Ooh-la-la first springs to mind while watching Eva Longoria gracefully stroll across scenic France in an array of fashionable outfits, as she shares the best of this country’s remarkable places, people, flavors and flair on her latest CNN eight-episode travel-and-food series, Searching for France. It will premiere Sunday April 12, airing two episodes weekly, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and is available the next day, April 13, and thereafter on demand via CNN’s subscriber streaming service. Longoria, an award-winning actor, producer, director, entrepreneur and activist, pursues the quintessence of far-flung lands, as she did with her previous CNN journeys: Searching for Mexico and Searching for Spain. Why France now? “I’m a serious Francophile,” enthuses Texas-born-and-raised Longoria, who speaks fluent French and Spanish. “Over the past 20 years, my career as an actor has brought me to France time and again. It’s my home away from home. But those trips were more about work than joie de vivre. Now I want something deeper. An adventure. So I’m setting out to really experience France, to savor its world-celebrated cuisine, to explore the country’s rich history.”
French Bliss, the World’s #1 Travel Destination
France offers much wow to woo tourists. It is the most visited nation, which boasts a record-breaking 102 million international travelers in 2025, according to the French Ministry of Economics. Follow Longoria’s gorgeously filmed ode to Paris, as well as her uplifting rides throughout the varied regions of Alsace, Bordeaux, Brittany, Burgundy and Provence. Longoria steers you to scores of pleasures and treasures. Warmed with laughter and camaraderie, Searching for France exudes feel-good vibes.
In Brittany, Longoria indulges in sensational seafood at the waterside restaurant Kalypso.
Photo courtesy of CNN
“France has defined how the world approaches fine dining,” explains Longoria. “Its commitment to craft, paired with a relentless spirit of innovation, has kept its cuisine at the forefront of modern gastronomy. With Searching for France, we had the chance to spend real time with chefs, artisans and families that both safeguard and evolve that extraordinary legacy.” A star-studded repertoire of chefs point Longoria to multiple, memorable meals infused with lively conversations about eating, epic events and esteemed trailblazers.
In Provence, Longoria compares chef Emmanuel Perrodin’s excellent bouillabaisse to the feat of writing fine poetry.
Photo courtesy of CNN
Among the hotels and restaurants applauded in Searching for France is Le Meurice in Paris, headed by chef and restaurateur Alain Ducasse, who has earned a stunning 21 Michelin stars during his career. His swanky river-floating restaurant, Ducasse sur Seine, is the foundation of an appetizing episode that connects Longoria and Eric Ripert—author, television personality, chef and co-owner of New York City’s three-star Michelin restaurant Le Bernardin—for an extravagant seven-course feast that salutes France’s gustatory greatness. Joining them at the table are ace American food journalist, author and podcaster Lindsey Tramuta and rising French wunderkind chef Mory Sacko of Michelin one-star Mosuke restaurant, who is devising his own tantalizing additions to French cuisine, influenced by his mother’s West African background and the precise Japanese purview that Sacko has come to admire. He, like other burgeoning chefs in France, is putting his bright unique mark on expanding the dining scene.
In Bordeaux, Longoria dines with chef Philippe Etchebest at the two-star Michelin restaurant, Maison Nouvelle. This dessert amazes.
Photo courtesy of CNN
Chefs welcome Longoria into their kitchens. Nina Métayer—voted Pastry Chef of the Year in 2023 by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners and the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2024 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants—conjures exceptional desserts in her computer-enhanced futuristic kitchen. Chef Mickaël Reydellet of La Parisienne bakery—who was crowned with the prestigious Le Grand Prix de la Baguette in 2025—teaches Longoria to deftly roll bread dough, then together they deliver armloads of their just-baked baguettes to the Élysée Palace, home of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. As well, Julien Alvarez, the executive head pastry chef of Ladurée, instructs Longoria in the exacting details of dolloping coveted macarons, the delicate egg white meringue-based, sandwich-like cookie made with almond flour and centered with buttercream, ganache or jam.
At Michelin three-star restaurant Le Meurice in Paris, Longoria revels in the art of the table with chef and restaurateur Alain Ducasse.
