White Beer Travels is a website promoting Speciality Beer, such as Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, and Real Ale from the UK. But what's in a name, the site's name that is? All is revealed on the Home Page! Schneider Weisse, a well-travelled, classic Wheat/White Beer, brewed in Bavaria by Schneider. Click on the image to go to their website This Web page covers a Beer Hunt based in Paris, in France, and Liège, in Belgium; an unusual combination of venues, but a real winner
Belgian Beer, German Beer, British Real Ale, North American Craft Beer and Speciality Beer and Specialty Beer from around the world, are all covered in the White Beer Travels website This White Beer Travels website has been in operation since March, 2002. It promotes Speciality/Craft Beer from around the world: Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, Real Ale from the UK, etc
 
Click here to reach the "White Beer Travels" Home PageClick here for Speciality Beer and Brewery News. Also check out the "Archives" for "old" news!Click to find details of Beer Hunts that you can joinClick here to get information on Past Beer Hunts organised by White Beer TravelsClick here for information on what to expect on a typical Beer Hunt organised by White Beer TravelsYou are on a page of a White Beer Travels "Pub of the Month". For the current "Pub of the Month" click hereClick here for John White's Beer CV (Curriculum Vitae, Résumé) Click here for past Pubs of the Month, News, etcClick here for downloadable guides to places, breweries and barsClick here for "Links" to other websites. There are many on the other pages of the site, as well!Click here for full details on how to contact White Beer TravelsClick here for information on how the site was built, including acknowledgement of any help receivedClick here for details of the French to English Translation Service offered by White Beer Travels, & for the contact details of organisations that can provide the reverse
Belgian Beer and other great Speciality/Craft Beers, these including Belgian Beer, Real Ale from the UK and Craft Beers from the USA and Canada, are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website. It is a big site, so to get an outline idea of the contents, click here to go to the site's Contents page
  Würzburg, in Germany, is world-renowned for its "Franken" wines. However, White (Wheat) Beers have certainly travelled to the city. The three different ones shown here are excellent examples. All are brewed in the city's Würzburger Hofbräu Brewery. Click on the glasses to go to the brewery's website, from which the image was pasted

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This is a scanned photo taken outside The Bombardier, in Paris, France. Click on it to go to the brewery's website: Charles Wells, in Bedford, England

This is the Bombardier (2, Place du Panthéon, Paris, tel 01 43 54 79 22, Métro: Cardinal Lemoine). Clearly, it is very close to the Panthéon, where France's most prestigious people are buried: Emile Zola, Pierre and Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, etc, etc. The pub is named after a beer brewed in Bedford, England, by Charles Wells (www.charleswells.co.uk) (who merged with the London brewers, Young's (www.youngs.co.uk), in 2006, the Young's Brewery closing). Bombardier is available in the place, delivered by handpump. Unquestionably, it is the best situated of the "English" pubs in Paris. Photo by John White's son, Graham, in June, 1999.
This is a scanned photo of La Taverne de Nesle, in Paris, France. In the marvellous 6e Arrondissement, this bar, which also has some Belgian rarities, such as Abbaye des Rocs, is named after the Nesle Tower, which was once nearby, on the Philippe II Auguste wall
This is a scanned photo of the Pub St. Germain des Prés, in Paris, France. The hardened Beer Hunter will find something to suit in the 500 strong beer list. The street name derives from the time that the Comédie-Française, a very historic performing arts company (Molière, Racine, etc), was forced to move from here in 1770, by the Sorbonne, who disapproved of its proximity

 

La Taverne de Nesle (32, rue Dauphine. Paris, tel 01 43 26 38 36, Métro: Odéon) has the most comprehensive selection of French Speciality Beers in Paris. A Parisian don't-miss. A June, 1999 photo by Graham White.

   

Pub St. Germain des Prés (17, rue de l'Ancienne Comédie, tel 01 43 29 38 70, Métro Odéon). Graham White's June, 1999 photo shows the alternative entrance on the Cour de Commerce Saint André, the alley mentioned as being near Le Mazet below.

A White Beer Travels Beer Hunt
in France and Belgium

This was a coach trip, in 1999, with a three nights' stay in Paris, and the same in Liège, Belgium. It is quite common for budget trips to Paris to be based in hotels near airports or motorway junctions. Staying in such places means that one loses considerable time each day just travelling to and from the city, and one often has to return to the hotel when the night has just begun. However, as is the norm with White Beer Travels Beer Hunts, the hotel used for this Beer Hunt whilst in Paris was very centrally situated, near some excellent Specialty Beer outlets, restaurants and top-class tourist attractions, as well as a major Métro (the Paris Underground) hub. The hotel in Liège was right in the city centre, rather than near its main railway station, which is quite a away out of town, but for some reason, an area much favoured by trip operators.

