How about a nice bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild? 2010 was a good year. You can get a bottle at Total Wine & More in Bellevue, Washington for $1,199.97. But that is one of the most well known wines in the world. A First Growth of Bordeaux's famous 1855 classification.
Let's tone it down a bit...
Read MoreThree-quarters of the way through dinner at Baud et Millet in Bordeaux the tops of my cheeks strangely started tingling. I told Nicole, only half joking, that this had ceased to be fun.
But I pushed on.
All you can eat cheese. Something...
Read MoreIf anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving, I am NOT drinking any (expletive) Merlot! --Miles (played by Paul Giamatti in 2004 film Sideways).
The above quote, from the independent film Sideways released during 2004, continues to affect sales of Merlot. Merlot's critics see it as simple, overdone, and unexciting.
But that's crazy talk! Like saying all jazz is....
Read MoreDriving across France for the last two months, Travis and I have had a lot of time to listen to the local radio and Spotify. What really hooked us was an artist named Louane and her song "On Etait Beau" (so if you listen to nothing else, at least check that out). As a result, we have really enjoyed digging into and listening to French music, both new and old...
Read MoreThe Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona is a place Nicole and I never would have stayed in were it not for Airbnb. And that is one of the many reasons we have grown to like Airbnb so much during our travels.
Approximately fifteen minutes north of Barcelona's main tourist area, the Poblenou has transformed, as a result of Barcelona's hosting...
Read MoreWine pride.
For me, this usually means mentioning to those we meet in France's tasting rooms that we are in the middle of a two month tour of the country. Two months, they say, where are you visiting? Oh, I never thought you'd ask. The Loire Valley, Burgundy, Alsace, and Bordeaux. All wine areas (?) they remark. Oh, yeah, I guess they are. Then, I proceed with my new habit of subtly (but not so subtle that it isn't noticed) inspecting each wine....
Read MoreThere are many reasons I would advocate for long term travel! One of the best is that scheduling longer stays affords the ability to change plans when an unplanned opportunity for fun presents itself.
So it was when my friend Donn strolled past Nicole and I as we ate dinner at an outdoor creperie in Colmar last Sunday....
Read MoreThe French love soccer. And with France's top professional league, "Ligue 1," just getting under way for the 2017-18 season, it was perfect timing to make "the beautiful game" part of our stay in Alsace....
Read MoreNicole and I booked two weeks in Alsace because of its white wine. Thus far, we haven't been disappointed!
But first, upon arriving and discovering that we were staying in what feels like a German village, we realized there could be no way to understand these wines without learning some history and geography. So that's what we...
Read MoreI love a good cheese plate. Can I classify that as a favorite past time? I like to think so :}
Before this trip I had a few cheeses that were my go to at the cheese counter. Something similar to Manchengo please! How about a stinky cheese? Brie? But nothing specific enough that lead to passionate, excitable discussions with the cheese-monger. So I decided since we...
Read More"Do not let your embarrassment lead to bad decision making!" We were making our way out of a drainage ditch as I scolded Nicole with these words.
Google Maps! You will pay for this!
Veuve Ambal is a large sparkling wine, or Cremant de Bourgogne, producer on...
Read More"Such and such is a MUST DO!" is so overused in travel writing. Spend time reading travel blogs and you will have fourteen "must dos" to cram into your next weekend getaway.
But, for anyone spending time in Burgundy, bicycling the Voie des Vignes is a MUST DO! Along with touring Halong Bay and snorkeling in Nha Trang, both in Vietnam, this was the most fun I've....
Read MoreBeaujolais makes some of my favorite French wines. If Burgundy and Bordeaux are aristocratic, Beaujolais is blue collar. The wines are fruity, a little rough, and often floral. Try a few and you will know what I'm talking about.
As a wine making region, Beaujolais is...
Read More"You have eyes, but you fail to see...Ears, but you fail to hear!" Nicole and I sat at a table with two others, a charming pastor and his lovely wife from Brooklyn, NY, for a wine tasting at La Cave de l'Ange Gardien in Burgundy. But the pastor did not preach today. Instead...
Read MoreThe Case For France -- An occasional series by Nicole, the title of which is probably self explanatory! :) Enter Nicole...
If I had a billboard it would say "Travel is a driver of peace. Get going and meet someone new." For now that is a bit too large of a topic to tackle, so instead I'm going to focus on building the case for France. :}
Everyone loves France right? Nope, not nearly enough people! Among friends, it's no secret that I do, but where to begin?...
Read MoreGoogle "rules for travelling with friends" and the top results are from Glamour, Forbes, and the Lonely Planet. Put differently, no publication with the weight and authority of the Meserve Reserve seems to have taken a serious look at this topic.
But as anyone who has traveled with a friend knows, it's an important, and potentially trip-ruining, topic...
Read More"You walk like a zombie, Travis -- a slow, slow, zombie." --Nicole Meserve.
In the months before heading off on our travel journey, Nicole and I thought and talked, and thought and talked some more, about what life on the road would be like.
After a little over three months of travelling, in some ways it's what we expected, and in the various ways listed below...
Read MoreWhen Nicole and I planned our trip, a major goal was to learn about France and it's wines. These past two weeks we did both, focusing on the Loire Valley wine region where we stayed. We tasted 81 wines, ate incredible food, and had so much fun together. Here's how we did it....
Read MoreArise, children of the Fatherland; The day of glory has arrived! Against us tyranny's bloody banner is raised; Do you hear, in the countryside; The roar of those ferocious soldiers? They're coming right into your arms, to cut the throats of your sons, your women!...
Before becoming friends with anyone, Nicole and I ask ourselves whether or not they might someday host a wedding in the English countryside and invite us. Years ago, we took a risk on our friends Phil and Blake. This past weekend it paid off! :)...
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