Spicing Up Your Winter Travel

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The tour, which lasts 10 days, starts in Cape Town, just outside of the Stellenbosch, South Africa's most famed wine-producing area. You'll be biking through some of the most beautiful viticultural landscapes in the world. Wines to look for are Pinotage (an odd cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, a South African original) and Chenin Blanc. The area produces excellent Sauvignon Blancs as well. And the wine flavors line up beautifully with the fragrant cuisine.

Some of the imaginative food you'll get to experience? How about double-baked beetroot and rocket souffle, springbok loin in balsamic broth with curried gnocchi, orange-glazed ostrich filet with sweet-corn and basil pancakes or bobotie (a curried meat and custard dish)? Or maybe you're hankering for karroo lamb and rose-petal ice cream.

The accommodations aren't bad either. Lodging is either Relais & Chateaux or equivalent. That includes the safari nights in the bush, where elephant and giraffe sightings are common. Yes, even in the bush there are modern conveniences to comfort you on the darkest nights, with wild and fascinating animals howling in the very near distance.

Blessed Are The Burgundy Winemakers
For the Burgundy fanatic — and I admit to being one — there is no wrong time to visit the object of our affection, even January, when most normal people are dreaming about running around scantily clad on a warm, sunny beach. But for two days beginning Jan. 29, 2005, the St. Vincent Tournante, a 61-year-old wine festival, will take over the city of Beaune, just two hours or so from Paris by train. Expect chilly temps (in the low 40s) and wet weather, but the event is sure to be a slice of sweet local wine culture in one of the most exalted wine lands in the world.

I've been to weekend wine festivities in Beaune, and the town knows how to throw a party. St. Vincent is the patron saint of the grape harvest, and several thousand people — locals and international guests — are expected to fête him and put in a good word for the 2005 vintage.

The event begins with a 7 a.m. procession, followed by a music-rich Mass and a lunch banquet that should stretch on to dinner. The cost of the multi-course, multiwine meal is $194. (Get your ticket and a rundown of complete weekend events from the Beaune Tourist Board). On Saturday and Sunday the streets will be filled with performers and musicians and several major tastings where you can sample from many of the vineyards in the beautiful Côte de Beaune. This is the time you can finally get to know the taste differences between Burgundy vineyards.

Make sure to save a day for tooling about the town, which is small enough to walk and large enough to surprise. You'll want to visit the Hotel de Dieu with its stunning multicolor-tile peaked roofs. Now a museum, it is filled with nice details of its former incarnation as a medieval hospital. Housed inside is The Last Judgment, an extraordinary painting in polyptych by Flemish painter Roger van der Weyden.