Bonjour Colette, It’s hard to believe it has been almost 5 months since our trip to Switzerland and France. We had such a great time, and the very best highlights of our trip was the day spent with you. Thanks again for a terrific experience! We are looking forward to our next excursion already. If it brings us nearby, it would be a pleasure to spend another day with you. We learned so much and really enjoyed your company. Many thanks again for a great day! Best regards

Dear Colette

Yeelong and I are now back in the USA. I am writing to thank you so much for guiding us on our historical, wine and gastronomic tour of the Burgundy region, including Beaune, Chablis and Dijon. We had a totally fantastic time and we were able to see and do so much more than I imagined we would ever be able to on our first trip to Burgundy! Certainly, we would never have been able to achieve so much on our own or to gain a better appreciation of the history and culture of the region. Your knowledge of the people, the history and culture, and of course the wines and the vineyards of the region, made our visit a learning experience as well as a vacation. Thank you so much.Your recommendations for sights we should see, and restaurants and wine bars to visit were always spot on; and of course we would never have been able to gain entry to so many fine domaines and to given such a welcome as we enjoyed there. It was a wonderful surprise to be able to visit some of my favorite domaines, to see the cellars and vineyards and to taste the wines. You also introduced us to a number of fine domaines that I was not familiar with and we really enjoyed their wines as well. Best of all, I did not imagine that we would be able to buy many of their wines and ship it home! At prices 33% less than in London!!! And of course 50% less than the USA.
Thank you also for guiding us in Beaune, Chablis and Dijon; in each case we were able to enjoy the town and city from the perspective of a local citizen and not just as a visitor and tourist. And I will remember fondly our visit to the Abbey of Fontenay, which you also recommended…
We will be looking forward very much to our next visit to burgundy, perhaps in the autumn next year. Thank you again for making our first visit so memorable and enjoyable. Very best wishes !

Dear Colette, We have no words to thank you for such wonderful day. We had a great time with you and now we really know some very interesting things about wine and about Burgundy history. We loved your way to tell about the things of wine and things of Burgundy and you spoke a real nice spanish. Our best wishes and if someday you come to Brasil let us know and we will be happy to assist you there. Best regards

Dear Colette, We are safely back in the United States and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again for guiding us on a wine tour. Your knowledge of the food and wines of Burgundy is beyond impressive and your enthusiasm is certainly contagious. Our time with you was the highlight of our trip. We often refer to a lesson you taught us during our time together.
All our best to you and your husband. You truly represented Dijon in a marvelous way and we are so thankful for spending time with both of you. Merci et a bientot,

Colette, Thank you very much for allowing us an opportunity to experience a part of your beautiful French countryside and people. Beyond the knowledge you passed on to us, it also helps us to better understand each other’s culture and therefore bring us closer together.All the best,

Bonjour Colette, I just want to let you know how much we all enjoyed the wine tour we spent with you experiencing Burgundy. My love for Burgundy, the place; plus burgundy, the wine, has only increased as a result of your expert knowledge and great contacts with the Domaines and Negociants. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with you. As it was my son Mark’s and Sandra’s first experience with Burgundy : they were very impressed and I am sure they will have many lasting memories of that day. It was also so good to see that Thanks to you, Sandra changed her opinion about white burgundy ! We are telling all our friends back in Australia what a wonderful experience we had.It wont be too long before we are back in France and will definitely make the trip down to Burgundy again. Maybe 2016 or 2017….. I hope you will be still available when we return to take us on another Burgundy experience. Thanks again. Kind Regards

Colette, Ya estamos en casa en Monterrey. Gracias a Dios!No quería dejar pasar la oportunidad de, a nombre de toda la familia, agradecerte por todo el enriquecedor, bello y formativo paseo por tu tierra, la Cote d’Or. Disfrutamos mucho los paseos, las vistas, los vinos, la historia, las buenas comidas, y en especial tu agradable y muy educada compañía. Aprendimos muchísimo y disfrutamos igual.A partir de ya, tienes unos amigos en México.Ojala un día de estos nos volvamos a ver.Te mandamos un beso,

Thanks for another wonderful experience with you! You are remarkably adept at handling all manor of personality and situation. We had a great time, learned a lot, and we are very excited about our wines.We look forward to seeing you again in June.
P.S. : it was our 3rd tour with you and we will come again and again !

