May 29, 2008

Europe | France | Bordeaux

Vintage France

By Karena Akhavein

Guess who's looking down at Paris now?

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Say bonjour to bling bling. Mega-maximalist decorator to the stars (and the Sultan of Brunei), Jacques Garcia has lent his gilded touch to the Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux. Regent’s first France property — formerly the Grand Hotel de Bordeaux — opens next month in the world’s largest UNESCO Heritage urban area, and is nothing if not the embodiment of high 19th-century style. The new 150 rooms and 22 suites in the historic palace are festooned in swags of royal blue, red, and gold Garcia-designed fabrics, while the marble in the bathrooms has names like Brun Emperador and Rouge Napoléon.

The hotel sits smack in front of the fabled Grand Théatre, amid the Triangle d’Or, Bordeaux’s haute-shopping mecca — though shopaholics need not leave the premises: Fashion Avenue, Regent’s in-house shopping arcade, is home to requisite upscale brands such as Gucci, YSL and Cavalli. The centerpiece to the hotel, however, may be the state-of-the-art 11,000-square-foot Les Bains de Lea Spa (when it’s completed later this year).

Yearning for a taste of Bordeaux’s more traditional past? Starting September 20, Trek Travel leads active oenophiles on its first bike tour through the region that has, according to the New York Times, now stolen the French culinary crown from Paris. In addition to pedaling through the storied vineyards of Saint Emilion, Pauillac and Médoc, you’ll eat at Michelin-starred standouts Chateau Cordeillan-Bages and Les Sources de Caudalie. You’ll also get what Trek Travel tells us is exclusive access to the Saint Emilion Harvest Festival. Dating back to medieval times, the legendary wine event will invite three lucky trip participants to be inducted into Saint Emilion’s ancient society of wine judges, the Jurade. But first they’ll have to take to the vineyards and haul their share of ripe grapes — as has been the tradition since 1199.