Highlights from a heavenly road trip: Food, wine, culture ... and one brilliant Italian mechanic

Like most Americans of my generation, road trips are part of my vacation DNA.  St. Louis to Ft. Lauderdale in 20 hours straight (my parents alternating driving duties so we didn't have to stop) was the  annual gig, with the six hours to Chicago being a regular long weekend and plenty of other midwestern adventures thrown in.

So I get a Pavlovian shudder of excitement when I pack a car, throw a pillow in the back (means the journey's long enough to offer naps) and get out the maps.  How much more exciting, as a grown up, when that road trip goes through some of the cultural and culinary capitals of the Western world.

Emerge from the Channel Tunnel and pass the site of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Henry VIII and Francis I had their famous meeting.  Drive past some of the most famous names of WWI, spotting military cemeteries dotted in the now-peaceful farmland.  Soon we're in Champagne, with vineyards spreading to the horizon.  A few more hours and it's Burgundy, rich with culture, food and wine.  A couple hours more, a stop-over at picturesque Lake Annecy, nestled in the edges of the Alps.  Through the Mount Blanc tunnel where, sadly, you do not get a free eponymous pen as a prize for transit.  Come down into the vast agricultural plains of Italy before hitting more, smaller mountains.  Past Genoa, the Cinque Terre, and the marble quarries of Carrara, with half the mountain cut away to reveal a gash of pristine white.  Finally, Tuscan countryside and a Renaissance villa 20 minutes outside of Florence.

Yes, there are a few more sightseeing temptations on this route than seeing Rock City.  (An attraction in the Tennessee mountains advertised on countless barn roofs across America.)  This was a multi-destination trip, with gentle drives on all but one day, and plenty of time to explore.  We started in Northern Burgundy, with time to wander the Yonne Valley and do some tasting in Chablis.  Next to Beaune, an hour further south, where we lingered for three nights and threw ourselves into the wines of the Cote d'Or.  This was the gastronomic highlight of the trip; exquisite wines, fabulous meals, even a tour of the Fallot mustard factory that ended up being one of the Top 10 experiences of the trip.

We spent two nights of "family time" with our dear friends Cora and Didier and their happy brood, the youngest of whom is my godson and the most exquisite little boy on the planet.  (No prejuduce there, of course.)  From there, down to Florence for week 2, where we moved the focus from food and wine to culture.  My husband had never been to Tuscany so this was about the basics.  Walking tour of Florence, a visit to the Uffizi, a wander about Santa Croce.  Siena, Greve in Chianti and San Gimignano for a wider Tuscan view.

Ending the holiday with the four-day Easter weekend meant we could take our time getting back.  IF the car worked.  Good Friday was looking grim as the car ... already loaded full of fine wine and ready for the next day's 600-mile haul, started shuddering badly and labouring to accelerate.  It felt pretty much as it had last year when the engine died.  And now it was acting up again, in a foreign country, where I didn't have the language to communicate about cars, on a holiday Friday.  We were saved by the owner of the estate where we were staying, who took us to his local garage, talked the guys into fitting us in, stayed with us all afternoon and even drove us across town to the Audi dealership to pick up the needed part.  Six hours after the last shudder the car was back to normal, and I had a new appreciation for Fiat mechanics.

Back on schedule, we spread the return over three days, driving 11 hours the first and 5 the third, leaving Easter Sunday for a luxurious treat in a chateau hotel in the Champagne region.

We ate too much, drank too much, spent far too much money and have returned with great memories and fine souvenirs.  (Most of the latter now ageing gracefully in our wine fridges.)  All now fodder for the coming series of blog entries.  Stay tuned.