Marcia Kimpton returns for her sixth travel diary with Gurus Magazine, marking a milestone in her series exploring the world’s most enchanting destinations—now focusing on her deep love for France.
Marcia invites readers on a personal journey through her favorite regions, Bourgogne and the Côte d’Azur. From filming her movie in the quaint streets of Beaune to discovering Michelin-starred gems in Nice and iconic stays along the Mediterranean, her storytelling captures the diverse beauty and vibrant spirit of the French countryside and coast. Join Marcia as she shares why France remains the country that captivates her heart most of all.
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH FRANCE
by Marcia Kimpton
I wrote for Gurus Magazine last May 2025 about My Love Affair with Paris, but this year I wanted to expand and write about my love affair with the Côte d’Azur and Bourgogne regions. I have traveled to 56 countries, and France is the country I have visited more than any other country in the world. There are 18 regions in France, and I have been to 16 and have visited over 30 cities and towns over the years. It’s hard to limit my words when writing about a country so diverse in terrain, one you can fully drive across in two long days. I chose Bourgogne and the Côte d’Azur because for me, they are my favorite parts of France.
Let’s begin with Bourgogne — or shall we say it like the Americans do, “Burgundy!” My favorite wine is from there. I will say I loved visiting Bordeaux for its wine, too, but the city isn’t as quaint as Beaune. And Beaune! It truly has the most incredible restaurants per capita, with affordable Meursault flowing by the glass or bottle!
As a filmmaker, there is so much beauty in this area that I decided to write many scenes of my movie, An American Abroad, so we could film in Beaune. The hardest part about filming there was being tempted by my favorite wine every night after filming and then waking at 6 AM. Not from a hangover, because the quality of wine is so exceptional, but waking at 6 AM after drinking that much every night of filming isn’t easy! This is not a complaint as much as sharing the real facts of filming in the wine country of France!
We were lucky to film at my favorite restaurant, La Buissonnière, where the chef owners, a husband and wife duo, created the most exceptional menu for our film wrap party.
Right across the street is the legendary boutique hotel Le Cep, owned by Jean Claude Bernhard, who has hand-picked every beautiful detail from the antique furniture to the paintings. He heard about my love affair with his town and approved us to film there, and just filming at this stunning hotel elevated my movie to the next level because the French understand beauty! I can’t say enough about Le Cep — the location, the fabulous brunch every morning, the hip chic bar with its old absinthe, and the outstanding front desk concierges. You need a good concierge to book your dinners nightly, because the restaurants here are so exceptional they are booked all year long, and I think you get a lot for your money!
My second favorite boutique hotel is the Abbaye de Maizières, which also let us film in their cave restaurant during the day, because at night it is booked months in advance! My third choice is La Hotel de Beaune.
Now let’s talk about wine! On my first of five trips to Burgundy, I met the lovely Charles Epailly with Safari Tours of Beaune, who was my tour guide for the many wine tastings at the vineyards, which must be booked in advance.Unlike Napa Valley, you can rarely just show up to taste wine in this stunning French valley.
There are so many outstanding vineyards, but my all-time favorites are Château de Charodon and Domaine Marguerite Carillon. Charles even helped me set up filming at a vineyard for the movie. He isn’t an actor; he is a wine expert, but he played the winemaker in my film! He is a native of Beaune and couldn’t have been kinder in helping us while filming, and was so great at providing exceptional wine tastings for all the trips I booked with him.
If you don’t want to stay in the city, I highly suggest Como Le Montrachet. I loved the location, surrounded by vineyards, and there are outstanding restaurants everywhere that you can ride a bike to because there are bike paths everywhere!
I love this region so much that I created a 6-day trip with Charles in May 2027, arriving in Paris and driving to Burgundy with a different fun itinerary every day. There are only 12 spaces available, so send me a DM on Instagram if you are interested! We will stay in Paris at my favorite boutique hotel, L’Hôtel, which is legendary and built in the 19th century on the Left Bank, and one I only discovered this past year! Then we will travel to Beaune for 4 days of glorious wine tasting.
Now I could write a travel book about the South of France, but I must limit myself in this article to mentioning only my favorite spots on the Côte d’Azur. This is very difficult!
Let me start with my favorite hotels. It’s a close tie between the Hôtel du Cap in Antibes and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. I don’t know how to choose because both are so exceptional and worth every dollar, with the stylish rooms, stunning pools, incredible restaurants, exceptional service, and both have great locations with beautiful views of the Mediterranean.
If I had to say what stood out the most, it was the exceptional spa at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat. I truly had the best facial in the world there, and I loved meeting the spa director to discuss all the varied, unique treatments they offer! If those options are out of budget, you must have lunch at Club Dauphin and try the best French spa treatments on the Côte d’Azur!
Next, I would not miss staying at Le Couvent in Nice, a former 17th-century convent for nuns (dating to 1604), located in the heart of the old city. I got a corner room looking over the city with the sunrise shining in every morning into what I can only call contemporary monastery design, so chic! I will say the service and food were not exceptional, but the hotel room design and location in Nice were outstanding.
My two favorite restaurants in Nice that I did not discover until I did my research, staying there last May, were Onice and Jan, both Michelin-starred. But because I couldn’t get into Jan, I went to Le Bistrot de Jan. I was lucky enough to meet Chef Jan, and I must say his bistrot was perfect on every level, from cuisine, wine, atmosphere, and very affordable! I will visit Nice many more times because they have over 1,000 restaurants to explore, and it’s such a multicultural, interesting city by the sea!
The one restaurant I never miss when visiting Cannes is La Môme. They have two restaurants: one on the beach, La Môme Plage, and one in the center of Cannes. It’s a hard reservation to get, but it’s so worth it because they often have great DJs playing!
If you decide not to stick to the coast, I highly suggest going to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, this ancient medieval small town with many one-of-a-kind artistic galleries and boutiques.
I love La Colombe d’Or for its atmosphere and the priceless art on the walls, but in my opinion, the food quality has really gone down, so I wouldn’t bother trying to get a hard reservation. Big tip: just say you have no reservation but want to have a drink at the bar!
This ancient town has had many legendary artists who gathered at this hotel, but the ones most often discussed are Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Jean-Paul Sartre, and James Baldwin at the bar!
My favorite restaurant in Saint-Paul-de-Vence is Le Tilleul, and I have gone so many times when I was living in Vence that they called me “the dessert lady”, because one time I ordered 4 desserts and pretended they were for both me and my photographer friend Chantal Spieard! So worth the drive up to this little town in the hills above the Côte d’Azur!
My love affair will continue with France because there are so many cities left to explore, but if you are as sure about France as I am, I highly suggest you make a trip to Bourgogne and the Côte d’Azur. You will not be disappointed, and you may come home with the same love affair I have for this amazing country!