Bonjour Colette, Last time we were in Burgundy was last July. When we arrived at the train station you greeted us, Karen and Will Stolz, with a most beautiful smile and took us to our hotel in Dijon. We spent 3 spectacular days wine touring the country side, tasting delicious wines, and visiting charming villages with you as our tour guide. Your knowledge of the area and kindness was immensely appreciated. On our departure your husband escorted us to our train and he too was a pleasure to meet. From beginning to end it was perfect. Sipping wine with you in Burgundy will always be one of our most treasured memories:) Bien des choses à vous

Dear Colette, Many thanks ! Once again just to say what a great trip you arranged for us. Everything was just perfect, and the whole experience more than met my expectations. As I said I now feel slightly more confident about ordering and buying burgundy, and the insights you gave us will prove invaluable. And we had such fun. You are also very charming! Again, thank you so much for giving us such an amazing time, and we definitely hope that our paths do cross again as you said. In the meantime we shall of course recommend you to any of our friends or colleagues who plan a trip to explore the wines of Burgundy. Best regards

Hi Colette, Thank you for the wonderful tour, again. Your experience and professionalism are unsurpassed. The quality of the wines you presented us were exactly what I expected from you!!!
Best regards, and hope to see you again soon.

Dear Colette, Thank you for an absolutely wonderful day in Cote D’Or! You are a terrific guide, and we loved every minute. Your knowledge and passion are remarkable. We really enjoyed our dinner in Beaune : delicious! Thank you for the recommendation. I hope we see you again in the future! We are happy you are in no hurry to retire. 🙂 Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.
All the best,

Hi Colette – I wanted to say thank you again for the wonderful tour you provided to myself, Rachel, Eddie and Chris. We’re now settled back in the States and I can say that the tour was the very highlight of my trip!! Thank you for giving me memories that will last a lifetime and the knowledge to at least pretend I know something about Burgundy wines 😉
Hope you have a great Fall and rest of the year – I’m hoping our paths will cross again and if you ever find yourself in Chicago, don’t hesitate to reach out. Best,

Dear Colette, Merci beaucoup for an absolutely wonderful tour! We returned with so much knowledge about wine, the process, and the culture.And now we know how NOT to make fools of ourselves when presented with a glass of wine to taste at a restaurant. Truly, your expanse of knowledge is awesome. We enjoyed ourselves, and your warmth and enthusiasm further added to our appreciation and affection for France. We feel like we have a friend in France.

Dear Collette, Thank you so much for a wonderful wine tour day yesterday touring your beautiful region, sipping superb wines and eating a fantastic meal together! Be sure that we will recommend you to others that would like to spend a wonderful day in your region !

Bonjour Colette! Just wanted to again say thank you for a great day on Tuesday! We learnt so much about burgundy and it’s wines! We will now keep an eye out in Australia for Burgundian wines and hopefully will return one day. Also, we also very much appreciated your restaurants recommandations for our diners. Thanks for the tips ! all of them were gorgeous setting and food and great service! Thanks again and all the best! Regards

Dear Colette, We have returned from our European adventure, and it is time to write and thank you for a most perfect day exploring Beaune last month. After we left you at the train station, Chris and Felisha both said, « This Burgundy wine tour was the best Christmas present we have ever received! » And of course, Steve and I were very happy to have been included in that gift. 🙂 We all enjoyed every moment of our time with you, and learned an amazing amount of culture, history, wine, and dining. Plus, you are so much fun to be around! We spent the rest of our holiday saying, « If only Colette were here, she could tell us more about…… etc.  » So next time, perhaps you can accompany us on our entire journey? Warm regards,

