A month in France - where should I spend more or less time.

So in April I have plans to become a member of the BIG Resignation. I’m targeting to take off and spend a month in France and hitting all the regions. I’m a seasoned visitor to wine countries but never France. It will be a bucket list trip for me.
So I need some help.
I plan on 30 days. Either start in Champagne and work my way south and around to end in Bordeaux or vice Versa.
So where should I Spend more time and where less? I hear Bordeaux is not so exciting. But champagne is.
I love all the wines from bubbles to burgs, all the Rhône’s and Bordeaux.
I’m open to all ideas. Thanks everyone in advance.

Oh goodness. What a dream. I’ve visited wineries only in Burgundy (where I’ve been three times) and Champagne (where I’ve been once). Never been to Bordeaux or Rhone–I’m dying to go. Here would be my totally hedonistic wine-based trip:

5 nights Paris
3 nights Alsace (stay Strasbourg or Colmar)
3 nights Champagne (Reims)
5 nights Bordeaux
7 nights Burgundy (stay Beaune or rent house)
3 nights Jura (or Loire)
1 night Troisgros
3 nights Rhone (stay Avignon?)

BUT, that’s A LOT of wine. In practice, I’d break it up with some non-wine stuff. Go to the Mediterranean, Normandy, etc. maybe even veer over into Switzerland

Shouldn’t this thread be in the Travel forum?

I have not been, but a local importer has told me that the town, and region, of Sancerre is beautiful. I might want to add something farther south, in Provence.

I would start in Paris to acclimatise, maybe 5 to 7 days, a week in Burgundy, a week in Provence, where you can travel to Rhone regions and then travel for a week heading back to Paris slowly. St Emilion is really lovely, and the Loire is picturesque, perhaps stop off in the Dordogne for some truffles and village life.
The other alternative would be Alsace and Alpine country.

Add Nice

Do more than wine regions. Go to Rouen, and visit the Normandy beaches. Lyon, from which you can jump off into the Rhone. Avignon. Etc, etc.

Loire I hear is gorgeous.

Basically that’s a blank canvas and u can paint it in 100 different styles… have fun !

Strictly personal preference but I’d stay in one of the more rural storybook Alsatian villages between strasbourg and colmar.
The important thing to remember is you’re not going to go wrong!

Yeah, I mean it’s impossible to make a mistake. If it weren’t for restaurant and winery reservations, I’d consider just renting a car and playing it by ear.

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Seconding this. Was going to visit Normandy in April 2020 before COVID dashed those plans. Saint Malo, Mont Saint Michel, Brest, then down to Noirmoutier with a stop by Domaine de la Pepiere. Then there’s Annecy over by Switzerland on my bucket list. I also have loved the Dordogne and Carcassonne in the south-west. Also when we visited the Rhone valley we enjoyed staying in Tournon - because of the hotel (Villeon) and also our visit to the Valrhona factory of all places…

Would minimize time spent in Paris, because it’s going to be easy to get to on subsequent visits, unlike some of the more obscure / far-flung places

The other thing I would consider is moving it to May. Spring in France is something else, and still not many tourists around then.
It also depends on how you like to holiday, but I prefer to pull up to one spot for a week or so and immerse myself, rather than flitting from one place to the next.
We stayed for a fortnight in Fontaine de Vaucluse in Provence and just lived the village life with day trips within 100 or so KM radius. You can still see a lot and get into the rhythm of the village.

+1 for the Troisgros stay-over. We drove from Bordeaux to Troisgros last summer on our way north (Burgundy/Champagne) and it is highly recommended.

Bordeaux has improved as a tourist destination. It had all the right bones but was quite run down until a recent and huge renovation. It has now been transformed and is well worth a visit.

I know you said France, but Bordeaux is only a couple of hours from San Sebastián with some of greatest restaurants in the world, and also some of the best tapa bars.

Nice hotel near Avignon. Great breakfast. Close to southern Rhône.

Do you speak French (or will you be with someone who speaks French)?

Buy one of the French wine guides – the Guide Hachette is probably the most useful. Don’t worry about how reliable the ratings are – the guide will have contact information for thousands of wine producers.

Champagne is definitely one of the most satisfying regions to visit. There are hundreds of small producers, many of whom are making high-quality wine that they sell for insanely cheap prices, and that they will pour for you in their kitchens. (But don’t assume that any of them speak English.)

In my experience, the most satisfying visits are ones in which we can spend high-quality time with the winemaker in a relatively informal setting. If this is what you are seeking, and if you are willing to accept that you may not be tasting the very best wines of France, then you can find a lot of pleasure not just in Champagne, but also in the Loire, in the Southern Rhone, in Languedoc. All of those regions also have a density of wine producers that make the visiting much easier. (Jura, for instance, is a beautiful region, off the beaten track, with some fascinating wine, but there just aren’t that many wineries to visit.). Burgundy, surprisingly, can still offer a lot of satisfaction, especially if you head for smaller villages like Auxey-Duresses.

This some great advice. I took 3 years of French in HS but sadly that was 40 years ago.
I love spending time with wineries big and small. 3 tastings a day is my limit. Usually 2 only.
Hope to spend a few days tasting and a few days touring the regions. 5 days in each place.

Thanks for the info. Totally agree. I want to stay at least 5 days in 5 or 6 spots. Tasting 50% of the time.
Touring the other half.

Shit for wine but the islands of the Golfe du Morbihan in Bretagne are absolutely lovely: Île-aux-Moines, Île-d’Arz, etc. And then outside the Golfe as well: Belle-Île-en-Mer, Île de Groix.

Actually, not just the islands but the whole coast. Cities that are worth seeing: Vannes, Auray, Quiberon (walk the Côte Sauvage), Arzon, Port Navalo, Locmariaquer, etc.

Again, if the main focus is vineyards and wineries, forget it. But if you’re looking for beautiful views and fresh seafood, it does the trick!

Disclaimer: my wife is from that area so she’s been selling it to me for the past XX years. I might have drunk the Kool-Aid.