pgoodpasture

Hello! I am planning the first leg of a family trip (after coming up with a wonderful itinerary for the second leg with the help of this forum - thank you!). On this leg, in the first week of June, I will be traveling with my 20-year-old son. We will be going to Saint Emilion and Sarlat, then making our way to Marseille to pick up the rest of the crew at the airport. We have a few days at the beginning of the week that are kind of a mess right now. We are flying into Paris, and the obvious thing would be to stay in Paris for a few days before moving south. But I was in Paris last summer for a few days and it was SO unbelievably crowded. And we didn't get near the hot tourist spots. It makes me sad, among other emotions, so I have been looking for alternatives. Bordeaux has been the plan after much research, including this forum. But when I went to reserve a hotel, there were very very few available. I searched to see whether we were happening upon a convention or festival, but do not see anything that indicates that. So now I am worried that Bordeaux will be miserably crowded, too! I need a view on the ground - how crowded is Bordeaux in general the first week of June? Is there an event that I am missing that is filling the hotels? Are there alternatives that I am missing? Any and all guidance and advice and experience are appreciated!

StCirq

Bordeaux is never miserably crowded in June. In fact it's never miserably crowded at any time of year - we are there often. I can't imagine why you are having problems. There is nothing special going on there at that time of year that I know of. We live near Sarlat and go to Bordeaux often and have just booked accommodations there for a trip in March and one in June with no problems at all. Where are you looking?

Don't get all WOW'ed about St-Emilion. It's a wretched tourist trap these days. You'd be smarter to do some research on the interesting local wines of the Bergerac region and visit a place or two that still has some authenticity and isn't overrun with selfie-stick-menacing hordes and serving thimbles full of wine for 30 euros.

Christina

I'm not sure what you mean about "needing a view on the ground"? Do you mean you insist on a hotel room on a ground floor? That's the last thing I want for noise reasons. I don't know what you are doing, I just checked booking.com and there were 43 hotels in Bordeaux city center with vacancies from June 1-3, for example. at all price/star levels. A few of those were aparthotels, but still. How many do you need? There were a couple Mercures, they are a safe choice, I always like Mercures.

This one was available, for example, it's a good location.
https://grand-hotel-francais.com/

The Africa-France summit is taking place June 4-6, maybe that's why.
https://sommetafriquefrance2020.org/en/

StCirq

I honestly doubt that the Africa-France summit is having a big impact on hotels in Bordeaux .That city hosts plenty of venues a lot more popular than that.

Mercures, and actually all the Accor chain hotels, are always good.

I have no idea what "a view on the ground" means, either.

SusanP

I think it means that she is looking for information from someone who lives in the area or is very familiar with it as to the likelihood of crowds.

pgoodpasture

Thanks for your quick responses! I am sorry my language was confusing. By view on the ground, I mean experiences from people that have been there recently. As for hotels, I am looking for something that is somewhat centrally located, by which I mean convenient to a tram station and still in a historic neighborhood. According to Booking, there are 30 hotels in or near the city center that currently have rooms on my dates. Of those, a rough estimate is that half of them are condo hotels. 2/3 are at least 1.5 miles from the city center. This seems unusual to me. Anyway, my post really was an inquiry about crowds, and about whether I am missing a big event. I can choose my own hotel. StCirq, I am not going to Saint Emilion for the wine. I would like to see the Monolithic Church and the town. We are staying at what looking like a lovely spot about 5km out of town. I do appreciate your opinion, and have read it on the many threads that you have contributed to. I took your opinion into consideration when thinking through our itinerary. Others seem to love it. I guess that is the same everywhere! I do promise that I do not own a selfie stick, though.

jpie

pgoodpasture, I think you will have a fun time in Bordeaux. We have been there a lot in June and usually it is a nice time of year to be there. I will be taking my cousin there on the way down to Sarlat this year in late June. I decided to book the Residhome Bordeaux, 87 Quai de Bacalan, 33300 Bordeaux for a couple of reasons. It is right. It is practically right next to the B tram La Cité du Vin stop a one minute walk at most. It is a bit further north than I generally like to stay but if you stay down near the gare it is much nosier. I mention it because we wanted a place we could share a room but not be stuck with 2 twin beds-so we have a 1 bedroom with a pullout couch in the living room.

https://www.residhome.com/uk/photo-h...deaux-293.html

Also, the Residhome has A/C which you might or might need in June and an elevator.

Maybe you have been following another recent thread about Bordeaux. In that one Maribel put some links to some of a couple of foodie articles about the city that might interest you.

Bordeaux Hotel & Car Parking

Also we have rented places to stay now in Bordeaux for many years running and the first rental agent was very helpful in helping us decide about neighborhoods and where to stay. This article is pretty similar to what he said at the time

https://www.lostinbordeaux.com/the-b...stricts-guide/

We have now stayed in 5-6 different areas of the city and I would agree with the assessment of the article mostly. However, they describe "Bacalan – The grungy area of Bordeaux" which is still true but it is also where the new Les Bassins de Lumières which opens in the spring, so it is an area that is growing.

https://us.france.fr/en/bordeaux/art...es-in-bordeaux

With only a few days my own first choice would be to stay near the Hotel de Ville because it is a great area where 2 tram lines cross and you can walk to many places from there since it is so central, or up near Chartrons because it has a great mix of shops restaurants etc.

I think you will have great time-we really have fallen in love with Bordeaux and like you I just was so disappointed in Paris-so turned off by the crowds, selfie sticks etc. so Bordeaux is always a relief.

bilboburgler

That booking.com may not have any rooms left does not mean the hotel is fully booked. Many French hotels (also other countries) hold back a proportion for regular guests, releasing more capacity later. You may even find the hotels own booking site offers better prices. For instance, the Ibis chain's own booking system is often best as is logis de france (a sort of sales cooperative for some of the more interesting small hotels).

