Either the kids were too young or the car was too old to make the 1,221-mile journey that would take us from our home in the south of Portugal to our wooden chalet in the south of France. Jura mountains.
We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time so our yellow labrador, Baloo, could come on holiday with us but unfortunately he left us for greener pastures when he was 17. Maybe that’s what prompted us, now empty nesters, to pack our 3-year-old yellow labrador, Bellini (newly), into our car and hit the road.
The route was carefully planned to include stops at places with good food (the carrot that got us through long hours behind the wheel), culturally interesting places and, of course, where dogs are welcome. European hotels have generally always been less dog-friendly than in the UK, but our trip came together with wonderful ease. On the second day, although we set out before dawn in the pouring rain, guided by Google, and I led my husband down an incredibly narrow street that became impassable. As I inch back down the winding medieval alleyway, Hemmingway’s words come to mind: ‘Never travel with someone you don’t love.’ But our marriage has survived, and road trips can become ‘our thing’ because of the sense of freedom they engender.
The first stop was Cáceres in the Extremadura region of Spain. One of the best-preserved historical centres, it is an extraordinarily beautiful town with more than 30 towers, surrounded by 12th-century Moorish walls. A mix of Gothic and Renaissance architecture, on one of the cobblestone medieval streets, our home for the night was Atrio.
Hotel Atrio Cáceres (rooms from £333, atriocaceres.com) skillfully places the comfort of the 21st century on ancient walls. It has 14 rooms in the main building, and across the road the newly opened Atrio Paredes Saavedra Palace has a further 11 rooms, heavy with history.
We were in a room in the main building, with a terrace and an elegant marble-lined bathroom. On the ground floor was the 3-star Michelin Restaurant run by owners José Polo and Toño Péres. It was beyond dazzling. Dogs can keep you company, but since we wanted to concentrate on the 22 courses undisturbed, we left Bellini upstairs after tiring out in the square and alleys of Cáceres.
Don’t miss the homemade biscuits and cakes from the convent opposite the Atrio, where nuns still operate the turnstile system of the past.
Before starting our dinner, we took a look at Atrio’s wine cellar, which was the scene of a daring robbery a few years ago. Security was tightened, no photography was allowed, but it was one of the most memorable basements I’ve ever seen. Unlike the standard aesthetic of dusty, dimly lit shelves where you have to sweep away the cobwebs to see what’s there, this was an article of pale wood with 42,000 wine bottles illuminated by soft light. It features an extensive collection of Chateau d’ Yquem dating from 1891 to 2016, with the bottles being backlit making it easy to see how the color of the wine darkens as it matures.
The menu includes the discovery of Iberian pork; Think squid and pig ear stew with squid, pork jowl pudding with caviar, and glazed lobster with pork gravy, green curry and lemongrass. The courses were small but oh so good. They kept coming, as José and Toño wandered the packed restaurant, chatting with newcomers and returnees alike.
I was sated and a little nervous when I saw how Bellini had spent the evening when we staggered upstairs. We didn’t need to worry. Bellini left her basket and lay across our bed with her legs in the air. You would think he had taken 22 classes.
Rain followed us for most of the nine-hour drive to our next stop in Bordeaux. But as you enter under the stone gate to Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey (rooms from £273, lapauriepeyragueylalique.com), the sun reflecting evening light onto the ancient, soft stone. Parts of the Château date back to the 13th century and grapes have been grown here since 1618. They made a cameo appearance in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, where Sebastian Flyte arrives at Charles Ryder’s Oxford college rooms and says, “There’s something about me.” a motor car, a basket of strawberries and a bottle of Château Peyraguey… A paradise full of strawberries.”
The 2* Michelin restaurant, headed by chef Jérôme Schilling, still has “paradise with strawberries” and various other items such as duck and chestnuts with morello cherries. The menu here is also an excuse to showcase the castle’s magnificent sautés, which you can admire through the restaurant’s glass walls and the vines that surround it. The 400-year-old Lafaurie-Peyraguey was the first prominent raw wine estate in France to become a hotel when it was taken over by Lalique with the aim of combining the worlds of wine, crystal, gastronomy and hospitality. They have also done this successfully in Scotland with Glenturret.
On the way back, we also stopped in Bordeaux, but this time the charming St. Just outside the town of Émillion. Narrow streets run along medieval houses and part of the 12th-century walls remain, the rest being given over to vintners, wine bars and restaurants. Saving ourselves for dinner, we walked the steep streets instead of settling down to eat, but I’ve already booked the Logis de la Cadène, located in a narrow street, for next time.
Château Troplong Mondot (rooms from £184, troplong-mondot.com) was our home at night. Visible from the vineyards, St. The perfect base to explore the sparkling towers of Émilion and the wines of the region. A Premier Grand Cru Classé wine estate, it has recently opened its doors to guests, with a small number of rooms in its 18th-century Château and the beautifully designed two-bed cottage in which we were set up. Think stone floors, a large fireplace, wood shutters, and claw-foot bathtubs, as well as crisp linens, lamps, and soft blue walls. The personification of comfort.
We continued our dinner exercise there as we were shown around the 43-hectare estate, a pioneer of sustainable winemaking. But Bellini was much more interested in his kitchen garden, especially his Indian Running Ducks and noisy pigs. We found none of that on our dinner plate that night at Les Belles Perdrix, the Chateau’s restaurant that has both red and green Michelin stars. But there was a reward from the garden in the form of candied celery stuffed with mushrooms, lovage juice and a light peat cream. It will be served over a roaring fire.
Salamanca, a sandstone wonder, was our last stop. It was harder to find a nice dog-friendly hotel here, but we settled on the Palacio de Castellanos (rooms start from £120, nh-hotels.com) and a room with a view of the beautiful 15th-century Convento de las Dueñas.
We only had one evening to explore, but the golden city glittered under the rain and the soft light of the lamps. A few minutes’ walk to Plaza Mayor, the buzzing heart of the city, was enough to convince us that this should be our first stop next time. But Bellini may have had other views as he walked through the rain instead of enjoying the luxury of his abode as before.