Thank you so much Colette. We had a fantastic Burgundy wine tour with you and appreciate all the education. We had so much fun and that picnic you organized was so amazing !Our time in Burgundy was absolutely wonderful. We cannot thank you enough for everything
Thank you for all your help with the train as well we very much appreciate it. Have a wonderful evening.All the best,

Dear Colette, First of all, please allow me to tell the world how wonderful you are ( well, in a discreet way !). Your guided wine tour, tailored to my request was perfect. You have a wonderful report with the different people/producers/Domaines we visited, and obviously they regard you very highly…even love you. You worked hard to ensure we had a fulfilling experience of the Cote D’Or.Every feature of your time was instructive, insightful (perspicace), and always full of your boundless (sans bornes) energy. We thank you sincerely for this.We also want to thank your husband, Dan, for the generous ( generosity with his personal time ) attention he gave you in support of your commitment to your clients, and to us, to ensure we could get on a return train to Paris in the evening, during the national train strike. He even helped us onto the train with our bags….which is exceptional. We might never have made it back to Paris without both your assistance. Please sincerely thank him for us. Thank you, and Dan, once again, Very best Regards

Bonjour Colette! It’s been over 2 weeks since we spent that Sunday with you and I just wanted to thank you and say how much we miss Burgundy! Thank you again for accommodating us on such short notice and on your day off that week. Your knowledge and passion for the Burgundy area, it’s wine and it’s history, was obvious and made a lasting impression on both Tim and I. It was an unforgettable day for us.We are looking forward to this autumn when our wine arrives and we will reminisce about our time in Burgundy. We have highly recommended you to family and friends and if we ever return we will most definitely contact you again:) Fondly wishing you all the best,

Colette, We just got back and thank you for wonderful time in Beaune. I wanted to thank you for the wine tour on Wednesday. It was definitely a full day and we all learned a lot and could not have done that on our own. It was a great way to start our visit in Burgundy. We are definitely Burgundy wine fans now. We would love to come back some time. Once again, thank you for a wonderful day

Bonjour Colette. I want to thank you again for a wonderful tour. Steve is fine and with his new education will not allow me to always choose the wine! All of us had a great time and I learned some new things too, which I didn’t think would happen…! You are the best. Regards

Bonjour Colette, We are writing to thank you for Sunday. Not only did we learn so much from you about the wines of Burgundy, we were also delighted to have met you. You are a wonderful ambassador for your region and your country. We made some feeble attempts two years ago to understand the wines of Burgundy and learnt enough to know we wanted to know more. The depth of your knowledge and experience has been most welcome as we continue out delightful journey of education. We have been reading the book you recommended and more importantly drinking some of the wines we bought on Sunday, in particular, the 1999 Hospice Volnay and 1997 Meursault. We wish you well for the future.

Bonjour Colette!

This has been a long time coming, but we wanted to tell you what an amazing and memorable day we had on your Burgundy Wine Tour. You made everything so easy. It was expertly planned. We enjoyed all of the vineyards as well as the beautiful lunch : we want to live there!! ) We also learned a great deal about the different wines and we really pay attention to the labels now, thanks to you, we now know how to read them !!! And we try not to swirl the wine until after the « first nose ». We are also looking forward to receiving all of the délicieuse wine we purchased !! Although sadly most of it will have to, in your words, « take a nap » for a while. We are planning some more wine tour and the next time we will definitely be seeing you again to explore even more of Burgundy.
Thank you again! Best Regards

Bonjour Colette! You probably don’t even remember us : Peter and I were with Kathleen and Tom Maas for a day of Burgundy wine tour by you around Beaune on July 1st. I just wanted to thank you again for your endless energy, passion, and accommodation of us that day. Your plan was perfect; each stop a delight. It was the highlight of our week in Burgundy. Peter would love to take a class from you one day. I would love to share a day of cooking together! Our impression of shared passions made the day even better for us! Kind Regards

Dear Colette, Catherine and I want to write to you without delay to thank you for the fabulous wine tour through Burgundy. We learned a lot. More important, even such a brief exposure leaves me with the feeling that I know this land, these grapes and wines.
Again, thanks so very much for making our trip a perfect delight and a major sensory and learning experience. Yours,

