Luxury Golf Vacations in France with Wine and River Cruises
 When
you realize that France is home to Continental Europe's first
golf course (Pau, 1856), and now boasts the mainland's most top
25 layouts (eight), and top 100 (twenty one), who could return
to this intensely entertaining country without their sticks? The
French game is decidedly relaxed. Two balls are welcome to play
away. Ample tee times allow you to schedule your rounds comfortably
with sightseeing. In a French golf club, you are considered a
member for the day and frequently welcome to enjoy a complimentary
round in the afternoon after your morning game.
 There are around 600 courses here of every flavor
from links to clifftop, sandhills to parkland, wooded to mountain
boasting the work of leading architects like Robert Trent Jones
Sr and Jr, Pete Dye, Ronald Fream, Tom Simpson, Player and Nicklaus.
Robert Von Hagge earns top honors for Les Bordes, the country's
premier layout since it opened in 1986. Located 90 miles southwest
of Paris in the ancient Sologne forest covering the heart of the
Loire Valley, Les Bordes is king because it is a truly total experience.
Hagge's masterpiece is carved through mature oaks and birches,
beautifully groomed, with twelve holes defended by water. Better
still, Les Bordes provides an ideal base to explore the valley's
rich selection of castles (highlighted by Francois I's Chambord),
medieval fortresses, cathedrals, vineyards and neighboring layouts.
Further Southwest, Bordeaux and Biarritz offer the defining French
golf experience: play 18 in the morning, taste the best wines
of Saint Emilion or Medoc in the afternoon. Paris features outstanding
choices. Twenty miles from Notre Dame is National's Albatross,
celebrated host to the French Open for the past 10 years; Fontainebleau
is a Continental top 10 by Tom Simpson where Hogan entertained
American soldiers in 1953; Chantilly is another Tom Simpson delight;
Paris International is a hilly parkland course by Nicklaus offering
impeccable fairways and manicured greens.
 Just ninety minutes by air from Paris, the French
Riviera gathers an impressive number of remarkable championship
golf courses such as Royal Mougins, another marvelous Hagge design
located 20 minutes from La Croisette Cannes; Four Seasons Provence
with two new Dave Thomas' jewels; Gary Player's mountain course,
Chateau de Taulane; and spectacular Fregate overlooking the Mediterranean.
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