driving between mont st. michel and biarritz...
 

what are the best things you've seen and done travelling this part of france.

Inland? Along the coast? What route do you plan to take?

If along the coast, La Rochelle, Ile de Ré, Arcachon, Bordeaux, Cap Ferret, Bayonne.

Inland there are hundreds.

For an idea of the La Rochelle area:

http://tinyurl.com/4d5blj

Michael,

Your link does not work.

It owrks for me. But it has been compressed differently toward the end of my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35156619

so many places and so little time. we'll probably stay along the coast..not going too far inland. i guess what i would love is for someone to tell me what they would do based on their experience in this area. this was a very last-minit decision and we leave in 10 days. we love quaint old towns....the sea...good food....interesting walks...bike riding. as we are in our 70's, we have travelled a lot so what we enjoy now is the off-beat....off-season. biarritz...andora...costa brava....any small towns in between. what do you think? we have 15 days between paris and barcelona. what would you do with it???

You should drive the autoroute. There is no scenic coastal road.

For a quaint town, visit La Rochelle.

For the sea, visit Arcachon, Pyla and the beaches in the area. There are many seaside resorts, and everywhere you can rent bicycles. Besides the dunes, the area is flat with a gorgeous beach at the ocean and beautiful sweetwater lakes just behind the dunes. See thee pictures:

http://www.france-for-visitors.com/c...ent/index.html

One of my favourite spots (in terms of landscape) is the Courant d'Huchet north of Vieux-Boucau.

http://sites-nature.aquitaine.fr/res...urant-d-huchet

For food, you will find plenty of options in St. Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz and Bayonne.

you have all been most kind. please keep the suggestions coming.

You previously indicated that you were going to Barcelona, so why pick the coast of the Atlantic to get between the Mont St. Michel and Barcelona? What did you originally mean by chateau country: the Loire, the Dordogne?

we picked the atlantic coast because we wanted mainly to go to normandy region...mont. st michele and down to biarritz...costa brava and ending in barcelona. we thought there would be enuf to keep us busy and happy. we also have tried to travel as many coastlines in the world, as we can.
we never did complete australia tho.

The Costa Brava is on the Mediterranean coast, not the Atlantic coast. I would suggest that it might be best to draw a straight line either from the Mont St. Michel or Nantes (depending on how much of Brittany you intend to see) to Barcelona and weave a route around that straight line, which probably will take you through Poitiers, the Dordogne, Toulouse, Carcassonne, and of course the Pyrenees (no avoiding them).

I think you need to check a map. You seem to have your coasts mixed up.

IF Barcelona is your destination, I'd follow Michel's suggested route.

lalynda,

you can do both. First, explore the Atlantic coast between Arcachon and Biarritz. IMO, one the most beautiful coasts in the world.

Then, you can drive over to the Costa Brava. If you take the autoroute, driving time from Biarritz to the Costa Brava will be five hours, but I would suggest a stop in Carcassonne to visit a completely walled medieval town. IMO, one of the most impressive medieval sites in Europe.

At the Costa Brava, my favourite spot is Cadaques - probably Spain's most beautiful "white town" and home of Salvador Dali. Another option on the Costa Brava would be Tossa de Mar. From the Costa Brava, it is just a short distance to Barcelona.

You should indeed look onto a map. www.viamichelin.com provides a good map and a good route planner.

Look also Google Earth, it gives you an impression how the coasts look like.

thankyou traveller 1959. you indeed know what my plan is. i'm really not confused about the coasts and had no need of drawing a straight line....as michael has suggested. i have already been to the places the straight line would have provided....more than once. my intention is to see the places we have not yet been to. i have carefully studied maps. we have plenty of time and the only thing i wanted from this forum was personal views of the places i wanted to go to. i did not expect a lesson in geography.

" I did not expect a lesson in geography..."

Well, "we picked the atlantic coast because we wanted mainly to go to normandy region...mont. st michele and down to biarritz...costa brava and ending in barcelona..."

"we'll probably stay along the coast..not going too far inland...

Sorry if some of us were just a tad confused...

you are quite right. i knew what i meant but i can see where my wording might be confusing. sorry for the misunderstanding.