This is a scanned photo of the exterior of Le Mazet, Paris, in France. Close by, La Taverne de Nesle, 32, rue Dauphine, has the best selection of Speciality Beer in Paris
This is a scanned photo of the exterior of Le Pantalon Bar, in Paris, France. The nude in the middle will ring a bell with those with an interest in art: it is one of those voluptuous, really-looks-like-a-woman type of nudes, an unmistakable Ingres, the original, one of the most popular of his œuvres, is in the Louvre in the city, the world's most famous museum
This is a scanned photo of the exterior of the Graindorge Restaurant, in Paris, France. This is clearly close to one of the city's most famous landmarks, the Arc de Triomphe

Le Mazet (61, rue Saint-André-des-Arts, tel 01 43 54 68 81, Métro Odéon), not only has a good selection of Speciality Beers, but is in a most interesting and attractive area. Alongside it, is the city's oldest alley, see above, where Dr Guillotin perfected his "humane" execution method. It is on the "Jim Morrison in Paris" trail, since this rock icon was spotted and photographed in the place, the last authenticated sighting of him alive, in July, 1971.

Le Pantalon Bar (7, rue Royer Collard, tel 01 40 51 85 85, RER (fast Métro) Luxembourg). In English this pub is named "The Trousers". The trouser-less women, on the façade were painted by student regulars. It is quite close to the Panthéon, see above. Bernard Lauriat, the owner, likes to say: "The great guys of yesteryear are in the Panthéon, the great guys of today are in the Pantalon". Inside there is a superb example of a "Zinc", an old-fashioned servery. Not a great selection of beers, but this place is an unusual, don't-miss gem.
Restaurant Graindorge (15, rue de l'Arc de Triomphe, tel 01 47 64 33 47, Métro/RER Charles de Gaulle/Étoile). This place offers exceptional food, combined with outstanding Specialty Beers. "Barley Corn" is Grain d'Orge in French, "Grain d'Orge" from the Grain d'Orge Brewery (former Jeanne d'Arc) being one of a number of superb French Speciality beers available here, along with classic and rare Belgian ones. Not to be missed when in the city. For further details, click here for a White Beer Travels note on the place.


Photos taken in Paris, in June, 1999, by Graham White. Further details of these and other exceptional places are to be found in the 74-page White Beer Travels guide to Paris, obtainable from the Downloads page.

 

You have your cursor on a box that provides the temperature and a brief description of the weather, in Paris, at the local time quoted. Click here for a detailed weather forecast for the city

Paris needs no introduction from a general tourist point of view: it has some of the world's best and most famous museums, and some of the finest restaurants and entertainment spots. But, in addition, Paris has more Specialty Beer bars than anywhere else in France, including Lille, which is situated in the country's best Speciality Beer producing area, and the subject of another White Beer Travels Beer Hunt, see Past Beer Hunts.

Paris also has what is arguably the world's finest beer cuisine restaurant: Le Graindorge, see above. But in Paris as a whole, the amount of excellent beer available is amazing. Yes beer-wise, Paris is far more than just the appalling Eurofizz produced by the big brewers in the Alsace area of France and elsewhere. There is a White Beer Travels seventy-eight page Specialty Beer guide to Paris, the most comprehensive guide of its kind; it is available from the Downloads page. Note that the world-class Cantillon (www.cantillon.be and White Beer Travels Web page) beers from Brussels are readily available in Paris, the website giving a list of the brewery's outlets.

Liège is Belgium's third city, after Brussels and Antwerp, the largest in the French speaking half of the country. It is quite different from these other two cities, but like them it is a very vibrant place, much more so, and much more attractive than many travel guides would have one believe, with their false image of rundown, former mining and steel town. It is especially famous in beer circles for two bars, that had, until January, 2004, see below, the biggest selection of Speciality Beers in the world (around 1,000): Le Vaudrée (109, Rue du Val Benoît, 4031 Angleur, tel 041 67 10 61) and Le Vaudrée II (149, Rue Saint-Gilles, tel 042 23 18 80, www.vaudree.be (mainly covers Vaudrée II, but has outline information on the other two)). Note that Le Vaudrée III (13, Chaussée de Tongres, 4151 Juprelle, tel 042 46 02 67), which opened in February, 2003, has around 350 bottled beers and, like the first two, twenty-four beers on draught. In 2006, Le Vaudrée IV joined the "chain", at Route du Condroz 38C (N63 National Road), 4100 Boncelles (Seraing), tel 04 385 05 01. The house beers, La Vaudrée Blonde and Brune (both 10.5%), which were introduced in May, 2004, are brewed "near Namur", probably by Du Bocq (www.bocq.be), in Purnode. Opposite Vaudrée II, at 130, Rue Saint-Gilles, there is an associated shop, called L'Antre du Vaudrée (The Vaudrée Cellar), which, of course, has a very big selection of beer (550 different ones), but also Péket (the local name for Genièvre (Low Country and French Gin)) and Liqueurs. It is open seven days a week from 10am to 6pm. In Liège, there is also a superb, life-enhancing singing bar, Aux Olivettes (6, Rue Pied du Pont des Arches, tel 042 21 12 51), which you will not wish to leave once getting there! Aux Olivettes is a White Beer Travels Pub of the Month, see its write-up by clicking here, the others being accessible from the Archives page. There is a White Beer Travels Specialty Beer guide to Liège, which is available on the Downloads page.

