kansas

We returned from France Thursday night. Of course, I must thank the Fodorites who have given great advice and written wonderful trip reports. All this information was used to create our itinerary. Thanks especially to Stu Dudley, St. Cirq, Carlux, Images2, Just Retired and TPAYT.

The cast of characters: Four couples. Yes, you read that right! 8 of us! Ages range from 66 - 74. We had traveled with one of the couples two years ago. The other two couples had not been to France before this trip. Traveling with 8 people had me a bit concerned, but I need not have worried. The trip was everything we hoped it would be.

Places we stayed:

Hotel du Palais in Montpellier. www.hoteldupalais-montpellier.fr
A lovely hotel in a great location. Wonderful owners. Thanks, Stu, for mentioning
this in your itinerary.

Chateau de La Caze near Ste. Énimie. www.chateaudelacaze.com
Wow. What a setting! Again, thank you, Stu.

Hotel Le Vieux Pont in Belcastel. www.hotelbelcastel.com
Again, what a setting! I got this idea from Images2.

Les Cordeliers in Sarlat. www.hotelsarlat.com
A return visit for us. Great owners, great location, wonderful breakfast.

Grand Hotel de l'Opera in Toulouse. www.grand-hotel-opera.com
I must thank Tpayt for mentioning this one. Truly, a grand hotel. Great common areas.


Best app for trip: one of our fellow travelers suggested we get CoPilot France for our iphone or ipad. This worked SO WELL! Much better than our Garmin did on our last trip. Maybe we are technologically challenged, but we were unable to put it on our Samsung Galaxy phone. But it works like a dream on an iphone or newer ipad. I still had my Michelin paper maps (which we did refer to), but I cannot sing the praises of CoPilot France loud enough. The cost is just under $30.00.

Flights: one couple left 4 days before the rest of us. They started with a quick trip to Normandy and met the rest of us in Montpellier. The rest of us flew Air France from Kansas City to Detroit, Paris, then Montpellier. We returned home from Toulouse, to Paris, Detroit and then Kansas City. One couple was able to fly Business Class. The rest of us decided to pop for Air France's Premium Economy. I cannot remember how much more it cost, but whatever it was, it was well worth it. Not only are the seats much roomier, but we were allowed Priority Boarding and Priority Check-in. This was a huge advantage in Toulouse for our flight home. There was a very, very long line for checking baggage. I am unsure we would have made our flight if we had waited in that line. There were other perks as well. I do not know about other airlines, but Premium Economy on Air France is an excellent value.

Next: Montpellier and the Best Meal of the Trip

DebitNM

Montpellier was a surprise gem, wasn't it?? It was for us. Looking forward to this report.

tedgale

Bookmarking so I can follow this report

Myer

We just got back last evening from Venice, Umbria and Rome.

Now the focus switches to next year.

We're thinking of basing in Montpellier and then spending a few days in Paris.

A few years ago we started to stay in fewer places. This year we strayed a bit but want to get back to this strategy. Getting older we want to carry luggage less.

Although we went on quite a few day trips, our best days were wandering in Venice, Perugia and Rome (our bases).

I'm not hijacking this thread although to this point it may appear so.

In your opinion, does Montpellier have enough to keep us busy on a few alternate days?

Our style is to wander around the main areas as well as the smaller street. While we like to see the sights, we don't spend much time, if any in museums, etc.

We spent a few hours there last year on a day trip from Avignon and were quite taken by Montpellier.

kansas

Thanks DebitNM and Myer. I remember from reading here that both of you have been to Montpellier. Yes, Myer, I think you could easily enjoy several days in Montpellier. It is truly a lovely city.

And tedgale, I have always enjoyed you photos that you put on Fodors. I would be embarrassed to admit how much time I have spent trying to figure out how to make a link on Picasa to share photos. I have done it before, but I could not figure it out this time. I think I have it figured out and hope to add photos as I go along with this report.

Before I get to Montpellier, I will explain how we travel together as couples. One of our group, Mr. P, is the "banker extraordinaire". He keeps a spreadsheet with expenses. We share all expenses equally between couples. If my DH and I pick up a tab for dinner for 8, it goes in our column. Mr. P always has a good idea of whose turn it is to pick up the tab. We never even think about who had entrée, plat and dessert and who just had plat and dessert. No one cares if one person had 3 glasses of wine and they just had a coke. We split it evenly. If two couples go off and have lunch somewhere without the others, Mr. P's "banking skills" know how to tally it. When we buy tickets for a museum or an entry fee for something, only one person needs to go to the ticket window. He buys 8 tickets and gives the receipt to Mr.P. When we get back home, Mr. P sends each of us a final summary. Then, we can settle any shortfalls we may have to another couple. It usually is less than a $30 difference. To us, this is an extremely easy way to take care of expenses.

Judy

I want a Mr. P!!

Michael

For those who do not have a banker extraordinaire, one can use a common purse for all common expenses (food shopping, restaurants, fuel, and group visits at paying venues). One person holds the purse and everyone puts in the same amount, to be replenished when the purse holder reports that the money is getting low. It's simple and hassle free.

kerouac

I don't have all that much to "say" about Montpellier, but I was there for one night two years ago and took a few photos for those who don't know what the city looks like: http://www.anyportinastorm.proboards...&page=1#114240

I am very much looking forward to the rest of this report!

