Meet an airport that serves three countries

Ever heard of an airport that serves three countries?

Meet EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, which offers links to Switzerland, France and Germany. 

It is a Franco-Swiss international airport located in the Alsace region of France and is the only binational airport in the world.

It is locaed 4.7 km west of the tripoint of the three nations and is 3.5km northwest of the city of Basel in Switzerland, 20km south-east of Mulhouse in France, and 46km south-southwest of Freiburg.

The airport is located completely on French soil but also has a Swiss customs border and is connected to Basel by a 2.5km long customs-free road, allowing air travellers access into Switzerland without undergoing a French customs check

It will offer 89 direct destinations across 31 countries this winter, news hub Travel Mole reports. 

The 2026-27 winter flight schedule took effect this weekend and will run through March 27, 2027. 

A total of 20 airlines will serve the airport, with most routes connecting travellers to European cities and Mediterranean destinations, including Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, the UK, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey.

Passengers will also have access to connecting flights through major international hubs served by Air France in Paris, Austrian Airlines in Vienna, British Airways in London, KLM in Amsterdam, and Lufthansa in Frankfurt and Munich. 

Three destinations will be added to the winter network. Poznań in Poland will receive three weekly flights, while Varna in Bulgaria and Yerevan in Armenia will each have three and two weekly flights, respectively.

Wizz Air is expanding its presence by joining easyJet, GP Aviation and Chair Airlines on services to Pristina, Kosovo. It will also introduce Naples, Italy, to its network in March 2027.

Frequencies will increase on several existing routes, including Amsterdam, Bucharest, Lisbon, Marrakesh, Porto, Pristina and Skopje, giving travelers more options during the winter season.

Looking further ahead, Air Canada will introduce a new direct route between EuroAirport and Montreal on June 17, 2027. The service is scheduled to operate four times weekly using an Airbus A321XLR, complementing existing flights by Air Transat.

Montreal will provide passengers with onward connections across Canada and to destinations in the United States, expanding the airport’s transatlantic reach.

Lyndey Milan to lead an exploration of Provence's treats

No one enjoys good food and wine as much as Australian culinary icon Lyndey Milan OAM.

Now she has joined World Expeditions to lead an exclusive trip through the food, wine, art and landscapes of Provence.

World Expeditions has announced Milan as host of a new 11-day small-group journey through one of her favourite parts of the world, the South of France.

Provence: The Art of Living Well with Lyndey Milan will depart in September next year, combining food, wine, travel, culture and, "the pleasure of bringing people together around a table".

For more than four decades, Milan has helped shape the way Australians think about food and wine. 

The former food director of The Australian Women’s Weekly and co-host of Nine’s Fresh, she has presented food and travel television series around the world, authored award-winning cookbooks, judged leading wine and food competitions and hosted culinary journeys internationally.

She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to hospitality, particularly the food and wine industry, and to the community.

“Living well is about enjoyment, feeling glad to be alive and being excited by new discoveries,” Milan said. 

“Provence embodies that beautifully. It’s the people, the weather, the food and wine, the markets, history, culture and villages, but also the relaxed lifestyle. It is such a joyful place.”

The World Expeditions journey explores Provence at a deliberately unhurried pace, travelling from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (two nights) to Aix-en-Provence (four nights) and hilltop Gordes ( four nights). All delightful destinations, particularly after the August holiday hordes have departed.

Timed for late September, as summer gives way to autumn and les vendanges, the grape harvest, brings the vineyards to life, the itinerary combines food, wine, art, markets and walking.

Food and wine are naturally central. Travellers will shop for seasonal produce at local markets before cooking together in a Provençal home, visit an organic olive estate for a tasting and gourmet picnic among the groves, and enjoy a special visit to Maison AIX, including a tour of the estate and cellar and a tasting of its Provençal rosé.

“But this is not a cooking tour,” Milan said. 

"The journey is about so much more than food. We’ll explore the history and culture of Provence and meet some of the characters who make these communities what they are. It’s that access and those personal connections that make the experience so special. You simply couldn’t replicate it travelling independently.”

Limited to just 16 travellers, the tour departs on September 24, 2027, and costs $13,990 per person twin share.

You need to book early for this mountain high

Australians with mountains on their mind have been urged to plan early as demand grows for one of Europe’s most popular walks.

