If my body is already below 0 when I fall and die off the zip line would be preferred All in all 10/10

I can not thank you enough Sydney for our incredible day in Champagne. It was all that you described and more! Muriel was a wealth of knowledge and made the day so interesting for us.Pascal was a great driver, and overall so polite and pleasant and got us back to the train station in the nick of time. Next time, my husband and I think we should stay overnight :) The Champagne at both Champagne Assailly and Champagne Mousse were unlike any we have had before and the tours of the facilities, the passion behind how they describe their work and their delicious champagne was amazing.The day went by in a flash, and I truly mean that we have every intention of coming back again to visit new and amazing Champagne growers that you recommend! The lunch at La Briqueterie was so special and DELICIOUS, and we did get to meet the Chef which was a great highlight of our experience at La Briqueterie- thank you for that wonderful recommendation. And finally, we were all amazed at the interesting tour of the Reims Cathedral- Muriel did an amazing job of sharing the important highlights of all the history associated with the Cathedral and all of us thought it was absolutely spectacular! The entire day exceeded our expectations- and I can not thank you enough for making the perfect arrangements for our family's special milestone birthday celebration in Champagne- we made memories that we will carry with us for a lifetime! read more

SHORT REVIEW: Sydney's Champagne tour will be the best day of your France vacation. She customizes the tour to your preferences and is the perfect tour-guide for visitors of all ages. LONG REVIEW: My wife and I took a tour of the Champagne region with Sydney and Tasty Side to Life on May 29, 2012. It was tremendous - just a perfect day. (I'm sure her Paris tours are equally excellent, although I do not have first-hand knowledge.) It's 6 months' later, and we are still talking about the tour, enjoying our champagne and looking through photos from the day. Over the past years, Sydney has developed personal relationships with numerous small producers, chefs, shop-owners and businesspeople in the Champagne region. Accordingly, her tour offers a unique, unequaled experience. Before, during and after the tour, Sydney is likable and professional, and her level of service and attention to detail is fantastic. In addition to planning the tour, Sydney's skills as tour guide/host are equally excellent. She knows when to join in the conversation and when to leave you alone. She deploys her vast knowledge of the Champagne region and process with aplomb; she is great at feeling out her audience and knowing which information will be particularly interesting for her specific guests. Prior to our arrival in Paris, Sydney emailed us various options (small vs. large producers, lunch/dining options, transportation options, museum/cathedral tours, zip-line/hot-air balloon rides, etc.) to tailor the tour to our preferences. In addition to her "menu," Sydney was happy to accommodate my request to attend a France national soccer team game that night and even offered to purchase the tickets if I was unable (for an additional, hourly cost through her concierge service). Ultimately, we chose to skip the game, see the Cathedral de Reims, see 2 small champagne producers, 1 large producer (Moet) and take a tour of a chocolate atelier. We paid in full approximately 1 month before departing for Paris (although, I believe Sydney was amenable to a deposit, with the balance paid the day of the tour). The afternoon before the tour, Sydney sent us a confirmation email. On the morning of the tour, Sydney and the driver picked us up at our hotel in Paris. On the way to Reims, Sydney explained the history of the region, her business-school experience in the region, the champagne making process, the history of champagne making, and answered any other questions we had about Paris, Champagne or France in general. We toured and tasted two small producers in the morning, then went to lunch. Once the owners of the champagne houses realized that Sydney had arrived - as opposed to another tour guide/company - they came running out of their homes or caves with huge smiles on, and led our tour themselves, rather than having another worker to take us around the grounds. You may buy as much champagne as you like, but there is no "hard-sell" or pressure to purchase; we bought a total of 8 bottles at 2 of the 3 houses we visited. Our one recommendation - eat at La Briqueterie, with Chef Michael Nizzero. Sydney arranged for Chef Nizzero (the youngest Michelin-starred chef in Europe, I believe) to come to our table, say hello and even answer any questions about the meal, the region, and/or his experience. In the afternoon, we went to Moet and a local chocolate atelier, before the driver took us back to Paris. The tours at the small producers were more individualized, private and we met the champagne-makers themselves, who walked us through their small-batch champagne production (with Sydney acting as translator). The tour at Moet was very professional, and informative, but not quite as personal - approximately 12 people. We were able to see first-hand, the method of "mass" champagne production (although each bottle is hand-produced). The best part of the tour: in mid-November, Sydney emailed us with a menu of champagne houses that she is working with, to ship bottles/cases of champagne to the states, if we wanted to purchase before the holidays! Happy holidays to us! We are a 30-year-old professional couple. I would strongly recommend Sydney, without reservation or qualification, to anyone interested in seeing the Champagne region, regardless of age or anything else. Sydney and her tour are as good as it gets. Finally, I hate to talk about price, but just in case you are considering booking with another guide or service - prior to booking, we got numerous quotes from different tour-guides and companies. Sydney's price was competitive with all of them (a bit lower or higher, depending on which options we chose). In short, choosing Sydney is a no-brainer! read more