Myer

Kerouac,

Thanks for posting. While I only remember a few of the actual sights you show, it definitely has the "feel" and "atmosphere" we remember. That's what caught our attention.

So far I'm still looking at using Montpellier as a base and train to a few towns.

Then we'll end up in Paris for a few days. However, it's possible that since we'll probably go on this trip in early September, maybe it will be better to start with Paris as we're into weather that's getting cooler. Any difference in a week or so?

Thanks.

Kansas.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the report.

So far we've always travelled on our own so no need for a CFO.

However, I've gone on several US national park trips with a friend and I keep track of the cash, etc. Never a problem.

More, especially towns in the Montpellier area and Montpellier itself.

Photos?

DebitNM

We were in Montpellier before we went to Paris,mid October. I actually think I would prefer to be close to the sea while it was warmer and then head to Paris. I also don't think early Sept will much matter which direction you go.

kansas

Michael, the common purse idea is a good one, too. However, with eight of us, the cost of each dinner was usually quite high (wine, wine and more wine). I would not have wanted to carry around that many euros. We would have needed to go to the ATM machines daily. By keeping a tally, we were able to use our credit cards. I was amazed at how little cash we used during our 2 weeks. Most things were paid for with our credit cards. I know I used less than 400€ in cash the entire two weeks.

And Kerouac, your photo stories are always the best!

<B>September 5, Montpellier:</B>

Our flights were great and on time. We took cabs from the airport to our hotel, <I>Hotel du Palais</I>. This hotel is run by a lovely woman and her mother, Natalie and Marie Rose.

Our friends, the P's, who had been in Normandy, were waiting outside for us. After a bit of a rest, we were off for a walk and then dinner. Our hotel recommended <I>La Maison de La Lozère</I>. I knew it was a special meal, and knew it would be hard to beat in the coming two weeks. All of us believe it was the finest meal of the entire trip. And that is saying a lot!

After the amuse-bouches, Mr. T was the only one who ordered an entrée. Because the staff did not want Mr. T to be eating alone, they brought the rest of us a starter, too! It was fabulous. Heirloom tomatoes with a whipped goat cheese and a tiny drink of a very light-colored tomato-y tasting concoction with a bit of cream on the top. Oh, my!

DH and I had a sea bass for our plat. All 8 plats were served with aligot. None in our group had ever had this before. The presentation was truly a show-stopper.

For dessert, I had sliced plums with little rounds of cake, cream, and apricot sorbet. DH had a chocolate soufflé.

Next came 2 trays of 12 tiny sweets - 4 tiny madelines, 4 tiny chocolate mousse squares, and 4 nickel-sized salted caramel macarons.

All in all, a fabulous feast.

And I promise, I will not describe each and every meal like this.

Next: Tomorrow we enjoy Montpellier.

Michael

<i>However, with eight of us, the cost of each dinner was usually quite high (wine, wine and more wine). </i>

I can't believe that the wine was what would have broken the bank.

Myer

More!!! More!!! Photos?

DebitNM,
Thanks. The more I think about it the more sense it makes to leave Paris to the end.

If we return from Toulouse we would want to spend the night there. Returning from Paris we would already be spending the night there. One less luggage change. Getting older we've decided to pay more attention to things like that.

kansas

Thank you, Meyer. In fact, as I look back, I followed your link to a self-guided walking tour of Montpellier!

The <I>Hotel du Palais</I> is very close to the Arch, where we started our walking tour. The weather was beautiful. What not to enjoy? We spent some time over a cool drink at the Place de la Comédie people watching.

Then, we went to the Musée Fabre. There was a special exhibit of Signac, a French neo-impressionist painter. Very enjoyable. We lunched at the small café in front of the Musée.

Our hotel made us dinner reservations at Le Petit Jardin. It was a lovely evening, sitting outside. The meal was wonderful.

I was going to post a link to my Montpellier photos here, but Picasa is giving me fits. I can only get a link to Google+ to come up. I have spent way tooooo long working on this. I have come to the conclusion that Picasa is trying to force us to use Google+. I will look for a different site to share my photos...grrrr.

Next up: Car Rental Fiasco

Blaise22

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report as it looks like you went to many areas I would really like to visit in the future.

ParisAmsterdam

Great start... looking forward to more!

(Perhaps another Picasa user might offer some advice on photo linking?)

kansas

ParisAmsterdam, I took your advice and asked for help here. Andrew got me the link to get to Web Albums. Wow. I should have asked for help a long time ago.

And Blaise22, if Gorge du Tarn is not on your list, I bet it will be after you see the photos when I post them.

So, thanks to Andrew, here is the link to my Montpellier photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1070283...eat=directlink

DebitNM

So many familiar sites in those pictures! Thanks.

Myer

Thanks for sharing the photos. Yes, some familiar sights.

About that walking tour of Montpellier. Not only were the sights interesting but the "in betweens" as well. A good walk.

Now waiting for the Montpellier report.

taconictraveler

Kansas: Thanks for posting this. Wonderful photos. Spent time in Nimes, but missed Montpellier, now want to go!