Stu - I'll have to send you a postcard for all your help!
So here's where I'm at:
Cassis is an option, I thought it could be scrapped to give us more time to 'get up' to the Dordogne.
So coming from last night in Bonnieux and heading for the Dordogne.
We would like to visit Carcassonne. But don't have to overnight.
From starting point as Day 1 (leaving Bonnieux in the a.m.) we fly out of Toulouse on Day 9. How would you space the route?
Thanks!

You really can't do the Gorges du Tarn, Conques, and Carcassone on anything less than a 3 night 4 day trip. You could do it in 2 nights - but on a faster pace & more driving than I would want to do - but you're younger than me. See where the Gorges du Tarn is located (look for Ste Enimie), and where Carcassonne is on the map. Also locate Conques & Sarlat. Note that the route from Bonnieux, to St Enimie, to Conques, to Sarlat is pretty much along a straight line, but almost all small sqiggly roads that are very scenic. Note where Carcassone is located. It's pretty far south. You could take the Freeway over the Millau bridge to get there, but by adding in Carcassone, you would eliminate Conques and some very pretty drives getting to the Dordogne. If you do decide to visit Carcassonne, you would then take the freeway past Toulouse to Sarlat, which is not that scenic. I think it would consume an entire day to drive over the Millau bridge, visit Carcassonne, then up to the Dordogne. For that day, the bridge & Carcassone are the only two "sites" you'll see (other than lingering in the Gorges du Tarn) - and IMO Carcassonne is just not worth an entire day's journey. Others like the bridge more than I do - so I'll let you decide if that's a "biggie" for you.

Net-net - you have to decide if you prefer the freeway to Dordogne with a stop in Carcassone, or a 2 night 3 day drive through a very scenic section of France, visiting some caves with stalactites & mites (better than you'll see in the Dordogne), the lovely Gorges du Tarn, the Lot river with cute villages, the very popular perched village of Conques with it's wonderful church, then into the Dordogne area.

Here is a very rough plan:
Carcassonne option
1. leave Bonnieux driving the freeway to the Dordogne & visiting Carcassonne along the way. Stay overnight in the Rocamadour/Padirac region (exit #56 off the freeway). Visit the Gouffre de Padirac & Rocamadour.

2. Visit Rocamadour or Padirac if you missed one yesterday. Visit Autoire & Loubressac (if you get an early start) Carennac, west on the Dordogne river then up to Martel, then Collonges la Rouge, then hop on the freeway to Soulliac & then west to Sarlat.

3. Dordogne
4. Dordogne
5. Dordogne
6. Dordogne
7. Dordogne
8. Head towards Cahors on the freeway, and get off at exit 57 and visit Peche Merle cave (reserve for a morning tour). Have lunch at St Cirq Lapopie. Back on the same freeway to Toulouse. Dump the car at the train station & visit Toulouse (one of my 5 favorite cities in France).
9. Fly home

I have to head to he health club now. Give me some feedback & perhaps I'll continue tomorrow.

Stu Dudley

Yes please respond tomorrow! I appreciate your assistance. We'll take your valued advise. Can you post the instructions for the scenic route, skipping Carcassonne. This time using 8 dayse days from start (Cassis - yes small change)to finish (Toulouse airport). With night stops and what to see in between. Sorry to take so much of your time. I think the itinerary is very close to being finalized with your help!
Regards, Zunrise....

In 8 days (only 6 1/2 full days for the Languedoc & Dordogne) I would not advise trying to use 3 of those days in the Languedoc. Also, Cassis is farther away from the starting point for the Gorge du Tarn excursion than Bonnieux is, so you might not even be able to do it in 2 nights 3 days.

If you want to add in Cassis, do the Carcassonne route.

Seems like you are getting back to where this whole thread started - trying to do too many things in too few days.

Like I stated earlier - 5 days for Provence & 5 for the Dordogne are what I would consider to be minimums. I would give up 1 day in the Dordogne for 1 in the Languedoc to visit the Gorges du Tarn & the caves around there.

Adding in Cassis would look something like this:
1. Leave Cassis & stay overnight close to Uzes (visit Pont du Gard at this time)
2. Uzes through to Corniche des Cevannes, some stalactite & mite caves, to the Gorges du Tarn.
3. Gorges du Tarn to Conques
4. Conques to Padirac (get there late)
5. Padirac to Sarlat (get to Sarlat late
6. Dordogne
7. Leave the Dordogne for Toulouse & visit Peche Merle, St Cirq Lapopie, & Toulouse.
8. fly home
I think by taking 1 day out of your Dordogne plan and moving farther away physically from the Dordogne - if you do the Gorges du Tarm excursion you are actually loosing 2 days from the Dordogne.