Hi Collette,
We’re back in California and I just wanted to thank you so much for the most informative and fun tour of the Burgundy wine country. Joan and the kids and I felt we really learned some valuable information and had fun too! We’ll be looking forward to sampling some of the wines we had shipped and stowed in our bags. It was indeed a memorable trip. Best regards,

Dear Colette, This note is to thank you most sincerely for the wonderful day you gave Sarah and I on 24 April.We were already fans of Burgundy wines (even if I have somewhat limited receptors?). Now we have a far greater appreciation of the importance of the terroir and climats and therefore a much greater appreciation of these excellent wines. We also recognize that there is a lifetime of learning needed, something we will enjoy advancing for ourselves.The cellar visits were fascinating and your choice for lunch very much appealed. Our lively discussion at lunch was fun and you were kind to give us some insights to French life.Sarah and I very much hope we can spend another day (or two!) with you and will be certain to recommend you to any friends we have who might be headed your way.With our very best wishes

Hello Colette, Just a little note to tell you that we visited Burgundy and we spent a wonderful day with you! I am sure that you wouldn’t remember us – but – we were the 2 couples from New York who told you that we weren’t very interested in a tour of the wineries (!!!) and then we had the best, most interesting time with you! I loved learning about the art of wine – loved tasting it – and bought a case of very good wine (6 white – 6 red) to be shipped home. I will have to come back to France when we finish the case! I also loved the stop in Beaune, Hotel de Dieu, Château de Clos Vougeot etc. When we were there, you took us to a wonderful restaurant and the boeuf bourgonion (I cannot spell it – sorry) was so incredibly delicious.You explained me how to make it and I remember that you pour a Whole bottle of wine into the pot!!! I look forward to returning to Burgundy soon! Merci!

Colette, Our day was so wonderful and major highlight of our trip! Thank you again for taking such great care of us. We will carry the wonderful memories forever. Happy New Year!

Hi Colette,
Wanted to just send you a quick note to let you know what a great day we had and we really appreciated the combination of geology, history and great wine that you provided. I have come away with an appreciation of what a really special place Burgundy is and hope I can come back again soon. Thank you again and all the best, Kay DeBroux from USA in july 2012

Bonjour Colette !
Summer, Patrick, Cara, and I would like to say thank you ever so much for the fabulous time we spent with you in Chablis, Dijon, and the Cote D’Or.
From the moment we stepped off the train, we knew you would be someone special. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and your expertise made the birthday trip simply luxurious.
From the bottom of my heart, we thank you and hope to cross paths again in the near future. There is still so much to see and learn.

C’était un plaisir de vous rencontrer. Au revoir pour l’instant, de vous voir bientôt !

Hi Colette,
Just a short note to thank you for all your efforts in relation to Saturday. For a weekend with such short notice you got us some great appointments and your knowledge and passion for the greatest wine region in the world really made it a great day for us. We will be in touch with you well before our next visit and in the meantime I will pass on your contact details to anyone who is planning a trip to Bourgogne. Cheers !

Hi Colette!
I want to thank you again for a wonderful tour. We finally looked at the photos from our trip Saturday night with some good friends. We told them about all the things you taught us and what a wonderful guide you are. We really enjoyed all our conversations. Also, your timing in picking us up and getting us back to the train. . Again thank you for your tour. The day we spent with you is our best memory of France ! We will never forget our wonderful day in Burgundy or you. Cheers !

Dear Colette,
If Betty and I had dreamed of a tour of Burgundy, it would not compare to the memorable time we spent with you. Your enthusiasm and knowledge complimented your vibrant personality as a perfect matching. We truly enjoyed the French countryside, the wine tours, the tastings and the restaurants just to mention a few pleasures. By far, we enjoyed you the most. Thanks so much for the tour of a lifetime. With warmest regards.