UTracks is encouraging Australians wanting to walk the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2027 to book early, with refuge bookings opening on October 15 and French authorities moving towards new measures requiring multi-day walkers to have accommodation booked in advance.

More than 90,000 people were reported to have walked the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer, up from 75,000 in 2025, according to figures from Les Amis de l’UTMB, reported by French newspaper Le Monde.

As walking holidays continue to grow in popularity, the 170km trail through France, Italy and Switzerland has become one of Europe’s most sought-after long-distance walks, attracting walkers from around the world.

“The Tour du Mont Blanc deserves its reputation as one of Europe’s great walks," said UTracks general manager Kate Baker.

"You cross three countries on foot, stay in mountain villages and have extraordinary alpine scenery around you day after day. 

“The message for Australians considering Mont Blanc in 2027 is very simple: plan early. If you have your heart set on particular dates, especially during the most popular months, this is not a trip to leave until the last minute.”

The advice comes as authorities on the French section of the Tour du Mont Blanc develop a new management charter intended to better manage growing numbers on the trail.

Under the proposed measures, from the European spring of 2027 multi-day walkers on the French section would need to be able to show they have accommodation booked in a refuge, hotel, campsite or authorised bivouac area.

For UTracks travellers, accommodation along the route is arranged in advance as part of the itinerary, along with luggage transfers, removing two of the major logistical challenges of organising a multi-day walk independently.

Baker said the proposed changes should be viewed positively, helping to protect the trail while maintaining the experience for walkers and the communities they pass through.

“Better management of accommodation along such a popular route can help protect the environment and local communities, while giving walkers certainty about where they will be staying each night,” she said.

Calls for a new French tourism strategy

Travel industry leaders in France have called for a major overhaul of the country’s tourism strategy, saying the country must stop chasing visitor volumes and focus instead on longer stays, higher spending and year-round growth.

The Alliance France Tourisme, which brings together major companies from tourism, business travel and events, has unveiled a plan that sets out a 20-year vision for the industry, news hub Travel Mole reports. 

The group says nearly two-thirds of tourism spending in France comes from domestic travellers, making the domestic market a critical economic foundation.

The Alliance says the current concentration of tourism is a problem, with 80% of activity concentrated across just 20% of the country.

Its proposed solution is a national push for year-round tourism, including stronger shoulder seasons, more visitors to cities outside peak periods and more mid-range accommodation to make travel more accessible.

The Alliance is also proposing five broad priorities, including stronger French tourism sectors around events, business travel, gastronomy, heritage, wine tourism, agritourism, wellness and senior travel.

The events and business travel sectors would be positioned as territorial growth engines, building on the legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics and strengthening France’s ability to host international conventions, trade shows and major events.

The Alliance’s central message is clear: France cannot rely on simply attracting more visitors. It says that the next phase of French tourism must be about welcoming visitors better, keeping them longer and extracting more economic value from each trip.

French wine production to plummet in 2026

French wine production for the 2026 vintage is forecast to fall to almost 34 million hectolitres, putting the harvest 17% below its recent average after drought and heatwaves hit vineyards across the country.

The French Ministry of Agriculture estimates production of almost 34 million hectolitres for 2026, industry news hub drinks business reports.

Based on current estimates output is expected to fall 6% compared with 2025 and sit 17% below the 2021 to 2025 average. 

The ministry attributed the decline both to a reduction in productive vineyard areas and lower yields caused by the adverse weather, particularly drought and summer heatwaves.

The national figure masks considerable regional variation, however, with some wine regions suffering substantial reductions and others recording modest improvements following poor yields in 2025.

Repeated heatwaves and drought had caused widespread damage, with the average national temperature reaching 24.9°C in July, above the previous records cited for 2003 and 1976. 

Some 65% of France experienced what the ministry described as “unprecedented drought”, with water restrictions imposed in 95 departments and 79 classified as being in “crisis” at the height of summer.

In response, agriculture minister Annie Genevard announced an support plan worth more than €1 billion on September 4, intended both to compensate farmers for losses and help agricultural production recover.

The package includes an estimated €520m through France’s national solidarity compensation scheme, more than €300m in property tax relief on undeveloped land and €30m through the agricultural disaster scheme for uninsurable losses, including damage to vines and other perennial crops.

A further €235m agricultural recovery fund has been established to support farms facing difficulties financing inputs and recovering from the summer’s wildfires.

The latest production estimate comes as the French deliberately reduce vineyard area in response to declining consumption and wider difficulties facing the sector.

