Europe Trip 2026 — Day by Day

Collin hosts a wine education dinner focused on Right Bank Bordeaux — specifically Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. A deliberate pre-trip primer so the Bordeaux leg has more meaning. When we stand in those vineyards in July, we'll know what we're looking at.

June 10, 1944 — four days after D-Day — the SS Das Reich division marched into this quiet village and killed 642 inhabitants. Men were shot in barns. Women and children were locked in the church and burned alive. Six people survived by hiding under the dead.

De Gaulle ordered it preserved exactly as left — rusting cars, collapsed buildings, personal belongings still inside homes. It has been decomposing in place for 80 years as a permanent national memorial.

Drive ~2 hrs east into the Dordogne. Wednesday market is the whole point — one of France's great food markets, filling medieval streets. Morning exploring + eating. Lunch at an excellent local restaurant. Stay overnight — Sarlat is dramatically more beautiful at night when the honey-colored limestone glows under lamplight.

Original cave discovered in 1940 by four teenagers following their dog. Over 600 paintings — horses, bison, aurochs, deer, a mammoth — approximately 17,000 years old. Not stick figures: perspective, motion, anatomical precision.

Original permanently sealed in 1963 (human breath was destroying the pigments). Lascaux IV (2016) is a government-commissioned full-scale replica with millimeter precision. Stunning modern building in the hillside.

Back at Mount Louie for a relaxed evening after two packed Dordogne days. Fire up the grill, open local wine, decompress.

Château Le Pin (sha-TOH luh PAN) — tiny 5-acre estate, ~700 cases/year, $3,000–$6,000+/bottle. Not a tourist winery. One of the rarest wines on Earth. The pre-trip wine dinner makes this meaningful beyond "expensive wine."

2026 Stage 7 finishes in Bordeaux July 10 — 175km flat sprint from Hagetmau. Finish at Place des Quinconces (plahs day kan-KONS), one of Europe's largest public squares. Final 3km along the Garonne quays — spectacular viewing. Free to attend.

Publicity caravan first (~20 min of free swag), then 170+ riders at 40+ mph. Bordeaux has hosted a Tour finish 133 times, second only to Paris. letour.fr

5,500 prehistoric stones placed in mysterious alignments stretching across the Brittany countryside. This is a pre-written-history site — we don't know how or why ancient peoples erected these megaliths. Older than Stonehenge. The stones sit on ley lines — proposed alignments between ancient sacred sites across vast distances.

Arrive ~5:30 PM. Dinan is one of Brittany's best-preserved medieval towns — cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, ancient ramparts. A perfect place to decompress after the travel day before heading into Normandy.

Mont Saint-Michel (mon san mee-SHELL) — UNESCO World Heritage Site. A medieval abbey perched on a tidal island, surrounded by vast sand flats that flood with the tides. One of France's most iconic landmarks — instantly recognizable, utterly unique.

The abbey dates to the 8th century. At high tide, it becomes an island. The narrow streets wind up to the church at the summit. Allow time to explore — it's a small village unto itself.

St. Lo serves as home base for the next three nights. Centrally located for all the D-Day sites. The town itself was nearly destroyed in WWII — 95% of it was leveled during the Battle of Normandy. Known as "The Capital of Ruins."

Chartres Cathedral (SHART-ruh) — 12th century Gothic masterpiece. Home to the Rose Window — considered the finest medieval stained glass in the world. Better preserved than Sainte-Chapelle. The famous labyrinth is built into the floor.

Chartres en Lumières (shart on loo-mee-AIR) — Permanent nightly light projections mapped onto 26 historic buildings. Not seasonal — every night from dusk. Fun fact: The Lumineers (the band) are named after this.