‘T
he motor-car has restored the romance of travel,” wrote the novelist Edith Wharton breathlessly, at the beginning of her book A Motor-Flight Through France. It was 1908, and the car was brand new, any comprehension of its polluting tendencies far in the future. Thank goodness for hybrid and electric cars, as I still love a driving tour, especially on quieter roads, south towards the sunshine, punctuated with the kind of great meals that France still does so well. My household holds two drivers, but no nondrinkers: if there is a wine flight in sight, we both want it and, this not being 1908, that means an overnight stay. So, with the almost impossible task of narrowing down my favourite French restaurants to six, I have chosen places that either offer accommodation — three are part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux group — or are in places such as Lyon or Menton, where a comfortable place to sleep off a great dinner is easily found. Bon appétit!
Le Bois sans Feuilles, Ouches
Le Bois sans Feuilles in Ouches is like dining in nature
It must have taken courage to move a triple-Michelin-star Relais & Châteaux restaurant of nearly 90 years’ standing a few miles out of town, but that is what the Troisgros family — one of the most famous names in French cuisine — did in 2017. And it has paid off, because they now have luxuriously simple accommodation and a glass-walled dining room, so that it really is like dining in nature (the name means “the wood without leaves”) — if nature had pillars, perfect slender tables and incredible food. César Troisgros, who is from the fourth generation of the gastronomic family, dreams up dishes that are as satisfying to the eye as to the palate: delicate crisps and tiny cups, a slash of John Dory dividing a savoury sauce from a decadent pile of black truffle slices. You will think you are unable to manage an almond soufflé or a millefeuille with caramel and clementine. You will be wrong. And for each marvel the sommelier Haik Manoukian has an ideal wine, ranging from the classics (a luscious Coche-Dury) to an Areni Noir from his native Armenia, all spice and silk.
