Gastronomy, Vineyards & Grands Crus!
From Lisbon to Bordeaux, join PONANT on an exceptional gastronomic and oenological cruise in partnership with Château Latour along the Portuguese, Spanish and French coasts with the exceptional presence of starred chef Jean-Baptiste Natali.Get a different perspective on the Atlantic Ocean coastline during this 11-day trip aboard L’Austral.
Setting sail from Lisbon, the seven-hilled Portuguese capital, you will chart a course for the port of Leixoes, from where you will reach the city of Porto. Capital of the northern region of Portugal, this ‘city of granite, the centre of which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is renowned for its wine.
Your journey will continue to Galicia and the city of Vigo, the biggest fishing port in Spain. Not far from here, Santiago de Compostela awaits you.
This unmissable pilgrimage destination is home to a number of monuments from the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque periods, testimony to its illustrious past. L’Austral will then head for the capital of the Spanish Basque Country, Bilbao.
Between daring architecture and the continuation of its ancestral traditions, you will be able to enjoy the city’s unique energy. You will conclude your exploration of Basque Country on the French side with a stay in the city of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, before reaching the beautiful fortified town of Talmont-sur-Gironde.
During your last call in Pauillac, you will have the opportunity to make several visits and wine tastings at some very beautiful wine estates in the Saint-Estephe, Margaux, and Pauillac appellations. Your cruise will end in Bordeaux, the wine capital of the world.
9 nights > Departs 10 April 2023
From* AU$8,010 per person
15% PONANT Bonus, SAVE $800 per person from all cabin categories with PONANT’s Double Welcome Offer plus the supplement for single usage of a double cabin is waived.
Your Host: L’Austral
Innovative design, sleek shape and profile, refined interior decoration, friendly, intimate atmosphere: French designers and decorators have managed to give this ship a unique style and veritable signature of its own.
The Guest of Honour: Chef Jean Baptiste Natali
Its course is full of wild herbs and flavours. As a child when others were kicking a ball around, he was running through the woods, the Dhuits, Etoile, Plachet, Blinfey, la Chapelle… There he found bluebells, vanilla-scented orchids, fragrant angled Solomon Seals, wild asparagus, wild garlic, and mushrooms – all of which had his mouth-watering.
His course is also full of encounters around the world, from time spent at the Palme d’Or restaurant in the Martinez Hotel in Cannes, Daniel Boulud’s restaurant in New York and the famous Mamounia in Marrakech, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Sultanate of Oman and the Maldives.
All broadened his palette introducing the subtlest of flavours. Finally, Jean-Baptiste Natali decided to return to his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in Haute-Marne to practice his art in the restaurant his father Gérard had run for several decades. The son returned to give his father a hand, a move that turned into a stroke of genius. Gérard gave Jean-Baptiste carte blanche to overhaul the menu, a radical turning point for this eatery.
Steeped in his experiences travelling abroad, Jean-Baptiste changed everything from the produce to the dishes and way of working. Since then, Chef Natali has welcomed and continues to host political figures of every hue, from ambassadors to French presidents and ministers. In 2002, just a year after returning to Colombey at the age of 27, he was one of the youngest chefs to earn his first Michelin star.