If you stick to your original plan of 9 days to get to Toulouse, and start from Bonnieux, I was going to suggest that you either swap your St Remy & Bonnieux stays (St Remy is closer to the start of the Corniche des Cevannes at Anduze) or drop 1 night in St Remy & stay near Uzes (visit the Pont du Gard & Uzes).

Then it would look something like this
1. Leave St Remy or Uzes, Corniche, caves, Gorge
2. Gorge to Conques,
3. Conques to Padirac
4. Padirac to Sarlat
5. Dordogne
6. Dordogne
7. Dordogne
8. Dordogne to Toulouse
9. Fly home

On the itineraries, I consider Padirac to be "time" in the Dordogne region.

Also, If you only plan to spend only 1 night in Cassis, you will want to linger quite a bit in the morning - it's real pleasant then.

Stu Dudley

Now needed: route suggestions from Provence to the Dordogne.

So, I've got my map and my Michelin Green guide (for France, shoulda got the Dordogne and Provence guides, and those specific maps but it's done now!)..
We have cut a bit out and are happy with our Provence days and itinerary, have agreed to skip Carcassonne in favour of the "back route, squiggly roads" to the Dordogne.
Now suggestions for how to get from A to B are welcomed!
Using 3 nights, and leaving from St. Remy or Uzes area to the Dordogne.
What would the night stops be?
Saint Enimie?
St. Cere?
Figeac?
Sightseeing along the way?
Hotel or B & B suggestions welcome as well. Thanks for any and all replies.
Zunrise.

Zun

For the Nth time - do you have my Languedoc itinerary? It's 35 pages and has specific routes described, scenic things to see along the way, and our favorite restaurants. I've sent my itineraries to over 800 people on the aol & Fodors travel boards.

The route to get from Uzes (via Anduze) to the Corniche des Cevannes, Gorge du Tarn. Lot, etc is described there - no need for me to repeat it here & if I did, the Fodors people would not be happy with the lenght of my post.

Stu Dudley

For 3 nights stay in Ste Enimie, Conques, St Cere.

Stu Dudley

Zunrise, I highly recommend Stu's itinerary for Provence and the Languedoc/Dordogne regions. We just got back from three weeks in those areas and planned our whole trip around his itineraries. I must say they are worth their weight in gold.

Stu you are a godsend. We have already made plans to go back next September to continue what we missed. Not enough time in a day. You think you will do all these things each day and you are lucky to get through half of them. We had to keep telling ourselves not to rush to see more, just relax and enjoy the moment.

Z - you will have a lovely visit. They are beautiful areas and we are definitely happy with the decisions we made based on Stu's itineraries.

Good luck and have fun.

emh

Thanks for the complement eholden. Glad you found them useful.

When the weather turns foul this winter, I plan to update my Provence itinerary with stuff I gathered from our 5 week stay there in June. I'll update my Brittany one also - stayed there 2 weeks in Sept.

Stu Dudley

Don't skip Brugge ! talking of quaint towns - yes, the canal ride, the horse and buggy ride in the great square surrounded by wonderful
steep roofed and colorful buildings, and if you like mussels - there they are in the many restaurants at the main town square in every kind of sauce you can imagine...I'm not a beer drinker, but apparently they're pretty famous for the beer there too, not to mention the chocolates and the tapestries. I loved Brugge and am looking forward to returning there.

Enjoy.

oops - I forgot to mention...in Brugge there is a church which has a statue by Michelangelo. Unfortunately I didnt get to go in and see it because the church was under renovation and closed, but that might be another thing you might not want to miss.

Silly question, but can anyone help me with "bookmark" ? duh.

Hi all.
Well finally getting to this phase. Comments please and thanks.
If you think anything should be eliminated, swapped, order changed please your input is welcome.
Thanks again!
Sorry for any city spellling errors too!.


Day one. Thursday. Depart from home.
Day 2. Friday. Arrive Brussels, transfer by train to Bruge.
Day 3. Sat. Visit w/friend and visit Bruge.
Day 4. Sun. Train to Avignon. Overnight Avignon.
Day 5. Mon. Early a.m. pick up car at train station. Drive to Orange, Chateauneuf du Pape, Overnight Vaison la Romaine.
Day 6 Tue. Visit Gordes, visit Abbaye de Senanque, Overnight Rousillion.
Day 7. Wed. Bonnieux, La Coste, Menerbes, Oppede le Vieux. Overnight I’Isle sur la Sorge.
Day 8. Thurs. Drive to and visit St. Remy, Le Baux, Overnight near Arles.
Day 9. Friday. Drive to Pont du Gard, Vist Uzes, Overnigth near Ales.
Day 10. Sat. Early start for St. Enimie. Visit St. Jean du Gard (lunch) Overnight St. Enimie.
Day 11. Sun. Drive to Conques. Overnight Conques.
Day 12. Mon. Drive to St. Cere. Visit Figeac.
Day 13. Tues. Visit Padirac and Rocamadour early. Drive to Beynac. Overnight Baynac ???
Day 14. Wed. ?
Day 15. Thurs ?
Day 16 Fri ?
Day 17 Sat ?
Day 18 Sun Drive to Toulouse, Drop Car. Overnight Toulouse.
Day 19. Mon. Fly home.