France is confronting two different pressures at once: structural oversupply in parts of the wine industry and increasingly unpredictable yields in the vineyards that remain.

Image: Silvia Arellano, Scop.io  

Exquisite Provence hotel changes with the seasons

After a long, hot European summer, autumn will come as a welcome relief in sunny Provence. 

The hilltop villages here are among my favourites, and we spent many delightful days and nights exploring the region when based in France. 

One hotel that was on our hit list, but never visited, was the Maisons Pariente's stunning hilltop property the 5-star "luxe rural" Hotel Crillon le Brave in the foothills on Mont Ventoux. 

Situated at the heart of the commune of Vaucluse in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, Hotel Crillon le Brave comprises 12 delightful stone houses in the tiny village of Crillon le Brave (or simply 'Crillon', as it's called by the locals). 

The village is surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. 

With buildings interconnected by winding stone pathways, guests are encouraged to indulge in the sense of 'being a local', moving among the hotel's buildings and exteriors as if the village were home.

While there are dozens of villages, market and galleries to be explored, there is always the temptation to enjoy just one destination in Provence. 

The hotel has announced a seasonal transition. 

From searching for the 'black diamond' truffles for which the region is famous to focusing on well-being during a residency with nutritionist and women's health specialist, Claire Borwin, Hotel Crillon le Brave has a range of autumn options on offer. 

There are 26 rooms and 17 suites in all and La Table du Ventoux, where we ate many years ago, but under a different name, if I recall correctly, showcases local flavours. 

For more information on what's happening at Hotel Crillon le Brave check out https://www.crillonlebrave.com/

Or contact www.uniquetourism.com in Australia.

New challenger on the French rail tracks

 

SNCF, for decades the leading railway provider in France, is about to get some serious competition. 

Velvet, a start-up that aims to challenge SNCF on high-speed routes, has secured its operating license, bringing it a step closer to launching four western France services in 2028.

The company plans to launch four non-stop routes from Paris in 2028: Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Nantes, Paris-Angers and Paris-Rennes.

The license, issued by France’s Transport Ministry, is one of two key authorisations required before a rail operator can commercially carry passengers, news hub Travel Mole reports.

Velvet still needs to obtain a Single Safety Certificate, demonstrating that it has adequate safety-management systems and can effectively control operational risks before its trains can enter service.

The newly granted license nevertheless allows the company to move into a more advanced stage of preparations, including requesting specific train paths from SNCF Réseau, France’s rail infrastructure manager.

“It’s an important step that allows us to go further in preparing our trains, teams and procedures,” said Velvet Ppesident Rachel Picard.

Picard, a former senior SNCF executive, founded Velvet with a business partner and has raised €1 billion ($1.17 billion) from French infrastructure investor Antin Infrastructure Partners.

Part of that funding has been allocated to purchase 12 next-generation Alstom Avelia Horizon trains. The same train is being introduced by SNCF for its own high-speed operations.

Velvet’s arrival is being welcomed by passenger advocates, who say additional operators could help address capacity shortages on some of France’s busiest routes. They point to heavily booked routes such as Paris-Bordeaux and Paris-Lyon, where trains can sell out for extended periods.

France’s high-speed rail market remains overwhelmingly dominated by SNCF despite the formal opening of European rail markets to competition.

Italian operator Trenitalia entered the French market in late 2021 and now operates services linking Paris with Lyon, Marseille and Milan. It is also targeting the Paris-London market, with cross-Channel services planned by 2030.

Cape Mentelle brings benchmark cabernet tasting back to Sydney

Cape Mentelle's International Cabernet Tasting is returning to Sydney after 15-year absence.

The founding Margaret River winery will bring the tasting back to the east coast on Friday, October 16 - a major event for cabernet lovers.

To be held at Watersedge at Campbell’s Stores, with views of Sydney Harbour, the annual benchmark tasting is a hallmark event on the Australian wine calendar, featuring a line-up of some of the world’s finest cabernet labels.

Tickets are $750pp and include a blind tasting of three brackets followed by a long lunch paired to the wines from the tasting. 

There will be commentary from experts and the tasting is followed by a Champagne palate cleanser before lunch.

The Cape Mentelle International Cabernet Tasting is one of Australia’s longest running international wine benchmark tastings, established in 1982 by Cape Mentelle founder David Hohnen.

