We will be spending a week in Dordogne (we are looking at a rental in Domme among other places near to Sarlat)in mid October with another couple. Prior to the week's rental, my husband and I plan to spend a week somewhere before meeting up with the other couple. We think we would like to spend some time on the west coast. Perhaps we should fly into Paris, take a train to a location where we could pick up a rental car; drive to locations along/near the coast, and then head over to our rental. We will plan for the other couple to arrive by plane/train into one of the destinations suggested on this forum (where we would pick them up). We could then drop off the car at the end of our second week, and fly home together. Would anyone have any suggestions on locations on the coast (we would enjoy scenery, charm, and serious eating) and a good starting point?Thank you so much in advance.
Lucy

Hi L,

We flew to Bordeaux via CDG.

See my trip report for details:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34676645

Photos at http://tinyurl.com/sjch4
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-pla2au

No question that with your requirements you should consider the Pays Basque, as it offers scenery, charm, and serious eating! We combined this area with the Dordogne a few years ago..flew to Bayonne via Paris and then picked up a car. After a night in St. Jean de Luz we drove to St. Jean Pied de Port and stayed here (there are other, less costly options of course).

http://www.relaischateaux.com/fr/sea...rant/pyrenees/



From St. Jean we drove to Sarlat and spent a few days in that region before driving on to the Bordeaux area for a few days which were spent exploring the city, the Medoc and St. Emilion. A wonderful trip with great eating every day and night! We then flew back to the US from Bordeaux, via Paris.

On another visit (2006) trip I rented this house in Domme; which one are you considering?


http://www.thethums.com/

Just the kind of info. I was looking for.Thank you so much. Actually, Ekscrunchy, that's one of the places we're looking at. Can we talk further?
Lucy

Absolutely! Please feel free to ask anything.

I love the Biarritz-St-Jean-de-Luz area as well, but it might make more sense to head to La Rochelle and the Ile-de-Re (less travel time), which are also lovely. And plenty of serious eating there, too.

You can pick your friends up in Libourne or Bordeaux or Brive or Perigueux.

I could not argue with that option, either! Although I did not have time to visit the Ile de Re, I can attest to the fact that there is wonderful eating, along with great scenery and charm in La Rochelle. You could even visit Cognac and do a tasting tour en route to the Dordogne if that if of any interest..... Last spring (2007) we took the train to La Rochelle from Paris, spent a few days there and went on to Cognac. From Cognac, we drove to through the Dordogne (via Brantome)....

This was one of my favorite restaurants of that trip; you can see photos of many of their dishes, just to whet your appetite: (just click on "notre carte" at the top and then on the names of the dishes):

http://www.bar-andre.com/fr/index.htm

La Rochelle and Il de Re sound great as well. Where would you go from Paris? Take the train to where? Would it be possible to get a rental car at the stop?

Ekscrunchy, which house/cottage did you stay in? Was it within walking distance of any restaurants/bakeries, etc.? We love to eat dinner out occasionally, but prefer to walk rather than drive. It's also nice to walk around at night after dinner. How would you describe Domme?
Thanks again-
Lucy

Lucy last spring I took the train from Paris to La Rochelle. You can then rent a car, either when you first arrive or when you are ready to move on to your next destination. You do not need a car in La Rochelle itself, but you might want one to explore the Ile de Re...about that, I don't know.

From La Rochelle, you could drive to Cognac (but that town is inland). Or you could skip that town and drive on to the Dordogne.

In the other scenario, you would fly to Bayonne and rent your car to explore the coast a bit (Biarritz, Bayonne, St. Jean de Luz) and then drive inland to the heart of the French Basque country to villages such as Sare, Ainhoa and St. Jean Pied de Port. Fabulous food and beautiful architecture and scenery. Also, it is very easy to access San Sebastian in Spain from Bayonne. So you would have the option of going there for a night or three by public transport, and then returning to the French side where you could rent your car and proceed onwards to the French Basque country and then to the Dordogne.

Also, the route we once took (2003) from Pays Basque to the Dordogne traveled through the Armagnac area..so if that is of any interest.....

The house we rented was Les Rosiers in the village of Domme. Yes, you can walk to at least one bakery and a few restaurants. You can explore the entire town by foot but be aware that it is hilly.

We were also there in October (third week) and the town was pretty much tourist free which we liked. Domme is spellbindingly beautiful and well located for touring the Dordogne. It is quiet at night or at least it was in the third week of October 2006.

I will post a link to my report from that 2006 trip; I did not write one about my 2007 visit to La Rochelle and Cognac.

Please feel free to ask details about the house and anything else!!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34894706

bookmarking

Ekscrunchy - having fun reading your trip report, and Ira's as well. St. Cirq, thanks so much for the options on where to meet up with the other couple.

Ekscrunchy, was the house everything you'd expected?

