Dorothyhertle

MID WAY POINT: We are driving from Beynac-et-Cazenac to Bordeaux Airport. We are leaving Beynac on Thursday , June 20 at 2 p.m. We need to get to the airport by 12 Noon the next day. Plenty of time to drive there but also enough time to stop midway in some small charming town/ village to spend the night in a B&B / have a nice meal/ walk around the town..

Then the next morning, not be more than 1 1/2 from the BOD Airport ,,, so we have time to return the car and get to our flight by 12 noon (give or take ).

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

I am new to FODORS. What does IME stand for and what is a gite?

michele_d

IME= In my experience
IMO=In my opinion
IMHO= In my honest opinion

A gite is a rental house. This is a very common type of rental in France. If you enter gite in the search bar above there are many threads.

We stayed in Beynac-et-Cazenac and really liked it. Do you already have somewhere to stay there? We stayed at a B&B and loved it.

Dorothyhertle

We are attending a wedding at Chateau de Cazenac!

Thanks for the definition.
Do you know of any charming towns on our route back to Bordeaux?

michele_d

What a wonderful location for a wedding. I have never been to Bordeaux so cannot comment. Sorry. Hopefully St Cirq will respond to this as she is definitely the expert on that region. I hope you are planning to spend a little time in the Dordogne region. It is really wonderful.

If you are there in summer when the Marquessac Gardens are having their night time candle light event I highly recommend it. One of the most magical things we have ever done in our life.

Dorothyhertle

Thanks Michele

We will be in the area from June 17 - 21. After that we are traveling to Poland to check out my roots.
I guess we will have to return another time to explore the south of France more in depth.

Wen is the candlelight event in Te Marquessac Gardens?

Digbydog

We'll be in the area in June, and I just checked when the candlelight event is. It sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, it is on Thursdays in July and August. Guest we'll both miss it, Dorothy.

rosemaryoz

How about St Emilion, which would break the back of your drive on Day 1. It's a lovely village, in the heart of wine growing area, with plenty of good B&B's to choose from. It's also about 45 mins drive to Bordeaux airport in the morning, following the "Rocade" or ring road around the city centre.

ira

Hi D,

A second for St. Emilion.

StCirq

I answered you on TA. Your plan to find a B&B in Périgueux is not a good idea. I suggested there, and will suggest here, that you stop in or around Bergerac. If you want a nice town/village - Ste-Foy-la-Grande, right on the straight route to Bordeaux and the Mérignac (I hope you have a good map - navigating through Bordeaux to Mérignac is no picnic, and I always find the Rocade a bit intimidating). St-Emilion is another possibility, though I personally find the town a bit over-wrought and self-important (love the monolithic church, though).

Jeff801

I agree the Ste.Foy is a nice town, but it may not be best for you. The direct route to Bordeaux, the D936 is a two lane road going through many towns, some of them congested. And, two weeks ago, there was a lot of construction on it.

If you do stay there, take the D708 north to the A89/E70. When you get near Bordeaux, you will find good signage leading you to the airport.

But, I think you would be better advised to stay nearer to the Autoroute. Even if you were not much closer to Bordeaux, you would still have an easy drive to the airport. Though I have not been there myself, the Chateau de la Fluerie in Terrasson-Lavilledieu has been recommended to me and it is only 10 minutes from an Autoroute entrance. I think it should be only a half an hour drive for you, particularly if you can find the bypass around Sarlat.

rosemaryoz

Hi again. Jeff, I think you may be confusing airports, as Terrason-Lavilledieu is actually closer to Brive, not Bordeaux-Merignac Airport (which is almost a 2 hour drive away). From Saint-Emilion, there is no need to go near the D936, as Dorothy can easily jump onto the N89 from there. She then follows that road around the 'rocade' (the N89 links onto it - just follow the airport signs) and simply takes the correct exit ramp for the airport, like we would on any freeway. (I think it's exit No 11B or something when coming from the north from memory...check a map!) In any event, the airport exits are well signposted, just look out for the airplane symbol and "Merignac".

StCirq

<<two weeks ago, there was a lot of construction on it.>>

Well, March is when they typically do construction on all the roads around the region, so that all is ready for the tourist season, so that's not necessarily an issue, as they are likely to be done by the end of April at the latest. I am almost always there in March and go back in summertime, and the work that's always impeding traffic in March is always done by late spring/early summer.

Dorothyhertle

Ok.. So I made a reservation at a B&B right in Saint-Emilion for us. More than we hoped to pay but I looked
for hours and on June 20 it was èither sold out or wayyyy too expensive. So I settled for a B&B on Rue de la Porte Bouqueryre described as being close to the center of town ...near nice restaurants.. I am assuming we will get there around 7, so we will still have time to walk around, and eat, and be close to our B&B ... The reviews looked good and the beds didn't look lumpy -key for us!!!

But I will keep looking...

Also, StCirq, I too get overwhelmed as I approach A/Ps... ( Montreal, Toronto, JFK) where I supposedly know the area, and I have gotten lost. Rosemary...thanks for the directions. We
will of course have a map and my husband will navigate. So we should be OK. I HOPE. Our flight leaves at 3:30. We have to return the car and we are committed to not rushing. We are early rather than "just in the nick of time" types.

Dorothyhertle

StCirq and anybody who contibuted to that particular traveler's questions re Travel Tips . I read it somewhere in one of these forums ... She sounded super organized and stressed about her plans ( not being critical) ...but there had developed a great list of "go-with-the-flow" tips and miscellaneous ideas about traveling. I can't find it and want to share it with my husband who finds travel challenging... When things don't go as flawlessly as planned. OMG.

Anybody know where that might be?