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@HonnyBrown wrote:wow bebe! I know who to consult before I go to France! You've already given me some great tips.
I doubt if I would drive after an full day of tasting either. That's awesome that you tasted 80. And you call yourself a lightweight?!
The most that I've tasted was 30 at the Temecula Balloon and Wine festival outside of Los Angeles. My girlfriend was driving, so she gave me her tickets and a guy who was there for the balloons gave me most of his. I have no memory past a certain point. The following week, I got a pair of boots by mail and had a serious sunburn.
Fraiche Restaurant in LA used to do pairings with their wine distributors and chefs with employees and select patrons as the guinea pigs. One of the pairings was champagne and parmesan cheese. Wow, did that put everything in perspective for me! That was my Wine AHA Moment!
I took a French language class for fun after I graduated. I remember very few key phrases, so I'm going to take another class the year before we go to France.
It's 4 years off, but I'm excited already!!!
HB, lol, I hope it was a rocking pair of boots!! 
It really is wonderful to experience what a good wine/cheese pairing can create.
I know very little about wine, but one of my best friends is married to a serious oenophile. Once a month he attends a low key wine tasting with some top oenophiles in the area and the guy who runs the serious cheese store in the area. No pretension, just serious wine talk and crazy good cheese (I know because sometimes I get left overs!!).
What I love about him is that he just loves to share his knowledge about wine... no muss, no fuss, no fanfare...just a real passion for wine. Once he's got his wine cellar back in shape, he's promised that I can try one of his Chateau Yqueims!!!
If you have local french programming (news. etc.), then you might just want to turn it on occasionally and listen to it while you're cooking. It might help some of that french come back.
I'm also an armchair traveler and I really enjoy reading books about France. I also read books about local french culture from the the early 1900s. lol, all things french are a passion for me, though the Provence are (just left of the Riviera) is where my heart lives. 
lol, if you haven't already, why don't you start checking out the travel section of your local bookstore now!!!
-- bebe
@HonnyBrown wrote:An actual Chateau d'Yqueim? I've heard so much about that wine, to the point where I thought it was a myth! That will be a good tasting. There's a lot of history in those grapes.
My husband and I will both be new to France. When he decides where we go, I'll start hunting the travel sections. I'm so excited. My first meal will be a Croque Monsier (my favorite sandwich)!
@HonnyBrown sorry for the late reply but I didn't see your post until just now. lol, yup! An actual Chateau d'Yqueim!! And he volunteered!! He just has to get his wine cellar back together first because he's been doing infectious disease research in Africa for the past few years and everything went into several areas of storage. He's till commuting back and forth but, when the time is right, I'll be sure to remind him.
I've been dreaming of the mythic Chateau d'Yqueim since I was in my early 20s even though I knew nothing about wine then... and don't know that much more now but I can appreciate good and great wines. Colette is my favorite writer (along with Jane Austin) and Chateau d'Yqueim comes up again and again in her books. She get's criticized because she has a deceptively simple writing style (as does Austin), while Hemingway's Nick Adams Stories get all the adulation.
It's probably going to be a while before I get to try the Chateau d'Yqueim, but I'm really looking forward to it!!
I think you should nudge your husband along a bit. I know that France sounds like it should be expensive, but it doesn't have to be that hard on the wallet. Of course, I travel alone and stay at youth hostels, camp grounds or inexpensive local places. -- I have a slew of guidebooks but Let's Go France (or Paris) and Rick Steves are the best for good quality at rock bottom prices.
Rick's are probably a somewhat better standard quality, while Let's Go can run the gamut. During the infamous trip with a friend of mine (I always travel alone on my France trips these days), We showed up in Avignon at 8pm. With Let's Go, I was able to find a hotel room in old town Avignon for a great rate and I was even able to find parking close by. It was a bit on the seedy side but seemed fine. The walls were paper thin and there seemed to be a lot of opening and closing of doors. lol, After about three hours of this, I realized that this was a hotel that also rented by the hour. Big surprise! But it was perfectly safe, centrally located with parking... so we stayed two more days!
I love a good Croque Monsieur too, as well as a great pain au chocolat, and a big bowl of cafe au lait. Great cheese, saucisson, local bread and wine are wonderful as well. Over the years, I've also eaten at a number of three star Michelin restaurants at relatively rock bottom prices. In France, Michelin only gives (I think it's) 21 different restaurants their 3-star rating each year (and they can be taken away... and sometimes are). Here's how I work the system...
When the new Michelin France comes out, I literally look through all of the restaurant listings in the regions I will be traveling. There are a number of two star and some three star restaurants that have a prix fixe menu at lunch. And frequently it much, much, much less expensive than their a la carte dinner menu. Occasionally, there will be a dinner prix fixe menu, but those are much harder to find. I assume they have these luncheon specials in order to fill up the restaurant at lunchtime (dinner seems to be the big money maker). -- So then I flag these potential bargain eats, and check them out as my travels allow.
There are more prix fixe bargains outside of Paris, but there are a few bargains in Paris sometimes.
-- bebe
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