To my fellow travelers,

Join chef Alain and Arlene Sailhac, and chef Francis Lorenzeni, former pastry chef at City Tech, presently retired and living in Alsace with his wife Christian as we discover the extraordinary wines and food in Alsace and Champagne.

The trip will take place from June 30, 2008 - July 8, 2008. Eight nights, all inclusive, but will not include air transportation. This is one more day than our Piedmont trip.

Our trip will take us through the magical Alsatian wine routes, stopping at leading vintners and picture perfect villages and ending with two days in Champagne.

We will stay at the deluxe Chateau d'Isenbourg Rouffach, France for five nights and then have two nights in the Royal Champagne, a Relais & Chateaux and Michelin starred restaurant in Champagne. Both of these hotels are air conditioned, scenically situated on beautiful properties with gardens, beautiful views, and swimming pools.

We will dine at local restaurants featuring the food of the countryside as well as the world famous 3- star Auberge d'Ill in Illhauesern. We will spend a day in Strasbourg which will include dinner at the 2-star Crocodile Restaurant.

Needless to say, there will be plenty of food and wine adventures as well as relaxing time during this glorious week.

Now the serious partó I have organized this trip knowing how well you all love to travel, and spending time in France with French chefs and each other is very special; that is the good news.

You are all very savvy as well, and know the Euro to the dollar situation as we speak. The trip, if it is booked now with payment in full will be $5,450.00 per person, with a single person supplement of $1,000.00. Hopefully this will freeze the dollar and take into consideration any unforeseen changes until then. If the Euro continues to climb we will have to charge more and needless to say, if the dollar goes significantly down, we will get a refund or drink more Champagne.

Please let me know immediately as I do not want to hold up reservations in Alsace.

We will need 28-30 people to make the trip viable. It is suggested you fly to Basel, Switzerland and depart from Roissy airport in Paris.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. You can call E-mail me at grtcooks@aol.com.

Best,
Arlene