The tasting initially began as a process to help Hohnen finesse each vintage by benchmarking his own releases against globally recognised expressions.

Today, the tasting has expanded to invite wine lovers to join the Cape Mentelle team to taste and benchmark great cabernets from across the world alongside home-grown examples from the same vintage.

“I’m excited to bring this much-loved wine tasting experience back to Sydney for the first time since 2011,” says Cape Mentelle Chief of Winemaking & Viticulture David Moulton.

“Each year, the tasting reveals the ever-evolving landscape of cabernet sauvignon, as seen through the lens of some of the world’s best winemakers. Not only do we see how our own cabernet is looking against an array of other Australian releases, but we get to see how Margaret River Cabernet continues to define itself against regions from around the world.

"I can’t wait to see what the tasting unveils.”

The tasting will feature iconic Australian expressions alongside cult-status international producers from Italy (including Super Tuscans), the US, New Zealand, and France.

Adding to the event’s prestige, this year offers an Australian exclusive first look at wines from the 2023 Bordeaux vintage prior to their official local arrival. 

Tickets and details here: https://www.capementelle.com.au/Events/International-Cabernet

The Louvre reopens the doors to robbery site

Paris is back to normal with The Louvre Museum this week reopening its Apollo Gallery to visitors, 10 months after one of the most daring museum robberies in modern history. 

The gallery welcomed visitors again - but without the display cases or the French Crown Jewels that made it one of the Louvre’s biggest attractions. 

Museum officials have removed all precious objects while plans are developed for a new high-security vault elsewhere in the museum, news hub Travel Mole reports.

The Apollo Gallery has remained closed since October 19, 2025, when a gang carried out a clever daylight raid that stunned the art world - and security operatives at The Louvre. 

Disguised as construction workers, the thieves used a cherry-picker truck to gain access through a vulnerable first-floor window overlooking the River Seine.

The robbers completed what French Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a “four-minute operation,” escaping with eight jewels from the French Crown collection worth an estimated €88 million (about US$102 million). 

The haul included necklaces, a tiara, a brooch and other priceless treasures from the Napoleonic era. 

One damaged item, the emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie, was later recovered outside the museum but the remaining jewels have so far not been recovered. 

Louvre president Christophe Leribault says the Apollo Gallery is returning to its original 17th-century role as a ceremonial state gallery rather than a jewelery exhibition. 

The surviving Crown Jewels will eventually be moved to a purpose-built, windowless secure room elsewhere in the museum.

A French parliamentary inquiry later concluded that security at The Louvre had been neglected for years, despite repeated warnings that the Apollo Gallery’s riverside windows represented a significant vulnerability.

Despite the absence of the Crown Jewels, the Apollo Gallery remains one of the Louvre’s most spectacular baroque interiors. Its soaring vaulted ceiling, decorated by artists including Charles Le Brun, inspired Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors and continues to rank among the museum’s architectural highlights.

The Louvre is home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting - from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters. Its star attractions include the Mona Lisa, as well as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Penfolds unveils new collection from four corners of the globe

 

The invitations drop in late April. Hardly anyone declines. 

The Penfolds Collection 2026 Preview Tasting is one of the major wine tastings of the year. 

But attendees, brilliantly looked after, have certain rules that must be followed. 

Tastings are conducted by chief winemaker Peter Gago (below) and his team around the world. 

Australian trade media, journalists and educators tasted in Adelaide in June - at EOS by Sky City and then at Magill Estate. 

Others sniffed, sipped and spat in London, New York and Paris. The wines will be released on August 6. 

All of us who attended the tastings were all sworn to secrecy. No tasting notes to be published until today’s deadline. No sneaky social media bottle images.  

Everyone has had time to consider their notes - and thoughts. The 99s and 98s will flow freely today. Probably a 100 or two. 

What struck me most about the tasting was the way the Penfolds style is now reflected across a global range of wines: from the US to France and China. 

The bold and rich Bordeaux-style 2023 FWT (French Winemaking Trial) 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot shines, while the immediately approachable 2024 CWT (Chinese Winemaking Trial) Bin 521, a blend of cabernet and marselan, is absolutely outstanding and a tribute to the winemaking skills across the team.

“No longer a novelty, no fancy wordsmithing – all of these wines are unmistakably Penfolds, sourced from different hemispheres,” says Gago.