Photo courtesy of CNN What’s in Store: Palate-Pleasers Galore
Searching for France elevates pots and platters, bags and baskets brimming with foodie favorites. Hearty boeuf bourguignon and dog-sniffing-truffle-hunting in Burgundy. Brittany’s rare Atlantic blue lobster. Fresh from the sea, bountiful oysters served in myriad ways. In Provence’s Marseille, France’s oldest city, Longoria assists chef Emmanuel Perrodin in the cooking of an impressive bouillabaisse fish stew. At Marseille’s La Ola restaurant, a pinnacle of women chefs showcase a wellspring of delicious creative freedom. One of its chefs, Khouloude Ben Thayer cooks lamb tatin, a spin on the French classic apple tarte tatin. At eye-catching vineyard Château Angélus in Bordeaux, Michelin-starred chef Thibault Gamba presents courses of goat cheese and turbot fish dressed in duck broth and a heady wine. At Maison Nouvelle, another Bordeaux choice location, chef Philippe Etchebest—a TV personality on Top Chef and a two-star Michelin winner for his notable success at Hostellerie de Plaisance in Saint-Émilion—treats Longoria to a duck breast roulade in an exquisite sauce. And at Bordeaux’s Le Prince Noir restaurant—with its wonderland setting—Longoria relishes boeuf bavette and silky sturgeon topped with caviar sauce by ingenious chef Vivien Durand.
In Paris, Longoria is in awe of chef Nina Métayer’s vanilla crème and raspberry dahlia cake.
Photo courtesy of CNN Out-of-the-Box Dreamers, Thinkers and Doers
Accomplished young chefs—such as Hanz Gueco in Paris, whose Le Cheval D’or restaurant is tucked into Belleville, a historically working-class neighborhood known for its diversity, immigrant population and artists—instill bonus buzz. Filipino-born Gueco rethinks Parisian café staples with an Asian twist. Visionary vintners and farmers also implement refreshingly novel techniques that emphasize sustainability, such as Château Palmer in Bordeaux, a powerfully robust wine region. Château Palmer’s now fully organic ecosystem is orchestrated to grow vegetables, raise animals and finesse wines. Its lauded ancestral roots stretch back more than four centuries, yet future-leaning efforts propel its family and staff to move productively forward.
Longoria perfects her croissant-making skills with chef Remi Robert of La Grande Épicerie in Paris.
Photo courtesy of CNN
In Burgundy, many highly acclaimed wines are produced, some selling for thousands of dollars per bottle. Longoria toasts with co-owner Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac, a sought-after cultivator of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, specializing in Grand Cru and Premier Grand Cru appellations with its organic farming and elegant style.
In Brittany at La Pointe restaurant, chef Nolween Corre forages seaweed, brainstorming surprising, scrumptious dishes, such as a strawberry seaweed crème dessert.
Photo courtesy of CNN Many Splendored Regions and Reasons
Longoria reflects on France’s beloved tapestry of destinations. Here are some of her high notes.
About Alsace: “Alsace’s northeast geography tells the whole story. To the West you have the French Vosges Mountains and to the East just past the Rhine River you have the Black Forest of Germany. So this is frontierland, borderland: one side France, the other side Germany. It’s no wonder things can get complicated! In a place where borders shift and identities blur perhaps the truth is found on the plate.”
About Bordeaux: “Wine has shaped this region’s history, food, even its architecture…. The city’s wine museum: Its curves are designed to evoke the swirl of wine in a glass and the shape of the river that has for centuries carried [wine] from the city to the port, bringing with it wealth and prosperity. Where else but Bordeaux would they build such a glorious and extraordinary homage to wine? Wine is more than a passion, it is poetry for the soul. The locals are known as the Bordelaise. They have mastered the art of the good life.”
About Brittany, which hugs the English Channel: “This rugged coastal region and everything that defines its distinct…identity—whether its Celtic origins, world-class seafood or the salt in its famous butter—all comes from out there…. Brittany is a sacred place where the sea beckons you to its shores…surrounded by the longest coastline in France. Its people live by the rhythm of this wild emerald sea.”
About Burgundy: “It is not just the generosity of its people, but how deeply their lives are tied to the land and to tradition. They say that wine is simply the medium through which the land and the seasons speak to you. The Burgundy soil whispers its history and character through the world-class wines made from its mosaic of vineyards.”
About Provence: “There’s a reason why when we dream of a perfect place it looks a lot like Provence. It is lavender heaven. The sun-kissed landscape of this corner of the South of France is world famous. The glamour of the French Riviera. The beauty is timeless, but this place never stands still. There’s a wild wind racing through this region. It drives people here to creative heights.”
“With Eva as our guide,” adds Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development, CNN Worldwide, Searching for France “transports viewers through centuries of French history, revealing how the country’s traditions, culture and culinary innovation came together to shape one of the world’s most influential gastronomic legacies.”
Vive La France!
Searching for France is spearheaded by producer, executive and writer Cris Abrego’s and Longoria’s Hyphenate Media Group, their American film and television production company.
For further trip-planning info, enjoy the extensive, helpful resources at Atout France, the national official tourism development agency, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry via its Minister for Tourism.
Dining and Cooking