Awaking to crisp, clean highland air and the sound of birds chirping just outside your balcony, you take in the view over Xuan Huong Lake, frosted with clouds of mist. Motorbikes draped with cauliflower head to the central market.

Downstairs, in your villa hotel, breakfast is being served. A cup of steaming coffee fresh from the hills is slowly dripping from its tiny, individual filter to start your day. Homemade strawberry jam, a local specialty, is on the table to accompany the crusty baguettes rivaling anything baked in Paris. Dalat has many nicknames: "The City of Love," "Le Petit Paris," and "City of Eternal Spring" but for most people it is simply the most pleasant town in Vietnam.

The French built Dalat as their premier hill station, a retreat from steamy Saigon. Two thousand French-colonial villas are picturesquely scattered around the lake and nearby mountains. The last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, was so enamored of the place that he had no less than three villas built for him in Dalat.

All three villas may be visited, though Binh III is the most accessible. Luckily, many of Dalat's villas have been preserved and still serve as summer residences, while others have been converted into cafes and hotels.

The French influence in Dalat is still palpable though with a Vietnamese twist — from the French colonial architecture to the smell of baking croissants. When the Dalat Palace was first built as a hill station in the 1920s, its purpose was as retreat for the French and their guests to enjoy hunting and the cool mountainous climate.

While golf has replaced hunting, the Dalat Palace has been restored to its former grandeur. Just down the street, Café de la Poste, one of the premier French restaurants in town, could just as well be in Normandy or Provence except for the low prices.