In January, 2004, a bar claiming to have 2000 different beers opened in Brussels, called the Delirium Café, 4A, Impasse de la Fidélité (Getrouwheidsgang), tel 02 742 26 17, www.deliriumcafe.be. On the 9th of January, 2004, it had its beer count officially checked for Guinness Book of Records purposes; the count was, appropriately, 2004 beers! More details are to be found in the White Beer Travels guide to Brussels, available from the Downloads page

This is a scanned photo of White Beer Travels Beer Hunters outside the Val-Dieu Cistercian Monastery's brewery, in Aubel, in Belgium. Click on the photo to go to the monastery's website, which heavily features its beers

The White Beer Travels Beer Hunters outside Val-Dieu's Brewery, in October, 1999.

Brewery or bar visits, beer included: the Henry Brewery, in Bazincourt-sur-Saulx, in Lorraine, in France; the Trappist Brewery in Achel (www.achelsekluis.org); and one within the Cistercian Val-Dieu Abbey (www.val-dieu.com), in Aubel, in the Belgian Province of Liège. After the Henry Brewery trip we adjoined to the brewery tap, (L'Auberge des Chasseurs, 1, rue Bermont, tel 03 29 78 60 48), for the beer tasting and an excellent pre-booked buffet. It has to be said that the Quiche Lorraine was absolutely superb, but then so was the rest of the meal! It is not open on Mondays or Sunday evenings.

Note that, subsequent to the visit to Val-Dieu, it ceased being an operational monastery - there were not enough monks to make it viable - although it is still a religious centre, and the brewery continues to operate.

A visit to "Le Musée Européen de la Bière, et du Pays de Stenay" (The Museum of European Beer and the Stenay Area), in Stenay, in Lorraine, in France (rue de la Citadelle, tel 03 29 80 68 78, www.musee-de-la-biere.com) was also undertaken. The group's guide was the museum's then curator Philippe Voluer, with John White acting as interpreter, see the photo at the top of the Translation Service page for a photo of this visit.

Prior to getting on the ferry there was a stop in one of the more civilised French Hypermarkets, i.e. one of those not frequented by the English bootleggers buying undrinkable Eurofizz. This has become a very poplar feature of other Beer hunts, especially those near to Christmas time for stocking up on wine, etc.

For this trip, all participants received over 170 A4 pages of information: White Beer Travels guides to Paris (74 pages), Liège (26), Aachen (11), the Achel Trappist Brewery (8), the Henry Brewery (7), Aubel and the Val-Dieu Monastery and its Brewery (9), the European Beer Museum (9); a Trip Itinerary (7); and detailed Trip Travel Information (16). In addition, everyone received special White Beer Travels maps of Liège and Aachen. Some of these guides and maps are available from the site's Downloads page.

The White Beer Travels Guide to Paris is by far and away the most comprehensive source of information available on Speciality Beer in the city. However, it is more than just a beer guide. The major tourist attractions are covered, and for each bar entry, the nearest tourist attractions are named, as well as the nearest Métro station, including, as appropriate, the best exit from the Métro.

Note that the Paris Guide issued to the participants in 1999 has been subject to continuous update, i.e. new attractions, such as a brew-pub and restaurant that opened in 2000, La Fabrique (53, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, tel 01 43 07 67 07, www.fabrique.fr (stopped working in March, 2006) , Métro: Bastille), are included in the version that can be downloaded from the Downloads page. A condensed version of the White Beer Travels Guide to Paris appears in the don't-enter-France-without The Beers of France (ISBN 0952923831), by John Woods and Keith Rigley, and in the related website, www.frenchbeer.info, which matches the book's quality.
 

 

John White (1945-), Your cursor is on an image of John White's e-mail address. Click on it to send an e-mail to John.

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Belgian Beer, just about the world's most renowned Speciality Beer is promoted on this website, along with great beer from all over the world, including Germany
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