This year’s domestic release is anchored by the 75th Anniversary of Grange, with the outstanding 2022 released this year - as usual as a wine with four years of bottle age.

“The 2022 Grange assuredly authenticates its flagship role and 75th anniversary credentials," says Gago. "No pressure. Both timely and lucky - to avail such a stellar vintage in such a symbolic year.”

Marking three-quarters of a century since its first experimental vintage in 1951, the anniversary release pays tribute to Grange’s evolution from an experimental wine crafted by Penfolds maiden chief
winemaker, Max Schubert, to a global icon.

 


We lucky invitees were also able to taste several back vintages of Grange, all with that unmistakable line of quality. The imperious new release comprises 85% Barossa fruit, aided by McLaren Vale and Coonawarra material.  

Inky, rich, sumptuous. Take your pick of adjectives.

For those who do not have a grand to drop on a bottle, I can recommend the fulsome and inviting 2024 Magill Estate Shiraz and the brilliant 2023 St Henri Shiraz. 

The other stars of the release include brilliantly balanced cabernet sauvignons. The complex and fine 2024 Penfolds Bin 707 and its younger sibling Bin 407 - a definite cellar prospect - serve as outstanding examples of multi-regional South Australian blends.

For chardonnay lovers Yattarna and Bin 311, both from 2024, are both wines of purity and definition, while the 2025 Bin 23 Pinot Noir is arguably the best release of that wine yet.

"Nothing stands still," Gago says. Yet through thick and thin, across the years, these Collection wines stand tall." 

 

He's right.  

Arriva to deliver more options for European rail journeys

Train lovers will soon have more options in the Netherlands, Belgium and France with the imminent arrival of new services from continental heavyweight Arriva. 

The company is pressing ahead with plans to expand international rail services, unveiling proposals for new direct routes between the Netherlands, Belgium and Paris that could launch from February, 2028.

Arriva has businesses in 11 countries across Europe, including operating businesses in 10 countries and a rolling stock leasing company in Romania.

The operator has formally notified the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) of its intention to operate two additional international services linking The Hague and Amersfoort with Paris, news service Travel Mole reports. 

The filing is a required step before launching new open-access passenger rail services in the Netherlands.

If approved, the new routes would complement Arriva’s previously announced Groningen-Paris service, creating three direct rail links between the Netherlands and Paris.

The proposed The Hague-Paris service would operate three daily round trips. In the Netherlands, trains would call at Rotterdam and Roosendaal before crossing into Belgium. 

Stops would then include Antwerp, Brussels Airport, Brussels-South and Mons, before continuing to Paris.

A second route from Amersfoort would run twice daily via Utrecht, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Breda. After entering Belgium, it would follow the same international corridor through Antwerp, Brussels Airport, Brussels-South and Mons before reaching Paris.

The services are planned to begin as soon as operational approvals, train paths and infrastructure access are secured.

The expansion is part of Arriva’s wider strategy to challenge incumbent international rail operators by offering more direct cross-border services. The company is positioning itself as an alternative to existing high-speed operators on one of Europe’s busiest international rail corridors.

Arriva is the largest competitor to Dutch state-owned rail operator NS in the regional rail market and has steadily expanded its international ambitions. 

The company already operates the Three Countries Train, linking Liège, Maastricht and Aachen, providing cross-border passenger services between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Grape oversupply looming as a crisis in France

An oversupply of juice in the Charente could become a problem for the entire French wine industry. 

French industry newsletter Vitisphere is cautioning that a crisis in Cognac could become a national crisis. 

Most of the grapes from the region are traditionally used for Cognac and other brandy styles, but are in surplus. 

The production potential of the Charente vineyards is expected to be massively in surplus and could exceed 1 to 2 million hectolitres of white wines without a geographical indication (Vin de France). 

“We did everything we could to avoid disrupting anyone, but now we're reaching the limits of what we can do,” an unnamed source from the Charente region told the newsletter. 

"The risk of a surplus remains high, as confirmed by the latest Charentes-Cognac wine region council figures.

“Even with the heat and drought, the Charente region will produce at least 2 million hectolitres."

One unnamed bulk wine specialist quoted by Vitisphere said: "I foresee general chaos in the sector. No more money anywhere. The banks are pulling out. The domino effect could be stratospheric.”

The region has asked for financial aid from Brussels and Paris to avoid the financial need to flood the market.

