August 13, 2008

We just returned from a wonderful eight-days vacation in France. We flew into Paris, took the train to the city of Tour in the Loire Valley where we picked up a rental car, which we drove to our perfect hotel in Onzain, called Domaine Des Hautes de Loire, a Relais & Chateaux property. http://www.domainehautsloire.com/

I highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the Loire Valley. Our accommodations were all one could hope for, the staff was professional, engaging and friendly. Breakfast was served either outside on the large terrace or inside in the spacious and intimate dining room. The meals at the hotel were superb and beautifully presented on a wide variety of innovative dishes. The sommelier matched each course with local wines. We tasted some great Sancerre and Vouvray wines. Our days were spent visiting nine of the many Loire Valley Chateaux. Fodor review http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/france/loire-valley/review-30403.html

Loire Valley; Often called the "Garden of France". the Loire Valley is an enchanted land of vineyards, flowers and rolling green hills dotted with more than a thousand chateaux. It is perhaps the charm of its gentle pace life that has, for centuries, made it a sought-after location for poets and writers. It is a step back through the history of some of France's finest works of art.

Chateau Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci is buried in its chapel

Chateau Chambord, the most amazing huge hunting lodge; it was only lived in for 39 days

Chateau Chaumont; located right across the river Loire from our hotel

Chateau Chenonceaux, it has a spectacular 2-story gallery built over the Cher River. Catherine de Medici took this castle in her possession and threw out her deceased husband’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who had added the gallery spanning the river,

Chateau Blois; A rich resource for students of architectural history. This is were the Vanderbilt’s stole the idea for their Biltmore stairwell in Ashville, USA

Chateau Villandry; The gardens are most likely the best in the world, we spent hours taking it all in. Photographs do not do it any justice.

Chateau Cheverney; This is still lived in and often used to entertain the New York “Hoi polloi’s”. The home is often featured in “W” magazine

Chateau Loche; Situated in the Indre valley, Loches is the most impressive fortress of the Loire region

Chateau Mont Poupon; a picturesque castle-like chateau, which we only viewed from the road.

The last night we spent in Paris at the hotel Bourg -Tibourg, a wonderful, intimate and inviting oasis in the heart of the Marais section near the Paris's Notre Dame. http://www.hotelbourgtibourg.com

That night we enjoyed the most luxurious and extravagant dinner in the Le Cinq restaurant located in the Four Seasons, George V Hotel. A 3 star Michelin rated restaurant, Le Cinq is considered one of the best restaurants not only in Paris, but the entire world! Expensive but definitely worth the experience! http://www.fourseasons.com/paris/dining.html

Menu: Spider crab, marinated cepe mushrooms with sorrel

Rock red mullet with dry fennel devilled sauce

Squab from the Racan Country browned with five spices

Milk-fed veal medallion with Colonnata bacon

Provencal goat cheese roll nepita oil

Strawberry Liegeois, mojito granite with white grapes

Fodor Review; The massive flower arrangement at the entrance proclaims the no-holds-barred luxury that is on offer here. Painted powder blue, with stucco medallions worked into the ceiling trim, this beautiful though staid room sets the stage for chef Philippe Legendre. Formerly a legend at Taillevent, he is clearly thriving in these kitchens. Occasionally, the luxe menu (line-caught turbot with pumpkin-and-grapefruit marmalade, a licorice-infused pear cube with Szechuan pepper ice cream) is brought back down to earth by such selections as grouse and haggis in an aged Scotch whiskey sauce.

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Sandlapper Magazine review click here

Southern Living article click here

7th Annual Vivian Major Concert info click here

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Southern Living Feature Article

Southern Living magazine featured Kilburnie the Inn at Craig Farm in its February 2005 edition. Click on the image below to enlarge the article for viewing and reading. To enlarge the photo once the picture loads, just click on the photo again to expand it in the window.

Sandlapper Magazine Reviews Kilburnie

According to SANDLAPPER MAGAZINE

Excerpt from Sandlapper Spring 2004.........More than once I nearly convinced myself I'd taken a grievous wrong turn and daydreamed my way to Vermont. Kilburnie is reminiscent of such places. The house, which dates to 1827, had fallen on hard times at its original downtown location and was scheduled to be demolished ...

...The house was moved to a pastoral setting so picturesque as to make landscape painters drool. Kilburnie has been lovingly restored and is now regarded as both an architectural jewel and one of the finest B&B’s in the Southeast...

Excerpt from Sandlapper Spring 2006.........Another draw (to Lancaster) is Kilburnie, the Inn at Craig Farm. Located about three miles north of downtown, Kilburnie is the product of courage, money and devotion expended by co-owner/innkeeper Johannes Tromp and his partner John Craig. Craig, a Lancaster native, met Tromp in New York, where Tromp was general manager of Windows on the World restaurant for eight years. There he oversaw 2 kitchens, 45 chefs and 450 employees. Here, it's a much different story. He still gets an international clientele - Tromp himself is Dutch- but unlike in Manhattan, he has a chance to visit with them. Same for the residents of Lancaster, who he's come to know through various clubs and organizations. "You see people on a regular basis," Tromp says, adding that there's no way he'd return to New York. "I finally have time to talk to people."

Named after a castle in Scotland, Kilburnie was a grand Lancaster home that had fallen into terrific disrepair. Reading that it was going to be destroyed, Tromp and Craig stepped in to save it. They moved it to Craig's family property and created a bed-and-breakfast with a sophisticated sense of early America, appointing it with antiques and artwork of George Washington and Andrew Jackson. Wedding occur each weekend from April till October, and business executives meet at the luxurious conference center across the road.....

The 9th. Vivian Major Robinson Concert

Featured

The Atlanta Sacred Choral

February 10, 2008

First Presbyterian Church Sanctuary

The cost of the concert was underwritten by the Vivian Major Robinson Endowment

The concert series is held in memory of Vivian Major Robinson, a well-known local musician whose devotion to classical music and music education impacted many students in Lancaster County. It is designed to appeal to the whole family and help stimulate interest in classical music for all ages. An intermission allows the audience a chance to meet and chat with the performers.

The gross revenues support the programs of the Lancaster County Council of the Arts.

Vivian Major Robinson Classical Concert

The Lancaster County Council of the Arts.
Post Office Box 613
Lancaster, South Carolina 29721
Phone: (803) 285 7451


	South Carolina Heritage Tourism Award recipient