France: Paris, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Angouleme & Amboise
 

Hello,

We are traveling to France for 2 weeks in August and I am looking for some advice.

The fist week will be spent in Paris, where we will be staying at a friend’s house and making a couple day trips.

Then the plan is to TGV to Biarritz, renting a car upon arrival and staying for 3 nights. The chambres d'hote Maison Arrokenia sounds interesting…but I can’t find pics anywhere. Advice on where to stay?

After the third night in Biarritz make the 2 hour drive to Bordeaux and tour some wineries. Advice on where to stay? Should we opt for the city center or a small town?

Next morning make the 1.5 hour drive to Angouleme. Advice on what to do and where to stay here? I am open to other towns between Bordeaux and Amboise.

Next morning make the 2.5 hour drive to Amboise. Vist a few Chateaus. I wanted to stay at the Chateau des Ormeaux after reading another forum, but they are booked. The Chateau des Briottieres in Anjou looks rather charming (http://www.briottieres.com). Any advice on a fabulous Chateau in the Lorie Valley?

All restaurant suggestions are appreciated…we love to eat!. We are on a budget but are also looking for a couple of splurges.

Thank you!!

First of all, you're awfully late to be making reservations for beach towns in August, so best of luck with that.

I'd choose St-Jean-de-Luz in a heartbeat over Biarritz.

If you want to tour wineries around Bordeaux contact the Maison du Vin there and they will arrange tours for you. If wineries is your object, stay in Bordeaux and do tours with them.

I'd skip Angoulème entirely and head to La Rochelle. Spend a couple of days there and include a drive out to Ile de Ré.

A second for St-Jean-de-Luz, one of our favorite towns.

I looked over the Chateau Briottieres several years ago and was not impressed. But it is the owner's family home and perhaps he's done more work on it. But regardless I'd choose the Chateau de Rochecote.

I also recommend St. Jean de Luz and La Rochelle. In St Jean we stayed at the Hotel de la Plage which is nothing all that special but it is right on the beach and modest in price..I think we paid 80 Euro in May about 5 years ago..

I just returned from La Rochelle and adored the town, although I did not have time to visit Ile de Re. I was happy with the Hotel St. Jean d'Acre..again, the rooms were not special but it has a superb location and some rooms, including ours, have great views of the port and "chain" tower guarding the town. I think the rate was 117 double with sea view. If you love seafood, these two towns will please you very much.

In St. Jean Kaiku is very good for seafood; in La Rochelle, head for Bar Andre.

We got lost driving around Angouleme and never did see the town so I can't comment. But here is an idea..the Medoc will be hot in August. What about visiting Cognac instead..only an hour or so from La Rochelle or Angouleme, the town offers tours of the various Cognac houses and the process of making the spirit.

Another vote for St Jean de Luz over Biarritz.

In Bordeaux, may I suggest St Emillion, east of Bordeaux, very quaint.

Amboise is a good base in the Loire. Another suggestion I have had from this forum is Samur.

Enjoy!

s

Hi ih,

Rather than staying in Bordeaux, I suggest St. Emilion. See www.saint-emilion.org

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

One more vote for St.Jean de Luz over Biarritz.

hi, Heartfelt,

swagman and Ira got in first.

St. Emillion would be a lovely stopping place - and you can do some tasting without worying about the drink-driving laws. Cognac is a bit far north for using as a base, but makes a good mid-day stop, and a tour of a "chais" is very interesting.

I agree about La rochelle - better than Angouleme, and either Amboise or Saumur - I prefer the latter, but it doesn't have the Clos de lucie which is very interesting.

try and fit in a trip to the "puy de Fou" after you leave la rochelle. It's a really french theme park concentrating on the history of the western france, and if you can get tickets for the "son et lumiere" show there,don't hesitate.

regards, ann

Why does everyone reccommend St. Jean over Biarritz? Curious....

The Chateau de Rochecote looks absolutly beautiful, but turns out they are booked. Othere Chateaus in the Lorie?

St. Emilion seems like a good alternative to Bordeaux as we don't have time to ecperience the city.

Resturants?

Thank you!

I gave you two restaurants above..one in St. Jean and one in La Rochelle. I had one of my best dinners in France at Bar Andre..it is not a fancy place but it is packed with character and offers superb seafood at moderate prices. Kaiku in St. Jean is also wonderful, if a tad more upscale.

Your other option is to rent the car in St. Jean, or Biarritz, and drive inland to the small towns of the Pays Basque which is one of the prettiest areas of France with some of the best cooking the country has to offer.

Biarritz is beautiful and much more grand than St. Jean, which is really a fishing village at heart. Biarritz is more in the category of grand resort. Both are well worth visiting, in my opinion.

Have a look at Maribel's guides to the Pays Basque; with this printed out you do not need another guidebook.

www.maribelsguides.com

I can spell, I just woke up :)

Thanks Eks, I really found a lot of info from your and Maribel's other posts. Can't wait for the Basque food!

hi, iheart

you are asking about other chateaux - don't know what your budget is, but there is the relais et chateaux group all over france. also , i few years ago i had a separate booklet on B & B in Chateaux all along the loire. google may help.

you could also look at "logis de france" for small independent hotels.

happy travels,

regards, ann

I guess St Jean de Luz has the votes here because it is a well preserved seaside town which retained its old world charm. Whereas Biarritz is over developed and over touristy, IMO anyway. If you are a surfer, then go to Biarritz.

I have not been to La Rochelle but have been told it too is over developed with concrete buildings along its coastline, popular with english speaking tourists. Perhaps someone can elaborate on that.

s

The town of La Rochelle is architecturally intact. From looking at the real estate ads in the agency windows it would appear that there is lots of development nearby..lots of beach "villas" for sale, etc. I did not see any of this as we took the train to and from La Rochelle.

I was there at the end of May and the tourists were mostly French with a good sprinkling of British. The woman at my hotel said that this is the make-up later in the summer as well..mostly French, many British. It was not overwhelmingly crowded even though it was Toussaint.