This is a fantastic experience and definitely like no other! We opted for the bike tour through champagne stopping at local vineyards and cellars to discover how champagne is made. Later in the afternoon we cycled to a chocolate shop to discover how chocolate is made, and not only that, they incorporate champagne from the village which really takes the chocolate to a new level!! This was my favourite tasting!! In the late evening we went to an adult treehouse on the top of a mountain. This topped off the tour with amazing views of the vineyards, relaxing atmosphere and tasty champagne. Sydney was extremely accommodating and helpful! The tour was insightful, interesting and pragmatic. I would recommend this tour, it is once in a lifetime, and Sydney is the perfect tour guide! :) read more

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My fiance spent weeks planning a no-holds-barred UK/France vacation for us--landrover driving adventures for me, katy perry concert for her, reservations at chateaubriand, frenchie, multiple stops at collette and pierre hardy. a real hipster-foodie-yuppie adventure. Anyway, she found Sydney and Sydney's blog and compared her with 2 other private tour options, one of which I won't name and the other was through our hotel concierge at Les Crayeres. After comparing the schedules between the three and the prices, it was an easy decision. Sydney had us visiting the Reims Cathedral, 2 smaller champagne houses, Moet, lunch at a 2-starred restaurant, and a foie gras farm. I'm a huge fan of eating the stuff and my fiance thought it'd be really cool to see it produced. The option to visit the foie gras farm came from a list of additional possible stops that we could make on our trip and neither of the other tour operators had even thought to mention the other things in the region that we might have been interested in. The options list also included hitting golf balls from a range in an old chateau, hot air balloon rides, private cooking lessons with a 2-starred michelin chef, and a stop at a champagne bar in a tree house in the forest. you know, nbd. Finally, neither my fiance nor I speak a word of French and it wasn't even an issue. Sydney is fluent and had also made arrangements for a driver/translator who also happened to be an English teacher! In short, this was an epic day in an epic trip and we can't speak highly enough of Sydney. We learned a lot about the history of the region, the process for producing champagne, and food in the region. read more

This is the Champaign trip I always wanted to take, but could not have planed for myself. Sydney did a great job in putting together a great itinerary. We started off with a lunch at Michelin start restaurant at a small classic French chateau. We then went on private tasting at two small producers near Epernay. The day ended with a tour of the Reims Cathedral and a espresso at a near by cafe. If you don't speak French, don't worry. Sydney will handle all the arrangements and your driver will double as your translator. It was the perfect trip. read more

They failed to pick us up for our tour and refused to give us a full refund! With all of the good reviews, my wife and I booked the tour, one of the most exciting and by far most expensive aspects of our honeymoon. After we arrived a little early at the agreed-upon pickup spot at the Reims train, we waited for more than an hour past pickup time, but were not picked up. Instead of the tour, we spent the day in Reims (our return train was not until the late afternoon) in somewhat poor spirits due to having no tour and because we would not have selected a day in Reims in our schedule if not for the tour. Following not getting picked up, we had lengthy discussions with Sydney Kruger about what happened. She did agree to refund us part of our money, but kept 200 Euros for the cost of the driver that never picked us up. In our many arguments that we should be refunded in full, she provided the following reasons keeping our money: 1. Her company should not have to take on the cost of the driver. 2. She had never had anyone arrive early to be picked up. This argument makes no sense to me. We bought coffee and waited happily until the planned pickup time and for quite a while past this time. 3. There are many train stations in Reims and we clearly went to the wrong one. My research indicates that there is one train station in Reims. It is called the Reims train station. The TGV train that she instructed us to take only stops at this one Reims station. If there happen to be more than one station, it would seem that Ms. Kruger would have informed us about this before the pickup. When we suggested several times that Ms. Kruger's reasons did not make sense, she ignored what we said and repeated the above reasons. In our last attempt at email contact, Ms. Kruger selected to ignore us. I am sure the tour would have been lovely, but I feel like the company stole our money to pay for their mistake. I urge anyone who is considering booking a tour to factor in this information. read more

