity I could not pass up!

The online fundraising event allowed guests to enjoy french wine and a virtual trip to the regions of France where each wine is produced. I also shared a few of my favorite travel resources to inspire attendees to one day venture beyond virtual travel and find themselves in France!

For the event, Tastings of Indianapolis selected, delivered, and educated attendees about French wine from four different regions. Through the magic of Zoom, the wine flowed and everyone pictured themselves traipsing across France!

Even though that event is over, I’m excited to now take Traveling Tanya’s followers on a virtual journey through France. Unfortunately, I can’t ship bottles of wine to everyone who reads this article, but…

By all means, pop open a bottle of wine as you read, and dream about your next trip to France!

Take a Virtual Trip to France, Complete with Wine Selections

France is broken down into 13 regions, and we will explore 4 of them: Burgundy, Alsace, Loire Valley, and Rhone Valley. To get your bearings, first, notice Paris in northern France.

1. Burgundy

Just southeast of Paris is the Burgundy region, well known by wine lovers all over the world.

Wine Selection: Domaine Oudin Chablis

This wine comes from a family vineyard near the tiny village of Chichée, while is just south of Chablis. It is Certified Sustainable and 100% Chardonnay.

Beaune

I can’t possibly cover all the wonders each region of France has to offer, so I’ll just share a bit about one specific town in each of the 4 regions.

Beaune is a lovely little town in Burgundy that my husband and I planned to visit on our trip to Europe last spring as we drove from Paris to Lucerne Switzerland. But the GPS in our rental car had other plans in mind!

In addition to the many vineyards and wine tasting venues in this area, a highlight in Beaune is the Hospices de Beaune.

Dating back to the 1400s this colorful building served as a hospital and refuge for the poor. As a Catholic institution, it catered to both the physical and spiritual health of many all the way until the 1970s.

No longer open to patients, this remarkable building, both on the inside and outside, is now a must-see museum for those traveling to Beaune.

Just about everything in this area is intertwined with wine in one way or another. The Hospices de Beaune has been the site of an enormous wine auction and festival held the third week in November dating back to 1859.

Recommended Travel Resource: Tripmasters

For anyone who hasn’t traveled to Europe recently or isn’t quite sure how to begin planning such a trip, it can be an overwhelming task. I’d like to share the resource we use for all our European adventures, Tripmasters.

With this website, you can easily create an itinerary by plugging in the cities you want to visit and the number of nights. Tripmasters will select the flights, hotels, and city to city transportation for your trip, presenting you with an itinerary and the per-person cost.

I’ve found Tripmasters very affordable, typically around $1200-$1300 per person for a week in Europe. You can easily adjust your flights or hotels in the itinerary to meet your needs, and you never pay for anything until you are ready to book.

If you love dreaming about vacations, you can spend hours just creating itineraries for all the trips you hope to take. But I hope you will actually book one of those trips and find yourself in France one day!

Of course, there are also many tour companies that will handle every aspect of your trip and plan out all of your activities as they shuttle you around on tour buses. Those options will cost significantly more but can be the right style of travel for some.

If you prefer the freedom to determine exactly what sights you will see and when, then Tripmasters is a great service to arrange the key components of your trip: flights, accommodations, and city to city transportation. Then you have the flexibility to plan out each of your days.

2. Alsace

We have now virtually ventured over to the Alsace region. Located in the northeast portion of France, Alsace borders Germany. You will find both French and German inspiration intertwined throughout the region.

Wine Selection: Domaine Christian Binner ‘Amour Schwihr’

A blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, and Gewurztraminer, this wine is Certified Organic. Many of the vines at this family orchard are more than 100 years old. (It was my favorite wine of the evening!)

Colmar

Take just a few minutes to imagine yourself in the Fairytale town of Colmar.

Colmar is known as the “Capital of Alsatian wine.” It is also referred to as Little Venice, with its charming canals and bridges laced throughout Colmar’s Old Town.

Both French and Germanic influences can be found in the food, the architecture, and among the people in Colmar, as well as many of the other towns in this region. When visiting Colmar you will likely hear both French and German spoken and many local residents have German last names with French first names.

Colmar provides a lovely marriage between the best of both countries!

Recommended Travel Resource: Rick Steves Audio Europe App

If you will be heading to France or anywhere in Europe, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with this man, Rick Steves.

He is a travel guru made famous by his PBS show featuring his extensive knowledge of Europe. He shares well-researched travel tips after spending several months each year across the pond creating his TV show and popular travel guides.

My favorite Rick Steves’ resource is his Audio Europe App.

With tons of podcast episodes and walking tours, this app is a wealth of free travel information and inspiration at your fingertips.

I utilize the app to plan and prepare for my trips to Europe, helping to build my anticipation of the adventure to come. Then I utilize his walking tours, transcripts, and maps to enrich my time when I’m in Europe.

Download the app and check it out today!

3. Loire Valley

Next, we will move on to the popular Loire Valley. We’ve now traveled to the west side of France.

Wine Selection: Domaine Mortier ‘Dionysos’

This 100% Cabernet Franc is both Certified Organic & Biodynamic. That means both the cellar and the vineyard do not use additives, and they practice minimal intervention winemaking.