Image: Charente vineyards, https://www.guide-de-la-charente.com/

Discover new small group wine experiences in France

Calling vinophiles keen on an immersive experience in French wine regions. 

Tauck has opened bookings for its 2027 European land itineraries, including a new eight-day journey through France's Champagne and Alsace regions, and a new exploration of Bordeaux and south-western France.

A Week In… Champagne & Alsace is a new eight-day itinerary averaging 24 guests beginning in the village of Kaysersberg, Alsace, with a three-night stay at Le Chambard Hotel & Spa. Guests explore the nearby wine villages of Ribeauvillé and Colmar, visit a Munster cheese dairy in the countryside and enjoy a private dinner at a chef's home overlooking the Obernai Valley.

The journey continues to the Champagne capital of Reims for three nights at La Caserne Chanzy, a restored 18th-century military barracks. Highlights include a tour and tasting at a renowned Champagne house, an afternoon exploring the vineyards of Épernay by vintage car with a picnic lunch among the vines and an exclusive dinner at Moët & Chandon (above). 

The itinerary concludes with a visit to the Château de Chantilly and a farewell dinner at Château Mont Royal. Departures will run in April, May, June, September and October (from $12,190 per person, double occupancy, plus airfare).

Tauck has also reimagined its popular Bordeaux, the Dordogne & Biarritz tour. Refined from 14 days to a more focused 10-day journey, the itinerary is centred on south-western France's most interesting regions. 

Beginning with three nights at the very central InterContinental Bordeaux, highlights include a visit to the Cité du Vin wine museum and a château dinner in the Médoc. 

Guests then spend three nights at Hôtel les Glycines in the Dordogne, with a stop in the medieval wine village of St-Émilion, a private visit to Lascaux with dinner, and an exploration of Sarlat's excellent open-air market. 

The journey concludes with three nights at the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz (above), with excursions to Basque country and the historic fishing village of St-Jean-de-Luz and additional free time to explore the coast. From $14,390 per person, double occupancy, plus airfare).

See www.tauck.com.au.

Ai is already stealing jobs in the wine business

Bad news for sommeliers and wine sales professionals: your jobs are already being replaced by AI.

French company Etinsy has begun placing its AI wine merchant kiosks into stores selling wine, the wine-searcher news hub reported.

Supermarkets in France have installed installed the AI units in their wine departments in a bid to help customers choose wines, radio station FranceInfo has revealed. 

The Etinsy AI Advisor (dubbed "Advisor Elio") is promoted as the "first AI-powered humanoid advisor dedicated to the wine and spirits aisles in supermarkets".

Housed in a kiosk similar to those seen in many fast-food restaurants, Elio is designed to respond to vocal prompts.

"Elio is a true virtual wine merchant with whom the customer interacts naturally, verbally, just as they would with a professional in a specialized shop," the Etinsy company says on its website.

France's wine merchants' union is, not surprisingly, unimpressed.

"It's not exactly our definition of the term 'wine merchant'," said professional wine merchants' union (Syndicat des Cavistes Professionels) president Johannes Marcon.

"The true added value is having a real person who can convey their passion and their connection with the winemaker," he added. "It's totally subjective and sometimes disingenuous, but at least it's not impersonal."

The kiosks are expected to roll out across selected stores in the rest of France.

Etinsy, based in a small village outside Martigues in the south of France, says on its website that the "advisor helps every customer find the right product quickly and without waiting, while freeing up in-store teams and improving sales performance.

"Developed from 12 years of field experience, Advisor addresses a real problem in brick-and-mortar retail: the lack of readily available, consistent, and reliable in-store advice. 

"Advisor is an in-house developed technology, protected by patent applications, designed to provide neutral and instant advice, improve the customer journey, and directly contribute to department performance.

"Etinsy develops an in-store advisory solution capable of improving the shopping experience, reducing the operational workload of teams, and increasing sales performance. 

 "Our technology is designed to deliver reliable, instant advice perfectly tailored to each store."

Walking in sunshine: Nantes offers an artistic voyage

 

Often overlooked, Nantes is one of my favourite cities in France.

I have very fond memories of plates piled high with local seafood and bottles of chilled Muscadet at the delightful and historic La Cigale.

From July 4 to September 6, the Brittany city will host the 15th edition of  Le Voyage à Nantes, its summer arts expo. 

The voyage comprises a 20km open-air gallery with over 100 artworks, exhibitions and experiences
to be discovered on a route traversing streets, gardens and historic landmarks.