Our weekend trip to the Champagne region was the highlight of our trip to France! We toured the open-air market, a big champagne house, had a wonderful lunch, and even had the pleasure of meeting a small producer whose creativity is sure to make an impact in the champagne world. Throughout all of this, our guide, Renauld, taught us many things about the region and his knowledge was exceptional. Our driver, Pascal, was very kind and informative, as well. One of the best things about this trip was the ease of planning. Sydney did everything and went above our expectations! She was accommodating, helped when we had changes of plan, and even went out of her way to get our champagne and other wine sent back to us in the USA. I am recommending her services to all friends that want to visit the region and I hope to go back myself! read more

Since I moved to Europe from California I have been dying to do a wine-tasting trip like I used to do in Napa, but couldn't find an easy way to do it. (The language barrier being the main problem!) I tried out the Tasty Side to Life tours and was absolutely blown away - it was the highlight of my trip to France! The small producers are seriously the hidden gem of the Champagne region. They are so passionate about champagne and are excited to share it with you. My favorite part of the tour was visiting Herve Le Gallais on Madame Clicquot's former chateau. We actually got to walk out to the vines to see how he prunes them (don't wear nice shoes! :-) He was incredibly charming and warm - a perfect host. The champers was delish and they don't skimp on the pours either... It is so nice and luxurious to be driven around and have the guide and chauffeur translate for you. And Sydney Krueger, the woman who runs the tour company, is soo knowledgeable about food and champagne. She gave us some great recommendations for restaurants in Epernay and in Paris. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip and is so close to Paris so I would strongly suggest fitting it in if you can!! read more

We thought about doing the champagne region on our own, but are glad we decided against it. We had an absolutely exquisite time, thanks to Sydney and the Tasty Side to Life Tours. Sydney arranged for us to stay at a lovely chateau, which really set the mood for the trip. She gave us several options to customize our tour, based on our interests. We had an exciting day planned. On the day of our tour, Sydney met us at the chateau with her driver, Darren. He was much more than a driver - he was also a part of the tour! They were witty and fun and made the day quite enjoyable. They were a dynamic duo! Our day began at an escargot farm. Our teens were joining us on this tour, so this was a bit risky. It turned out to be the best part of our day. The tour was great and we ended it with a sampling of escargot, accompanied by champagne, made by the owner's family vineyard. Champagne and escargot - what a wonderful breakfast!!!!! Lunch was just as special. Sydney booked us for lunch at the bistro at LeCreyeres - a beautiful restaurant, in a beautiful setting, with great food - and more champagne! We also visited the Cathedral at Reims, with its rich history and the smiling angel. Oh, but the champagne..... We visited two champagne houses. Of course, we wanted to visit one that was popular in the States. Their professional tour was perfect to give us the basics of champagne making. Sydney suggested that we also visit a smaller one. She arranged for a private tour of a smaller house. The owners met us, walked us through their place and taught us more about champagne that we thought was possible. We even got to taste some of the wine that before it was made into champagne! After the tour, the owners sat down and enjoyed a drink with us. They were quite interesting people. We really enjoyed the champagne as well as the company. As we drove through the countryside, we saw the vineyards and learned about grape growing and interesting facts about grape growing (ask why there are roses at the edge of the vineyards!). Because this was our own specialized, private tour, we were able to stop, detour our get out and walk the vineyards at our leisure. The day was trouble free (no getting lost and frustrated trying to figure out where we were going, enlightening (no need to ready guide books - we had our own guide) and it was FUN! Our trip to the champagne region was as good as it gets. It exceeded our expectations. Thank you Sydney, you made it happen. read more

My wife and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Paris and the Champagne and Bordeaux regions. I very rarely write reviews, but after having our tour with Sydney in the Champagne region, I felt it was only fair to give her service the credit it deserves. I hesitate to really call this a "tour" in the traditional sense, and really think it is more appropriate to refer to it as a "Champagne region concierge". A tour implies that you sign up for a banal set agenda...and that is not the case. Before you even arrive, Sydney sends you a detailed questionnaire that allows you to craft your day in the Champagne region to cater your personal tastes...small producers, large producers, chocolate tasting, gourmet lunch, etc...you get to pick how you want the day to evolve, and she coordinates that for you. This level of input makes the day personal and allows you to focus the day on only the things you really want to do. To further the "concierge" comparison, Sydney was a life-saver before we ever even got to the Champagne region. We had an early train to Reims to meet Sydney on the morning of our tour. Due to a miscommunication (and two tourists that do not speak French), we were taken to the wrong train station by our taxi driver. Frantic that we thought we'd miss our scheduled tour with Sydney, we called her for advice. She immediately knew, off-hand, exactly what substitute trains to take to to make it on time...and even know more about the trains than the ticket agent (who gave us the wrong information!). She had already scored major points before we even got there. As for the tour itself, once you arrive, you really feel like you being personally catered to. Sydney drives you around to the various sites, giving you stories and information about the region. Not in a textbook way, but in a way that can only come from someone who really loves the region and the wines. Along the way she introduces you to colorful and warm small producers who have a passion for their craft and are only too happy to share their wine and stories with you. It is the perfect balance between informative and fun...all the while drinking champagne in the setting of the country side. Our tour was supposed to end at around 5:30 or so, but Sydney went overtime to show us a little bit of the town of Reims and the cathedral (on her own time!). Like I said, it is not a "tour"...it is a personal service with someone who is knowledgeable and passionate. Given the spread out nature of the region, the language barrier, and the time limitations we had (we were only there for one night), Sydney's tour is the perfect way to really immerse yourself in the region in a single day. It was definitely one of the best days of our trip. And my only regret is that our luggage could not support more bottles of champagne. If you are thinking of visiting the Champagne region any time soon, and are looking for a truly memorable day, look into Tasty Side of Life Tours. read more