Lucy..the house is charming. But it was not suitable for 6 adults (two couples and two singles). Since you are two couples, there is plenty of room, but the issue is going to be that there is one really lovely bedroom with en-suite bath and three other bedrooms that are not as nice. We handled this by switching midway through our week there but it was a bit trickey. Also, there are quite a few steps in the house that you need to be aware of.
I will be happy to go into as much detail as you like..just ask away..!!

We stayed in La Rochelle for few nights before heading to the Dordogne. We stayed at the Hotel St. Jean d'Acre, nice moderate hotel. They also have a suite at the top of the hotel with a large balcony overlooking the water which was nice. We drove from Paris to the Loire Valley, then to La Rochelle finally on to the Dordogne.

That is the hotel I stayed at in La Rochelle. The location is ideal and the hotel is just fine. Right next to Bar Andre!

Wonderful. Thanks sweetannie, I'll definitely look into the hotel in La Rochelle. Last night my husband and I were going over everyone's replies/trip reports, and we're thinking we might take the train from Paris, spend a few days in La Rochelle without a car (can we bike to Il de Re?), then take a train to Brive, pick up a car, and head over to the rental. We're hoping to get there a day ahead of the other couple to get settled, etc. We could then return the rental to Brive at the end of the house rental and take a train either back to Paris, or to another location along the way back where we could spend a few days without a car. Does that sound logical?
Thanks for the info on the house regarding the bedrooms. I don't think it will be a problem unless the 2nd double bedroom is far removed from a bathroom - do you happen to remember? The steps should be ok..
Thank you!
Lucy

Lucy, there is a bedroom with a bathroom and bathtub located on the top floor. It has a nice view, too. The largest bedroom is on the ground floor down a step or two, facing the back garden and pool area. It has a shower in the large bathroom. The owner is lovely to deal with, by the way. She lives nearby.

Sounds perfect for us. Thanks for the extra detail - very helpful!
Lucy

bookmarking

From my trip report:

We decided to break our stay in the Dordogne with a trip to La Rochelle. The weather broke for us on that trip, we had no rain. We stayed in one of the 2-star hotels by the harbor with a back room, hence quiet. We spent a day visiting the city and one of its museums. It is essentially a walking town with what appears to be as many arcades as Bologna. The central market is fantastic. If we had a similar market within reasonable driving distance of our house, we would install a stove (our house is limited to two gas burners since it was built). The butchers present ready-oven meats as I have never seen before. The seafood choice is of course exceptional including fresh scallops in the shell the size of a half-dollar which begged for a quick toss in a pan with garlic and parsley. The outdoor vegetable stands are paintings. On the way to the market we walked through the clock tower and then took an immediate right and then veered left toward the Hôtel de Ville where the walking street diverge. Close to that point there is on the left an amazing artisanale sweets shop for those who are amateurs of sweets. We really liked La Rochelle.

The Saintonge-Charente east of La Rochelle is interesting for two reasons: 1. it is the cognac area and it is possible to stop at local wineries to sample their cognac and pineau des Charentes. There are signs all along the road indicating the existence of such wineries. For those interested in cognac, it might be interesting to taste something that is not produced by the big companies (Rémy Martin, Hennessey, etc.) 2. The area has quite a few Romanesque churches that somehow missed being renovated through the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque period. The church carvings, especially on the outside, are worth a visit. To the west of La Rochelle is the Île de Ré, well worth a day's outing. St. Martin (buy your fleur de sel there) is a lovely town right next to a major penitentiary that used to be the shipping point to Devil's Island. We had lunch on one side of the prison and walked through its outer walls to get to St. Martin. We found some salt flats, but they no longer are what they used to be. Instead of breaking the dike and let high tide fill the flat, the water is pumped in. A roadside store offered oysters for sale, but we were not allowed to eat them there. They opened them up for us, we walked across the road (the major road going along the spine of the island) and sat on the sea wall overlooking the Atlantic while slurping them down (better than the oysters offered by the stand in the La Rochelle harbor). Our meals in La Rochelle were OK, but I would not feel that the restaurants need to be recommended; they're the type that is chosen by wandering around and looking at the posted menus--si ça vous chante.... There are no lack of restaurants near the harbor.

Here are the pictures of that long weekend. http://tinyurl.com/5dtkvv

'Last night my husband and I were going over everyone's replies/trip reports, and we're thinking we might take the train from Paris, spend a few days in La Rochelle without a car (can we bike to Il de Re?), then take a train to Brive, pick up a car, and head over to the rental. '

Definitely would not suggest train from La Rochelle to Brive. Brive, about 40 minutes from where I live, is a great destination if you're coming from Paris, but not easy to get to from La Rochelle.

If you check the SNCF web site
http://www.voyages-sncf.com

you'll see that you go from La Rochelle to Bordeaux to Perigueux to Brive. Too many changes and too much time hanging around.

Think about picking up your car somewhere closer around La Rochelle or even Libourne, and driving into the Dordogne, or even taking the train to Perigueux. Have a look at the options and see what works best for you.