Westworld Alberta

Aida Zoldi AMA Travel Specialist / BURGUNDY, FRANCE When travellers are headed to France, I always recommend the Dordogne area, east of Bordeaux – one of my favourites. When I was there, we rented a car, which is the best way to explore. But if you're not inclined to drive, you can pre-book a 17-day escorted tour called The Country Roads of France, which covers Paris, the Dordogne area and the South of France. Dordogne is mostly forested countryside. You wouldn't know it driving through some of the villages, but there are hundreds of Michelin-starred restaurants here, along with markets and bakeries that serve duck breast sandwiches (I couldn't get enough of them!). And when you go south of Dordogne, it's all vineyards – so you get to taste Burgundy wines. 46 W e s t w o r l d p42_47_Barging.indd 46 >> One night we were dining at the restaurant below our bed and breakfast, Auberge Lou Peyrol, in a village called Saint-Marceldu-Périgord. We learned that one of the items on the menu, ris de veau, was the house specialty, so we ordered it. It tasted a bit like liver. It turned out to be neck glands! But it was wonderful, and we ate every bite. Auberge Lou Peyrol is by far my favourite place to stay in Dordogne. Guests who have stayed both here and at Relais & Châteaux properties tell the owners that the Auberge's rooms outdo the luxury hotels – at a fraction of the price. There are just two rooms, though, so it's essential to book in advance. Need help planning or booking a trip to Burgundy? Contact Aida at 1-888-9898422 or WWTravelSpecialist@ama.ab.ca. it a favourite among French film directors. (Recently, guests on Luciole were recruited as extras, but the director barked at them to look "less foreign.") We return to our mooring in Bailly, which, like many villages in these parts, is small – just a few hundred houses, a convenience store and not much else. Before dinner, we visit Caves de Bailly Lapierre, driving right down into this subterranean storage spot that houses eight million bottles of Crémant de Bourgogne. The caves offer a constant temperature of 12 C, optimal for fermentation. Vines grow on the roof of the cave and rain takes three weeks to filter through the ceiling. We linger at the caves just long enough to try a few sparkling wines, pick up a bottle or two and make it back to the barge in time for dinner. Ducks fly out of the way as we pull through the lock at Auxerre, a city of 40,000 on a hill between Paris and Dijon. Swans bob to the side of the barge. Soon we're off by minibus to Chablis, an ancient wine-growing region responsible for much of Auxerre's prosperity. Among the Americans on our barge, "Chablis" from California is considered plonk. In France and Western Europe, it's illegal to February 2013 13-01-16 11:49 AM

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