Yes, you can, like the author Peter Mayle, spend "A Year in Provence," but I'm thinking a year in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in France's southwest, might suit me better.
I wouldn't recommend beginning the trip during a dry January or sober October, though: it's the province where grapes used to produce Bordeaux and Saint Emilion wines as well as cognac are grown.
There are plenty of reasons beyond vineyard tastings that make a trip to the region worthwhile. The province is large, slightly bigger than Austria, so there's plenty to see and do.
Bordeaux bike guide extraordinaire Bruno Beurrier on the bicycle his grandfather once owned. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann
Starting in the city of Bordeaux itself, orientation should begin with a half-day bicycle tour with Bruno Beurrier. He's the go-to guide for the city's five-star hotels. (I stayed at the friendly, intimate Villas Foch, but he's also kept busy by guests at the larger InterContinental.)
He is eccentric, with distinctive grooming and wardrobe; he rides a bicycle once owned by his grandfather. He's a fabulous raconteur, providing expert and entertaining commentary. He knows the history, architecture, politics and, importantly, the place to go for the city's best caneles, a distinctive local mini-rum cake with a chewy, caramely skin and fluffy, eggy interior.
Although there are plenty of opportunities to have classic and nouvelle French food in Bordeaux, a post-ride lunch (or dinner) at Morimoto's restaurant in the Mondrian hotel is recommended. The sushi is extraordinary, but guests should be sure to begin with pizza au thon; that's tuna pizza unlike any pizza, or tuna, preparation you've ever had.
Van Gogh's self portrait illuminated and reflected in submarine holding pens at Bordeaux's Bassin des Lumieres. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann
Must-see museum
At least a half-day should be spent at La Cite du Vin, a museum devoted to wine, from its earliest days to the present. Housed in a distinctive, multistory building that suggests wine being swirled in a glass, it doesn't focus specifically on the wines of Bordeaux; they're well-represented, but the exhibits take a wider view.
Like many modern museums, it employs holograms, augmented reality and other cutting-edge technologies to interpret the history of wine in entertaining ways. The ticket price also includes a glass of wine at its top floor.
Not far is away Bassin des Lumieres. You may have come across similar immersive exhibit halls that display art by projecting and animating classic images; I've now seen them in London, New York and Porto, Portugal. But in Bordeaux, the venue itself adds considerable interest: It's a decommissioned World War II-era submarine base, and the holding tanks where the subs hid and were repaired now reflect the artwork illuminated on the walls. The current exhibit, "From Vermeer to Van Gogh," will be there through 2024.
The dining room at Chateau de Ferrand. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann
Sunset dinner cruises on the Garonne River are a great way to end an evening, offering waterside perspectives of La Cite du Vin and other examples of Bordeaux's distinctive architecture.
The wines of St. Emilion, about 30 miles east of Bordeaux, are world-renowned, and the village itself is picture-book charming, if not a bit commercialized (there are 58 wine shops in a town of 1,800 residents). Perhaps its most unique feature is a vast underground, monolithic, medieval church, the largest subterranean church in Europe, complete with catacombs, caves and a chapel. It is one of 14 Unesco World Heritage sites in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Just beyond St. Emilion is the Chateau de Ferrand, a three-suite hotel, restaurant and vineyard. The setting and interior design are beautiful, and the art is unique: The property is owned by the heirs of the Bic pen fortune, and much of the art incorporates, or is drawn with, the pen.
Designs of high-end cognac bottles on display at Remy Martin House. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann
Uncorking Cognac
Moving farther east, you enter the Cognac region, which has more white grapes under cultivation than any other appellation in France. One can visit relatively small operations like Chateau Montifaud, which is run by a sixth generation of owners; the Chateau Royal de Cognac, in a 10th-century fortress overlooking the Charente River; or the very modern Remy Martin House, whose entertaining tour showcases the brand's dazzling packaging (and prices). It's an homage to both fine cognac and the power of luxury marketing.
In Cognac, I stayed one night at the five-star La Nauve Hotel & Jardin, a boutique Relais & Chateaux property with, as might be expected at an R&C property, an excellent restaurant but also 12 acres of lovely grounds with water features and gardens and a boat to bring guests a mile upriver to the town of Cognac.
The following night, I was at Chais Monnet & Spa, a larger property within walking distance of Remy Martin House that has a Michelin-starred restaurant and all the features one would expect in a modern spa.
But despite the luxury touches and pampering during much of my time in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, perhaps the most enduring memory was on my final day, with Joel Gazeau, owner of Ouest Charente Outdoor. He makes canoes and rents them out as well as offers guided bicycle tours.
While he inspired me to one day ride the 185 miles of bike paths along the Charente River, which runs mostly through Nouvelle-Aquitaine, I was happy enough to spend a morning cycling with him through the vineyards of Cognac, stopping at an abandoned abbey and an ancient megalithic tomb.
I had worked up an appetite and had a final lunch (and cognac) at Restaurant du Chateau, across the street from the Courvoisier House in the town of Jarnac.
For better or worse, the food, drink and landscape in many parts of the world seem to fit together, but only in a few places do all three hit the high mark for presentation, taste and beauty and offer unique attractions between meals. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is one of them.