paris is not the only capital in france. strasbourg gets a little uppity because it hosts the euro parliament, and with the new christian lacroix designed TGV (high speed train), it just got a lot closer. lucky us. spend a day or two sampling alsatian haute cuisine and wines.


you've arrived.
get a running start with a gastronomical tour, led (in english) by les rallyes d'aglaé, through the crooked, medieval streets of strasbourg. yeah there's the thousand year-old cathedral, but break for an impromptu picnic on a scenic bridge to taste homemade kougelhopf and local gingerbread. wash it all down with an alsatian riesling.

walk past the scores of scrumptious-looking bakery displays (if you dare) to reach one of many "winstubs" or wine rooms. like chez yvonne (10, rue du sanglier), built in 1873 and run by a professor specializing in all things alsatian. if you stay for a sampling of wines or regional fare, like choucroute (french sauerkraut), you could rub elbows with jacques chirac and other politicians and celebrities who stop by when in town.


southern exposure.
just a hop skip and 65 kilometers south, close to another spectacular medieval city, colmar, you can enjoy the famed and newly redecorated 3 star restaurant, l'auberge de l'ill (2, rue de collonges au mont d'or, illhaeusern). chef marc haeberlin, who studied cuisine with greats like bocuse, troisgros, lassere, and lenotre, took over the inn from his father paul, who had his 3 stars pinned 40 years ago. a to-die-for seven-course sampler includes lobster, grilled john dory, sukiyaki marinated foie gras and too many mouth-watering dishes for us to go on.


vin fin.
working up a taste for local flavor? take a gourmet cooking class from chef isabelle sipp at atelier cardamome (1, grand rue, colmar), who learned from the best: arpege chef alain passard. take off your apron and enjoy the lunch you've created, sampling a different alsace wine with each course - riesling, sylvaner, gewürztraminer, and a grand cru osterberg pinot gris from isabelle's husband's winery, l'agapé (10 rue des tuileries, riquewihr).

you've come this far, so why stop now? continue along the route des vins to bergheim and stop at the domaine marcel deiss (15 route du vin, bergheim) to admire the pinot and gewurztraminer grapes in the vineyards. owner jean-michel will tell you about his philosophy on how to educate grapes to yield their best. but the proof is in the glass. you have to try a grand cru schoenenbourg or an altenberg de bergheim.


les rallyes d'aglaé 33.03.88.47.36.71. www.rallyes-aglae.com

chez yvonne 33.03.88.32.84.15. www.chez-yvonne.net

l'auberge de l'ill 33.03.89.71.89.00. www.auberge-de-l-ill.fr

cardamome atelier culinaire 33.06.25.99.39.40.
www.cardamome.fr

domaine agapé 33.03.89.47.94.23.

domaine marcel deiss 33.03.89.73.63.37.
www.marceldeiss.com