For this year’s event, organisers promise, visitors will see new artworks integrated into both iconic sites and hidden locations.

The event showcases Nantes as offering one of Europe’s most walkable cultural experiences.

"This year, Le Voyage à Nantes begins a new cycle of events devoted to the elements," says event director general Sophie Lévy.

"If urban space can be said to be a deeply reconstructed form of nature - one moulded to our scale and offering a backdrop to our modern cacophony - in Nantes, it is founded on the sensorial, fluid character of the elements: earth, water, air, and fire that surround our fair city and shape us in ways both intangible and imperious."

The city is located on the Loire River in Upper Brittany in western France.

It is home to the restored, medieval Château des Ducs de Bretagne, where the Dukes of Brittany once
lived, and is now a history museum.

The city also offers a food scene shaped by its maritime heritage, and the remarkable Galerie des Machines (check it out).

See https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/events/the-summer-journey/ 

Walk or cycle in the footsteps of heroes

 

With Anzac Day just around the corner, leading Australian travel provider UTracks is urging history buffs to consider walking, or cycling through the Western Front of World War I. 

The French region of the Somme and the northern region of Belgium known as Flanders are areas of natural beauty, flat lands with rich culinary traditions. 

Through this area runs the Western Front, a series of trenches built by the Germans in WWI stretching 700km from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. 

Following the Western Front along quiet roads and bike paths, a journey can include a stop at Villers Bretonneux, where in April, 1918, the Australian Corps successfully stopped the advancing German troops. 

This is a region of open farmland and small villages, where history is remembered and Australian are still loved. There is an abundance of historical landmarks. 

The Somme was the site of one of the First World War’s largest and most destructive campaigns, continuing for more than four months, resulting in over one million casualties.

Today, the Somme is largely rural. Fields have long ago been replanted, roads follow former supply routes, and villages have been rebuilt following widespread destruction. 

The Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial overlooks the surrounding fields and commemorates more than 10,000 Australian soldiers with no known grave, while the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing records over 72,000 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Somme sector.

For those seeking to understand the region more fully, UTracks offers walking and cycling routes based out of Amiens for self-guided walking and cycling itineraries. 

Tours include pre-booked accommodation, luggage transfers and navigation support via a digital app. Routes connect major memorials with smaller villages and lesser known sites, allowing travellers to experience a broader cross section of the landscape beyond the primary monuments.

See https://www.utracks.com/France/Self-Guided-Walking/Western-Front-Walk-Amiens-to-Arras or 
https://www.utracks.com/France/Self-Guided-Cycling/Cycle-the-Western-Front

Images: Supplied 

Smoke on the water: Fire disaster for Evian

The delightful French town of Evian-les-Bains is known both for its mineral springs and its grand, historic casino.

Opened in 1912, the casino is Evian's most iconic building, located on the French side of Lake Geneva, just across from Lausanne in Switzerland.

Earlier this month, however, the spa town's casino was engulfed by a devastating fire, just two years after a major renovation had been completed on the complex, new hub Travel Mole reports.

The building, a Belle Époque masterpiece, has long served as a cultural and social hub for visitors drawn to Évian’s famous thermal waters.

For over a century, it has received aristocrats, high society and international gamblers.

The structure is crowned with a Byzantine-inspired dome, which firefighters managed to save in a dramatic effort involving 130 personnel.

The blaze began in a restaurant roof and quickly spread to the casino, threatening the emblematic dome.

The fire, fuelled by strong winds, prompted the evacuation of around 100 people, including staff, guests, and nearby residents.

Firefighters battled the flames for more than 10 hours, focusing on preserving the dome.

“Our priority was to vent the hot gases accumulating under the roof, which is heavily insulated and acts like a lid,” explained Commander Jean-Noël Chapuis of Sdis Haute-Savoie to French news station FranceInfo.

But the complex’s gaming halls, administrative areas, and dining sections were largely destroyed.

The casino fire happened the year Evian is welcoming the G7 Summit to be held from June 15-17.

The conference will go ahead at the nearby Hôtel Royal.

Image: Travel Mole  

Australians have a continuing love affair with Burgundy

Australian wine lovers can’t get enough of fine Burgundies with with sales volumes up 13.3% and value up 26.1% in 2025, bringing the market close to record levels.

