Music and Markets in Bordeaux

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Imagine experiencing everything France has to offer—wine, food, music, and atmosphere—in a fabulous never-to-be-forgotten week. Then imagine no longer, and let Music and Markets make it come true.   Unique among experiences in the travel industry, Music and Markets in Bordeaux offers an extraordinary combination of France’s best—a unique grape-treatment spa, sublime cuisine, wines to swoon over, and best of all, mingling with world-class musicians throughout the day before hearing them perform in an intimate setting each evening.   Music and Markets indulges guests during this week with a delightfully rich menu of culture and gastronomy. The first night is spent in the medieval wine village of St. Emilion, walking through the cobbled lanes lined with gorgeous honey-hued homes and monuments, elegant churches, inviting shops, and evocative ruins.   The next day, participants luxuriate, relax, and rejuvenate during a morning of pampering at the world-renowned Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa. After a drive through the lush rolling hills and green valleys of the Perigord region, guests are welcomed to a hilltop chateau.   For the next three days, guests tour the gardens of family-owned Chateau Sardi in Bordeaux, including a bountiful parlor lunch and a concert on a unique double piano with an amazing musical history. They choose between a cooking class with Chef Georges or a wine-tasting class with John Salvi, Master of Wine. And they visit a nearby Bordeaux winery, gaining insight into the intricacies of quality wine making and enjoying an opportunity to purchase wines direct from the viticulteur.   But it is the afternoon and evening itineraries for the three days that set this Bordeaux offering apart from all others. Guests enjoy a lively house party with world-class musicians and fellow music lovers at Le Faure, a beautifully restored wine estate in the midst of Bordeaux vineyards. Evenings are spent mingling with other guests, savoring hors d’ oeuvres and aperitifs before stepping into the salon of La Musique, where artists introduce the works prepared for the evening. This incredible venue, originally designed in the 1700s as a celebration hall for the vendage, is a concert salon unlike any other, with wonderful oak beams, stone arched windows, and a superb Steinway previously owned by Alfred Brendel.   And then dinner. These nightly creations of Chef Georges Gotrand, an artist in his own right, are presented by candlelight. Georges introduces each night’s elegant menu, and the resident master of wine says a few words about the night’s wines. After the main course guests return to La Musique for a short, more informal concert before returning to L’ Orangerie for an impressively bountiful cheeseboard, dessert, and coffee.   “There is simply nothing like this experience anywhere,” notes Kirk Woodyard, co-founder of Music & Markets. “Each day new guests arrive, some to perform and some to listen. And you can’t tell the difference until you strike up a conversation. But everybody’s on vacation so everyone enjoys the exquisite food, the wine- growers’ tours, and the tastings together. The Bordeaux tour is my personal favorite of the year.”   This potent combination of superb wines, pampering, fabulous music, and an intimate setting in idyllic countryside begins October 3. Each Music and Markets tour is limited to no more than 10 people, allowing each participant to receive personal service and attention unavailable on other tour packages. In the comfortable and intimate Music and Markets group setting, clients are always heard, catered to, and made comfortable.   For more information about the Music and Markets in Bordeaux tour, or any other Music and Markets offering, call 1-703-476-4357 or visit www.musicetc.us
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