Collette, as expected, you did not disappoint, seeing you and experiencing Dijon and Beaune through your eyes is truly a pleasure. Thank you so much for everything, your patience along with your knowledge makes you very special and someone we will always come back to and recommend. Thomas sends his regards and thinks that you are much better than « not bad » ! Take care of you and please let us know when you come to VA.
Hugs.

Since saying good-bye in Beaune, its been busy and I never had a chance to say thank you again for your time, your passion and your charm! Stephen and Laree have already told me the tour exceeded their expectations. They were very happy with everything and you were a very big part of that!! So thank you again !!

Dear Colette, Thank you so much : We LOVED our wine tour with you. Thank you for choosing us as your clients. We were very privileged to have had the opportunity to tour with such an expert. All wines taste better now that we know what you taught us. Gerry and I just returned home and had a wonderful time in France : Touring the Burgundy Region was a highlight. Colette, thank you again so much. I would be a very lucky woman if our paths crossed again in the future. Merci beaucoup ! Kindest Regards,

Thinking of you this holiday season and remembering your kindness hospitalitiy. We have wonderful memories of the time we spent with you. It was truly inspiring experience to visit the beautiful countryside of Burgundy with you, Colette. This is your passion, Colette, your sense of pride in the beauty and richness of the area as well as your family roots which was so apparent as you guided us through the villages countryside and wineries of the area. We didn’t feel like we were on a guided tour but felt like we were with family ! Many thanks again to you for making our trip to Dijon the hilghlight of our vacations, ever ! Best wishes to you and your family for the new year !

Dear Colette, Once again, I would like to extend my personal thanks to you for your excellent services during our Wine Divas of South Florida visit to Burgundy last week. We all felt we were so lucky to have had been referred to you. You were a wealth of information about everything related to wine from tasting, production, history…… really, everything!! We could not have asked for more. You also deserve a medal for your charm and grace in dealing with seven women…. never easy to have 7 independent women to have to guide! It was a wonderful visit and I thank you so much!!! Until we meet again (I would love to bring my husband back for a visit) Cheers.

Colette, I have told, many times to friends and associates, the story of Colette, how she made the Burgundy experience fun, memorable, and educational. A rare gift to find in a stranger through the Internet, especially coupled with personal beauty and class. I (we) are lucky to have met you…

Hello Colette ! …We had such a wonderful time with you. Thank you very much for your terrific services, you are a treasure of Burgundian knowledge and now Heather and I feel we understand this area like we never could have before.

…We ended up going to Dijon and Beaune in Burgundy, France. You recommended Colette Barbier to us. I cannot tell you just how wonderful she is. We didn’t want to leave. She is so well-versed in her subjects of gastronomy, history and wines. Also she’s much fun ! We couldn’t have had a better time if we tried.
If anyone wants to take the TGV train to Dijon to have Colette take them around the Cote D’Or, the Cote De Nuit, or the Cote de Beaune, they will not be sorry. We had a fantastic time and it was really because of Colette.Thank you so very much for recommending her to us. We will recommend
her to as many friends as we can…

Hello all you wine lovers. My wife and family visited Burgundy France Oh!! What a great and wonderful time we had!!! What made it so enjoyable was the excellent service we received from our tour guide: COLETTE BARBIER!!!! I found her recommended in RICKSTEVE’S and I decided to hire a guide to help us through the Burgundy region. I don’t speak french, nor does anyone else in my family; so I though it would be a good idea to find someone who could speak French… Boy!!! What a great idea that was!!! I contacted Colette via the internet and she responded immediatly!!! I love this kind of service. She just asked me a few questions about what I expected from the tour and then went right to work on creating an itenerary dedicated to me following my expectations. This beautiful person made everything worthwhile. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful and professional she is. We got into some of the best chateaux in Burgundy and met some of the owners and cellermasters. We would not have been able to do this without Colette’s help. You notice I call her by her first name; that is because she made herself so personable that we have become friends. My family and I are Americans of African decent and I hoped that that wouldn’t hinder our enjoyment of the trip. My fears were totally unfounded the first second we met Colette!!! She treated all of us as, I truly believe, if we were family. Right away we felt comfortable and at ease and our tour was SUBLIME!!!!!!!Do not cheat yourself. email Colette at : cobatour@aol.com. You will not regret it. Her fee is very reasonable and worth every penny. Her expertise is spot-on, plus she knows just about everybody in Burgundy!!! Do yourself a favor and hire this wonderful, beautiful person to be your guide while in Burgundy. I know I will !!! Again and again !!

