Escaping Saigon for the hills of Đà Lạt in Vietnam's stunning central highlands

Like generations before me, I escape Saigon for the cool mountain air and the best produce Vietnam has to offer

“Oh wow, I had no idea how handsome he was!” says my wife, admiring a large black and white portrait of a young Alexandre Yersin hanging on the wall inside the front gate of the Madame de Da Lat Museum, once the summer house of the late Madam Nhu, the controversial de facto First Lady of South Vietnam during the war.

I turn to see what she’s talking abou…