Chateau Country

When researching Loire Valley, in addition to wine, the most notable thing about this area is the many castles you will find.

I will refer to this region as Chateau Country!

There are over 300 castles in the Loire Valley, each with their own distinct style of luxury. Originally these massive castles were built by French Royalty as a refuge from the political warfare of Paris.

Some of the castles include sprawling grounds with impressive gardens. Many are situated all along the Loire River, and several open their doors to tourists as museums and art galleries.

Arguably one of the most famous castles in the Loire Valley is Chateau Chambord. This castle is just over 500 years old and boasts 400 rooms, 365 fireplaces and 84 staircases. When it was first built it was only used as a residence for about 2 months during the reign of Francois the first and served as his hunting lodge. How’s that for French extravagance!

If you will be traveling with children in the Loire Valley then consider a stop at the Usse Chateau. This castle was believed to inspire the story of Sleeping Beauty and several rooms include wax figures from the popular fairytale. Or plan to visit Villandry Chateau and Gardens, which is known as one of the most family-oriented spots as the impressive gardens include a massive maze and playground for the little ones.

Recommended Travel Resource: Rome2Rio

My next recommended resource is a must-have for navigating your way through France, or anywhere in the world!

Rome2Rio has both a website and an app, but I’m partial to the app. I love using the app when planning how I will get around in Europe as well as during my actual trip.

Simply plug in a starting location (such as the airport) and your destination (let’s say your hotel) and Rome2Rio will list out the various transportation options. These may include the train, subway, bus, taxi, and Uber, as well as the approximate costs. It will also show you a walking path and how much time each option will take.

If you are a planner like I am you can use Rome2Rio weeks before your trip. This will help you have a gameplan for the best and most affordable options for getting from site to site in cities and towns all around the world!

4. Rhone Valley

For our final region, we will travel to the Rhone Valley. We now find ourselves in the Southeast portion of France.

Wine Selection: Les Genestas

This wine is hand-harvested and comes from a co-op. Co-ops use grapes from their members to make their wines. These wines are made in large batches with grapes from many different vineyards vinified together with the focus on producing wine in quantity.

Lyon

For the Rhone Valley, I decided to focus on the 3rd largest city in France, which is Lyon. Lyon is located where the Rhône and Saône rivers meet.

In this bustling city, you will find historic churches, museums galore, enchanting parks, elegant fountains, and plenty of cafes. Lyon has been touted as the gastronomic capital of the world by some. If you are like me, food is a very important part of your travels.

Plan to indulge in traditional French food such as coq au vin and also give Lyon’s latest taste sensation a try, French tacos. This fast food dish includes a grilled tortilla filled with french fries, cheese, and an assortment of meats. Yum!

Every year Lyon also hosts a light festival, the Fête des Lumières, which starts on December 8th and lasts for four days. This festival pays tributes to the Virgin Mary, who is believed to have saved the city from a deadly plague in the Middle Ages. Locals also pay homage by placing candles in the windows of their homes and apartments.

Recommended Travel Resources: Duolingo and Google Translate

If you are traveling to France, or really anywhere in Europe, you may be wondering if you need to speak the language to enjoy your trip. The short answer is NO!

Especially if you will be visiting the larger cities or more touristy sites, you will easily find people who speak enough English to get by. But part of the fun of traveling to a foreign land is meeting the locals and knowing a few key phrases, such as hello, please, excuse me, and where is the train/hotel/bathroom.

Using some common greetings and phrases will show respect as you visit restaurants, shops, and museums. The locals will quickly pick up on the fact that you are not fluent in French and will come to your aide with at least a broken version of English.

I recommend 2 free resources that provide a fun way to help you manage the language barrier and pick up some useful words.

Duolingo is a fun app that can help you learn conversational phrases and terms in a variety of languages. I’m currently using Duolingo to augment my very limited Italian with daily 5 minute sessions.

Google Translate is another useful app that can be used to decipher menus and street signs or help you conversate with a local. Simply type in what you want to say and the translation in your chosen language will appear. Reverse the process by typing in a foreign phrase to get the English translation. Hit the microphone to have the phrase spoken out loud or use the camera button to translate written words.

My advice is…don’t wait until you are fluent in French to travel overseas and experience all this amazing country has to offer! Do start brushing up on some basic French now. It will make the anticipation of a future trip that much more exciting.

I hope you enjoyed this virtual trip to France!

If you want to learn more about Brooke’s Place and how the organization supports grieving children and families in central Indiana, check out this video. And if you would like to help further their mission, consider making a donation!

Merci!

Arrivederci!

Where would you like to explore virtually? Comment below and Traveling Tanya just might be able to accommodate! If you are interested in partnering with Traveling Tanya to conduct a virtual experience for your group or organization, please check out my Work With Me page.

Wherever the road takes you, make it a joyous journey,
Traveling Tanya

P.S. Subscribe to my email list here and never miss out on any of Traveling Tanya’s exciting excursions or travel tips…plus I’ll send you my free Packing List!

Pin It For Later!