Our first house-hunting expedition is coming together nicely. It isn't by any means a traditional tourist itinerary but it serves our purpose of checking out regions, geography, the feel of the countryside.
I can imagine not being from the US and looking at pictures of rural Tennessee, Kentucky or West Virginia and thinking, "How beautiful, how tranquil, how green!" But knowing them, it's clear that none of those places would be right for me, and likewise, I want to explore and learn something about rural France before making a big commitment.

Here's our route:

Land in Lyon - stay a couple of days, rent a car. First night there, having dinner at a brand-new Michelin-star awardee: Maison Clovis.
Drive to Limoges. See where Renoir began his career decorating porcelain. Spend two days.
Head to Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region. Lots of cheese around here.
North to Bourges. A big church is there.
On to Auxerre, in the northwestern tip of Burgundy. From here we take a taxi to our big dining splurge of the trip, in Joigny. La Côte Saint Jacques is one of only 26 three-star restaurants in France and we're very excited about going.

Here's a sample of their current menus:

http://www.cotesaintjacques.com/restaurant/Les-Menus

While in Auxerre we'll spend a day bicycling through the Chablis vineyards.

From there we head to Dijon. I expect to buy some mustard, and if you're a friend and I bring some home to you, act surprised.

The next stop is Beaune, in the heart of Burgundy. Another bicycling day is on the agenda - this time southward through some of the most famous names in the world of wine. With an easy day's pedaling, we'll make our way through Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet.

Our second night in Beaune is the beginning of their jazz festival, and we already have tickets. A wine tasting in a church followed by Le Jazz Hot. (Guest artist: a great American saxophonist named Ricky Ford.)

From Burgundy we head past the Jura mountains to Besançon, nestled in a little nook of France that's north of Geneva and South of Alsace.

In Besançon we give up our rental car and take le train to Zurich. Our friend Anna and her daughter (Calvin's goddaughter) live there and we're looking forward to seeing them.
Dinner that night at Brasserie Lipp. In January 1999 we had lunch there, and the waiter, learning that we lived in Chicago, trotted away in a hurry. He returned with a copy of the local newspaper, whose lead story was a terrible blizzard back home. They had good food, too.

This should be a great trip!