This is a fantastic tour company! My husband worked out all of the details with Sydney via phone and email in advance, we hopped on the high speed train from Paris to Reims, and Darren picked us up. He was so friendly and knowledgeable about the region and the wines. We toured one large producer and two small producers. The small producers were the highlight of our trip. We tasted some amazing champagne and actually spent some time in the field with one of the owners. We ordered bottles from both of the small producers and are still in the process of figuring out how to have them shipped to California, but we think it should be a fairly easy process with Sydney in charge. read more

Just returned from France and must say our day in Champagne region with Tasty side to Life, was the highlight! Sydney goes to great lengths, in tailoring the tours to our wants and needs. And it was perfection. I highly recommend this awesome company!!! read more

My fiance and I took a full day tour of the Champagne region with Sydney in October 2013. She provided an amazing, well planned, busy but peaceful day. She was extremely knowledgeable about the region, the champagne history and process, and even gave us many other recommendations for our travels in Paris. The planning process was easy as Sydney provided us with plenty of options to customize our tour. She was professional and flexible in handling our requests and worked to get some small producers open their doors to us despite them being busy with harvest. She handled every logistical detail and gave us an unforgettable experience -- a highlight being a cooking lesson with a Michelin starred chef! With neither me nor my fiance knowing French enough to do this trip on our own, Sydney even served as translator and filled us in on all the details we otherwise would have missed. We couldn't recommend Sydney enough. If you are traveling to the area (or any other areas she conducts tours), do yourself a favor and book a tour with her! read more

Had a wonderful day of champagne tasting! Sydney is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the wines, the history and the food of the region. Highly recommend the picnic, for gorgeous views and local treats. read more

Treat your self royally and work with Sydney on a customized tour of the champagne region! My wife and I just recently returned from a lengthy holiday in Italy and France. We spent over 10 hours with Sydney on September 19, 2014 in the heart of the harvest. We could not have asked for a better day. It was one the premier highlights of the entire trip. Sydney practices first class customer service, offering to customize the day based on your preferences. She understands the breadth of the champagne industry from the terroir to the production process and offers an education as you travel from one vineyard to another. We toured three small producers, all at least 5th generation family-owned and it was clear that she had developed excellent relationships with the owners. We spent as much as 90 + minutes at each, learning the nuances of each owner while privately enjoying the entire spectrum of the process including the tasting of just hand-picked chardonnay grapes; drinking the juice as it was being pressed and of course tasting a variety of champagnes. For those like us, who are not fluent in french, Sydney is an excellent translator allowing for detailed conversations. The day was complemented with an excellent lunch at a one star Michelin restaurant and closed with a chocolate tasting infused with champagne in the form of cork molds. Bottom-line: Sydney knows the business, has strong personal relationships with producers and has a great sense for high quality customer service. We have since recommended Sydney to our travel agent and a premier hotel in Paris and suggest you speak with her to plan a great day in the champagne region. read more

I knew I wanted to spend my birthday in France drinking champagne, so what better way to do that than to arrange for a private tour of the region? I found Sydney on TripAdvisor and she offered lots of different options for our 1.5 days in the region. Lucie, our guide, and Pascal, our driver, were terrific; Lucie's very knowledgeable about the region, the champagne houses, etc., so she added a lot to the trip. We toured Veuve, had a beautiful outside lunch at Les Avises, and toured the vineyard of Le Gallais where Herve was a very fun, generous host. Day 2 we did the private tour at Dom Perignon, which was beyond all expectations - absolute perfection! Our short time in Champagne was the highlight of our trip! read more