Bordeaux, Sancerre, Chablis and Champagne

Notes from our trip to France in 2015

Itinerary

This was a bit of a long-driving tour (door to door 2000 miles) but we wanted to visit many places:
Bordeaux - see our trip report here - 3 days
and see here for
Sancerre and Menetou Salon - half day
Chablis - half day
Champagne - half day

Best dishes from L’Asperule

Restaurants

Chez Yvette

59 Bd du Gal Leclerc, 33120 Arcachon

Chez Yvette scallops

Chez Yvette scallops

Not a star Michelin restaurant but an institution in Arcachon. We had champagne and oysters and scallops and white Bordeaux – just what we wanted.

Le Saint-James *

3, place Camille Hostein, 33270 Bouliac
Le Saint-James restaurant

Le Saint-James restaurant

Le Saint-James asparagus, soft egg and prawns

Le Saint-James asparagus, soft egg and prawns

Set in a Relais et Chateau hotel on the hill overlooking Bordeaux – a stunning view but a bit challenging in the full setting sun. We had the Menu Morceaux Choisos (€70) accompanied by a Clos Floridène ’12 Graves (€70), a nice enough wine but grossly overpriced. The highlight of the meal was the soft egg with asparagus and prawns.

La Grand'Vigne, Les Sources de Caudalie **

Chemin de Smith Haut Lafitte, 33650 Martillac

www.sources-caudalie.com
La Grand'Vigne restaurant

La Grand'Vigne restaurant

La Grand'Vigne Mise en bouche

La Grand'Vigne Mise en bouche

La Grand'Vigne fish and asparagras

La Grand'Vigne fish and asparagras

La Grand'Vigne chocolate and kumquat

La Grand'Vigne chocolate and kumquat 

We have eaten at the brasserie here before but this time made sure that the restaurant was open. We selected their menu Expression d’un Terrior 75 accompanied by Ch Leognan Rouge 09 (€75) and a glass of Ch Olivier Blanc 12 (€12) to start and a glass of Cypres de Climens (€15) to end the meal. Both glasses came from freshly opened bottles so no chance of stale wine here! Definitely an excellent meal so the menu is reproduced above as are our favourite dishes.

Ch de la Cazine*

Domaine de la Fôt, 23300 Noth www.chateaudelacazine.fr
Ch de la Cazine restaurant

Ch de la Cazine restaurant

Ch de la Cazine chocolate dessert

Ch de la Cazine chocolate dessert

Quite a spectacular country house in the middle of nowhere. We had the Menu Cazine (€55) accompanied by Ch Montus (€56). The dessert was definitely the star of the show; the chocolate went very well with the Montus.

L’Asperule *

34 Rue du Pont, 89000 Auxerre tel +33 3 86 33 24 32
www.restaurant-asperule.fr/
L’Asperule restaurant

L’Asperule restaurant

L’Asperule foie gras

L’Asperule foie gras

L’Asperule Menu Dégustation

L’Asperule Menu Dégustation

A tiny Japanese restaurant not far from the river inn the old part of Auxerre. One had the Menu (€58) which we accompanied with a very reasonably priced Raveneau premier cru Chablis (€54). The menu was excellent and so a copy is shown below together with pictures of our favourites. It is rare that a soup almost gets our vote for the dish of the day but their mushroom soup almost did.

Accommodation

The hotels are mostly three star and are quite acceptable at the basic level. Hotels prices include breakfast.
Hotel le Nautic 20 Bd del la Plage, 33120 Arcechon €95
Hotel Corintel 14 Av du Perigord, 33370 Tresses €89
Hotel Akena Relais la Brede 1 Av Vianna, 33650 La Brede €81
Hotel Alexia 9 ZI la Prade, 23300 La Souterraine €74
Hotel les Clairions 89006 Auxerre €80