Colette, Everyone was delighted with the guided tour and we all praised your depth of knowledge and animated descriptions of the countryside, culture, wine and food. Thanks for making it such a sucess…

Colette, May I just say that your valuable input into our visit absolutely ensured its success.Everyone was delighted with what and how you shared your enthusiasm with us.It hardly seems adequate to say thank you for your wonderful guiding service,which we all will have no hesitation in recommending to others…

…I wanted to write and let you know that we had an absolutely fabulous time with Colette a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I, along with two of our neighbors, spent two days with Colette in Burgundy and she was great. She was very knowledgeable, helped us make arrangements in Dijon, and set up several tours of some wonderful vineyards. Colette was also a lot of fun. I don’t think we could have asked for a more knowledgeable and personable guide. You made our trip very special Again, thanks for the wonderful recommendation.

Hi Colette,
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve gotten back a number of guest evaluation forms from our Burgundy tour clients, and they unanimously loved you ! One of them said « I can’t imagine there is a better guide anywhere in France. » Just wanted you to know!

…We are home again and back to our usual routines, but we wanted to let you now how much we enjoyed our time with you in Bourgogne. Paris is grand, historic and memorable but does not compare to the beauty, history, fun and GREAT WINE AND FOOD we experienced with your expert guidance.

Dear Colette, Mike and I wanted to let you know just how much we enjoyed our day with you in Burgundy. We could not have possibly had the same experience on our own. Your knowledge and enthusiasm made the day very special…

… It was so wonderful meeting you and having you as our guide for our tour in Burgundy may 30-June 2. Your enthusiasm and real passion for everything Burgundian made this trip our best vacation ever ! Our dicussions about gastronomy was incredibly incitefull, interesting and fascinating. In looking forward to seeing you next year…

Because we knew very little about Burgundy, we decided to hire a guide to max our short time available… We can recommend Colette very highly for knowledge, personality, english language skill, and just fun to be with. All that after being with her for 3-4 days–and would not hesitate to hire her again. Prior to the trip, we did everything over the internet and never even talked to her until she picked us up at train station in Dijon—can you believe that?
She completely restructured our dining guide because she was more up-to-date than the Wine Spectator–and she was right. Have a good trip and let us know how it works out…

We enjoyed our tour with you in Burgundy and your professionalism. We all learned a lot while with you and to hear that even from the « GUYS » who think they are wine experts…is a big thing !
We again Thank you for your wonderful guidance. Your way of mixing up scenery, history and wine making made the tour fun and enjoyable. All the meals you advised were awesome and we truly enjoyed them.…

Colette, Many Many Thanks for a wonderful tour! Your passion, humour and knowledge added a whole dimension I could never have provided. Every one was happy and loved you !…

Colette I just wanted to tell you that your work as a guide was fantastic, to me it was the most important factor in making this a memorable trip. I will hope to use your services in the near future…

…First. Let me thank you again for a most wonderful tour. Your energy and enthusiasm was infectious. You made us all want to be French men and women! I have printed your list of the wines we drank and have put it in our notebook. It is impressive…

… It was a truly fantastic and memorable day, and our Dad had an absolute ball. Thanks so much, Colette, from me and Helen for organising such a once in a lifetime experience. You were a terrific host. All the best

Dear Colette, we wanted to thank you again for the great tour on Saturday, we had a truly marvelous time! And not just because of the weather, but first and foremost because of all the interesting information you so enthusiastically shared with us throughout the day, it was a real pleasure! While we are certainly far from being experts ourselves (yet), we have developed a profound interest in the topic, and I was especially delighted that we wound up with a real professional as opposed to just being driven from A to B:) …