Mayoite

We will be travelling in the South of France (starting from Bordeaux and probably as far as Aix-En-Provence) for about ten days in June. Does anyone have any recommendations of charming B&B places to stay for a family of four (my wife, two daughters ages 15 and 11 and self) ? With the Euro being as strong as it is, we are definitely on a budget and would not like to spend much more than US$100/night for the four of us.

Many thanks,

Wayne

I don't have a specific B&B recommendation, but there should be some places close to your budget, maybe a bit higher. You need to go to sites like www.bbonline.com to get some ideas of available places. There are also lots of books.

Langcraft

Hello Mayo:

Your budget of 100 Euros/night for 4 people seems a bit tight. That said, however, I can recommend one inn I stayed in October 2004. The place is called L'Escapade. It is located in the hamlet of Ste. Foy La Grande, about 45 miles east of Bordeaux, about 10 miles west of Bergerac. It is run by an Anglo/French couple: he cooks, she is hostess. The property is a former 17th century tobacco farm, located in a forest surrounded by a few small creeks. The rooms run from about 50 euros a night and up. I found it to be a very nice place to spend the night. Conceivably, you could use it as a base to see Bergerac and if so motivated, could even use it as a base if you wanted to see the Lascaux caves or Sarlat etc, about 50 miles east. Their email address is [email protected].

Regards.
Luis

Dave_in_Paris

Try the Rivages "Guides de Charme" site: http://www.guidesdecharme.com/
The guidebook series is reliable. The English-language translations on the site are awful.

jd_dallas

The following link discusses a B&B in a small town near St. Remy in which several posters have stayed, and all have enjoyed. It is a great value and would be in the ballpark of your desired budget:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

If you find it interesting, there are other discussions about it as well. We discovered it here, and 3 or us stayed for 4 nights for about 70-80 Euro in March 2004.

It is a very pleasant place, and the owner is very gracious.

mkloncz

We had a great time at Les Sources in St. Remy during our stay 4/20-4/24/05. Avern, the manager is from California, but has lived most of her life in Provence. She made us feel very at home and also helped us with restaurant reservations, directions, and even provided us with suggestions of things to see in certain areas. We were traveling with a rather big group myself, my husband, his parents and our two children (3-yrs/3-months old.) It ended up being about 92 Euros/night for all of us, and we also took advantage of the 5 euro/per person breakfast, which Avern delivered to our door every morning. We stayed in one of the brand-new 2-bedroom apartments, which was beautiful! Here is their website: www.sources-saint-remy.com You can also check out other possibilities using Tripadvisor.com.

Mayoite

Dallas: I guess you meant the http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/p...nce/index.html link ? I checked it out and it looked really nice. There were quite a lot of other listings on that website as well. Thanks.

Dave - the Guides de Charme website was also very helpful. So many to choose from - a veritable feast for the traveller ! Any that you would recommend in particular ?

Langcraft - the one place that we had to book already is a B&B called Domaine du Coulon in Arbanats. I believe this is just outside Bordeaux - the reason we had to book it now is that VinExpo, the big international wine fair, is happening in Bordeaux this year during June 19-23...... so everything is already full. We booked it through the VinExpo people but just can't seem to be able to find it on the map ! Has anyone heard of it or know anything about it ?

rex

While it may exhaust you, there are so, so many "Chambres d'hote" listings on www.gites-de-france.com in every departement! Not just for week-long self-catering gites! and many with demi-pension rates down under 40 euro (per person... room plus breakfast plus one supper or lunch, "hors boissons").

Best wishes,

Rex

jd_dallas

Yes, Mayoite, you found the place I am recommending.

tomboy

I did lots of internet research on B&B places in France for our trip last September, but only used them perhaps 1/4 of the time. So very often, we found equally or more charming AND economical B&Bs simply by inquiring at the local tourrist information office at the town square. We did this because we didn't know what day we would be where, hence couldn't book ahead. One time we stayed at a foie gras goose farm, one time at an 800 yr old farm, one time at a walnut oil press owner. PS I bet you can average under the $100 ceiling if you try.

MyriamC

Check out these websites:
Châteaux & Demeures (sounds more expensive than it is) http://www.chateauxdemeures.fr
or
Guides de Charme http://www.guidesdecharme.com
or
France-Gîtes http://www.france-gites.com/index.html
or
Gîtes de France http://www.gites-de-france.fr

Mayoite

In the end, we stayed in three superlative B&B places - one just outside Foix in the Pyrenees, the second in Roquebrun, a 30 minute drive north of Montpellier and the last just outside St.Chamas, a small village in Provence. For a family room for the four of us, the prices were in the range of 70-120 Euros. More importantly, our hosts were, in each case, very warm and welcoming. We would definitely go back in each case.

You should absolutely check out http://www.sawdays.co.uk for these jewels. It was the best website I came across for B&B bookings in France - with very specific and useful information.

rex

Very, very nice to get this follow-up, and to hear that you found nice places!