The Bourgogne Wine Board will continue its three-year communications campaign in Australia with the second chapter of the ‘Take a Closer Look’ campaign: inviting trade, media, and consumers to deepen their exploration of Bourgogne wines.

Building on a first series of events in Sydney in year one, Melbourne is in the spotlight for 2026 as the campaign encourages Australians to venture further off the beaten path, experience Bourgogne wines differently, and uncover the diversity that exists within and beyond the region’s most familiar names. 

Take a Closer Look is billed as an invitation to reconnect with “the shared foundations of the Bourgogne wine range: emotion, experience, terroir, know-how and authenticity”.

Through tastings, trade activations, consumer events and more, the second year of the campaign creates opportunities to engage with a new generation of committed winegrowers and their iconic wines. 

The focus is on producers that are "reshaping perceptions of Bourgogne while remaining deeply anchored in their places of origin".

Australia is Bourgogne’s 14th largest export market by volume (17th by value). 

Renewed growth is driven primarily by Crémant de Bourgogne (up more than 7% in volume and up 11% in value), alongside strong performance from white wines overall (up nearly 16% in volume and 4.3% in value). 

Chablis continues to stand out, reaching double-record levels with growth of 23.6% in volume and 22.4% in value.

At the same time, Village appellations from the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais have doubled their export volumes (Villages from the Mâconnais was up by 110% in volume compared to 2024, and white wines from the Côte Chalonnaise up by 168%), while Mâcon wines are up 43% in volume.

“With the second year of Take a Closer Look, our ambition is to go deeper - to highlight the diversity of Bourgogne wines and show how accessible, expressive and relevant they are today," says Anne Moreau, president of the Bourgogne Wine Board's Communication Commission. 

The Take a Closer Look campaign will offer a trade tasting and  masterclass in Melbourne on June 2, a trade-only webinar training session in late July and the second edition of Chablis Week: a promotion of Chablis wines across select Merivale venues (date TBC). 

French vineyards facing frost threat

A late cold snap is causing concern for grape growers across France. 

Vignerons across the country, from Champagne in the north to the Var in the south, fear frosts causing damage to vines that are well ahead of schedule in their development, wine news service Vitisphere reported. 

Vines emerged from dormancy two or three weeks ahead of schedule, making the icy conditions serious concern as growers used heated pots to prevent frost from destroying the buds on their vines.

"We're going to have to endure the frost and wait to assess the damage to the vines," industry news hub Vitisphere reported growers as saying. 

"Whether it's tonight or the nights to come, the risk of frost is confirmed in French vineyards," said Sébastien Debuisson, R&D Director of the Comité Champagne. 

"For many areas, the question isn't whether it will freeze, but how severe it will be."

There are forecasts for this week of -3 to -4°C in sheltered areas in Champagne. Growers in Chablis reported even lower overnight temperatures late last week.   

"A cold air mass is common at this time of year," Debuisson said. 

"What is unusual is the exceptional advancement of the vines: between 15 days and three weeks, especially for chardonnay but also for pinot noir, depending on the sector."  

Image: Vineyards in Quincy, Vitisphere

Change of pace for exclusive Bordeaux hostelry

One of the very best addresses in the vineyards of Bordeaux will re-open for the summer season with a refresh and a new name.

COMO Hotels and Resorts has taken over the historic Cordeillan-Bages property, with the rebranded COMO Cordeillan-Bages scheduled to open for stays in May. 

The 19th-century château in Pauillac was converted into a hotel and restaurant in 1989 by the Cazes family (the owners of Château Lynch-Bages among others).

It is home to a restaurant that has been helmed by several esteemed chefs.

COMO Cordeillan-Bages will mark COMO's debut in one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions but it does have French properties in COMO Le Beauvallon in Saint-Tropez and COMO Le Montrachet, a delightful village' inn at Puligny-Montrachet, Burgundy.

It says: "This intimate 28-room retreat brings together craftsmanship, understated luxury, and a profound appreciation for food and wine in the heart of the Médoc.

"With interiors by longstanding design partner Paola Navone, the beautifully restored 19th-century estate pairs contemporary comfort with the quiet elegance of Pauillac.

"A destination for true wine lovers, offering privileged access to Château Lynch-Bages and Bordeaux’s most legendary vineyards."

A stay or a meal will not be cheap, but the setting is superb. The property is exclusive and exquisite - when we dined a couple of decades ago Yves Saint-Laurent was among our fellow guests.