Not sure why you are changing hotels in Provence so much. Avignon & Vaison are about 30 mins apart. Vaison & Roussillon are about 40 mins apart. Roussillon & l'Isle sur la Sorgue are 20 about mins apart. l'Isle sur la Sorgue & Arles/St Remy are about 40 mins apart.

Don't stay in Ales - stay in Uzes.

Shops in Figeac will be closed Mon morning - but that's not a great shopping town anyway.

All the ???? at the end - stay in the Dordogne - don't go anyplace else.

Stu Dudley

Hi zunrise,

I agree with Stu - you're moving too much.

ideally pick max. two bases in Provence and one in the Dordogne. Sarlat is great but there are many other lovely places.

regards, ann

Okay. Finally we are in crunch time as have to commit to flights, cars, hotels to get the best prices.
So…without further adieu, here are the latest thoughts for critique with revisions specifically on the Provence portion.

Friday – travel day
Sat – arrive Brussels, transfer by train to Bruges
Sun- visit w/friend and visit Bruges
Monday – train to Avignon, arrive 240pm overnight Avignon
Tuesday – collect car from Avignon train station, drive to St Remy, check into hotel, continue on to Arles and Les Baux. Return to St Remy for the night.
Wed. – visit Market St Remy in early a.m. Afternoon drive and visit Pont Gard
Thursday – drive to Orange, Chateau Neuf de Papa, Vaison de Romaine, rtn to St Remy for overnight.
Friday – drive to Gordes, Rousillion, Bonneux etc. Return to St Remy for night. I know it’s a full day!
Sat – drive to l'Isle sur la Sorgue for a.m market. Afternoon drive to Uzes for visit and overnight stay.
Sun – drive to St Enimie
Monday – drive to Conques
Tuesday – drive to St. Cere
Wed – visit Padiric and Rocamadour enroute to Beynac area.
Thursday – Beynac area
Note will probably base at Residence Versailles near Beynac (as I’ve heard it is good) for first 2 nights, then check into La Villa Des Consuls Friday night for the remaining three nights, so to awake to the Saturday market in Sarlat
Friday – Sarlat area
Sat – Sarlat area area
Sun – Sarlat area
Mon - Head towards Cahors get off at exit 57 and visit Peche Merle cave (reserve for a morning tour). Have lunch at St Cirq Lapopie. Back on the same freeway to Toulouse. Drop off car and overnight near Airport.
Tues – fly home

Any thoughts, changes, opinions, additions, precise instructions, suggestions for specific days (markets etc) will be well received.
Best regards to all posting and viewing Fodorites!
Zunrise.

While you are in the north of France, I would strongly recommend you visit Troyes. This is a beautiful sixteenth century city of cob half timbered buildings with a magnificent cathedral; a fascinating old church - St. Pantaleon - which is filled with "school of Troyes" sculptures; excellent restaurants (love Valentino's) and cafes, great galleries, and two of the biggest remainder outlets for clothing, china etc in France on its outskirts and easily reachable by bus... This is one of the most charming French cities that we've ever stayed in, and I cannot recommend it too highly. We stayed 6 days and really one day or horrors, overnight is really not enough. The tool museum, which I thought would be boring before I went there, is worth the visit alone. The residents were charming and it is not overrun by tourists either.

Stu-
Do you have any hotel suggestions for Rennes?

Thanks so much,
Amy

We had 3 criteria when we picked a hotel in Rennes - close to the train station, and inexpensive, and listed in the Michelin guide. We stayed at the President [email protected]. They had special weekend rates (this was mid Sept) for around 58E per night. We stayed there 1 night.

The money we saved on the room, we spent on an excellent dinner at l'Escu de Rufao in the medieval section of town on a pedestrian only street.

Stu Dudley

hi, sunrize,

i reckon you've cracked it this time - a nice balance of keeping still and moving about.

stu's recommendation for Rennes also looks good. as for Troyes, we stayed a ngiht there once, and failed to discover the delights that franco...mania describes.

regards, ann

Thanks all for your kind words and valued advice.
All arrangments have been put in place and we are looking forward to our trip. Now for brushing up on my French!
Best wishes to all for a travel-filled 2008!
Zunrise.