StCirq

So true, Bilbo. For reasons of practicality we sometimes book the Ibis Budget just across from the Gare St-Jean in Bordeaux. Booking.com offers a double room there for 71,50 euros, but you can get it for about 50 euros on the Ibis site. It's not a place most travelers would want to stay, so I rarely mention it here, but it sure is true that you can often save money booking with the place directly.

I love the look (and price) of that apart-hotel, jpie!

jpie

I will report back about the apart-hotel once we have stayed there in late May-since we lease a car every year it would be handy to have a place with relatively easy parking for a change.

kerouac

Just for the record, I have two destinations on my agenda for my next trip to Bordeaux, neither of which existed during my last trip a couple of years ago.

1. La Cité du Vin. -- https://www.laciteduvin.com/en
2. Les Bassins des Lumières -- https://www.culturespaces.com/en/node/1519

pgoodpasture

Thank you, all! Jpie, thank you for your very helpful suggestion and links! I had discovered one of these websites, and the others are so helpful! And thank you to those who suggested looking on the hotels' own websites. I do that as a rule, both for my price and to help the hotel avoid the booking fee. I was not having any luck even with that method finding what we were looking for. We have decided to change our itinerary, so Bordeaux will have to wait until another trip. We had thought to spend a few days in Paris, then on to Bordeaux and Sarlat, but now we will spend a few days in Marseille (thank you to kerouac and others for wonderful information on that city!), head to Sarlat for 4 days in the Perigord Noir region of the Dordogne, and then back to Provence to meet up with the rest of our family to continue our trip. We have been lucky to connect with a guide for the prehistoric sites near Les Eyzies and will spend a day with her touring those sites. We are also very much looking forward to Sarlat itself and to taking in the atmosphere of rivers and forests and castles. We also both love old churches and are making a list of the Romanesque churches in the area. If you have favorites, please share! And Commarque has been recommended to us by our guide. I have been looking at trip reports for recommendations on routes and possibly overnight stops on our drive from Marseille to Sarlat. We would love to take a scenic route with a couple of interesting places to stop along the way, there and back. We may spend the night in between, at least driving back to Marseille. Some of the options that I have marked on my map include Conques, which we would very much like to visit, but seems maybe too far for an in-between stop, Uzes or even Nimes, which seem maybe not far enough, or Florac, which maybe seems just right. Does anyone have experience with a similar drive, suggestions of routes, places to stop or stay? Thank you!

jpie

If you have the time-I would divide that area into 2 nights because there is so much to see there. Uzes is really nice-the kind of picture perfect small town that has many fans and you could easily spend tow nights in especially visiting the nearby sites like Pont du Gard. But then further up towards Sarlat you also have the other places you mention that it sounds like you would enjoy.

pgoodpasture

Thank you, jpie! I would love to have two nights, but we don't have that much time in our schedule. Though I am sure we could fill a month or more between Marseille and Sarlat! And we will visit Avignon, Pont du Gard, etc. with the rest of the family the following week. We won't make it to Nimes/Uzes with them, and it is on the way out of Provence toward the Dordogne.

StCirq

I sure wouldn't bother with Florac, particularly if you are going via Alès. The Cévennes are wonderful, but not that way.

jpie

With one night, then I would probably spend it in Uzès-there is plenty to do there for 1 night and I don't think it will disappoint. And since you will see some of the surrounding areas later you could just spend the day enjoying the village. Nimes is also a nice city but not as charming IMO-but it really depends on what you think you guys would enjoy the most.

Whatever you decide we may have restaurant and lodging ideas if you need them-lots of folks have made that trip up to Sarlat from there.

pgoodpasture

Thank you, jpie, and yes, I would love restaurant and lodging recommendations. And StCirq, thank you, as well.

aliced

Kerouc, we too are returning to Bordeaux this September with Cite du Vin and the Lumieres on our list too! We were there 5 years ago for 4-5 days, and while we went to two premier cru houses (Margot and Lafite Rothschild), these places did not exist. Also want to see the Musee Beaux Artes which we missed. Aquitaine was fabulous.

Fodorites, IMHO "view on the ground" means same as "boots on the ground" = been there

pgoodpasture, we enjoyed staying at Le Renoir (a Best Western property) in Sarlat, and all visitors to Sarlat should experience Chez Le Gaulois -- le Cirq, please do not disagree on this point. Should you wish to go all out, Le Presidential is fine dining, but truthfully, we enjoyed C le G more!

aliced

Sorry, St Cirq, you're not le Cirq (thinking of old NYC restaurant!) but also want to mention to pgoodpasture to try to get over from Marseille to Cassis to experience the calanques, whose one beach was just proclaimed one of the ten best in France per France Today -- Calanque d'En Vau. We sailed there last September.

StCirq

We are regulars at Chez le Gaulois, especially in mid-winter when the fire is going and they feature tartiflette.

We've just spent the day in Bordeaux and are on the TGV to Paris. We just got our first SNCF Diplomas for traveling more than 300 kph!!!

Didn't have time for much sightseeing, but we had a delicious lunch at our favorite café near the train station - Le Terminus (soupe de poisson for me and risotto au poulet for DH). The weather was absolutely foul. Anyway, just wanted to drop in and say the Musée des Beaux Arts in Bordeaux has disappointed me both times I've been there. It's very small (even Carcassonne, a much smaller city, has a far better one) and there is nothing, but nothing, besides dark, foreboding religious art (or at least that's what's greeted us on two occasions). Go check out the new La Boca food hall (it's not THAT exciting for Americans who are used to food halls and food trucks and such, but it's pretty innovative for Bordeaux).