France - Provence, Cevennes, and Pyrenees- feedback please
Jan 30th, 2007, 10:41 AM
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France - Provence, Cevennes, and Pyrenees- feedback please
My husband and I are booked (flights) for our next trip to France. Our dates are from May 24th to June 13th.
I wanted to run our rough itinerary by the sage francophile fodorites and hope that you'll be able to offer some advice.
Last year, we did the Dordogne as the last part of our trip. We liked it alot, but wanted to explore the Catalan region near the Spanish border. We love our location in Provence and the place we are returning to in the Cevennes, near St Germaine de Colbert..high up in the mountains.
May 25th - arrive/ Paris
May 26th-28th- Le Vallon, near Avignon
May 29th- possible stay another night at Le Vallon or stay one night Arles
May 30th- June 2- Cevennes
June 3rd- one more night in the Cevennes or elsewhere???
June 4th-9th- Orientale Pyrennees-
June 10th- Toulouse?
June 11 and 12th- Paris
We'll be doing the TGV in and out of Paris. We will have a car in the south. I have am still researching affordable B&Bs near the spanish border (we'd like to do some day trips over to spain..Cadaques, Girona?, Figueres...?) along with exploring this little corner of France (Canigou, Ceret, Coullouire, etc..).
Does this sound like a good rough itinerary (we don't really plan daily sightseeing ahead of time)?
As for the Pyrennees, we're looking to be based outside of town, somewhat in the countryside. I've been looking near Ceret, Perpignan, etc...and have found two to three places that truly appeal to us...
http://www.activityholidayfrance.com...on_france.html
L'Ombre du fort, Villfranche de conflet
http://www.sanglierlodge.com
Sanglier Lodge, Le Tech
http://www.visitfrance.co.uk/outclick.cfm?idnum=4491
Villa Le Lafabregue, Prades (a little more than our budget but considering...)
Stu- I'll probably be emailing you for your Languedoc guide. Your Dordogne and Provence guides were extremely helpful to us last year, and though I've found alot on the web about the Pyrennees region, I haven't seen alot of posts from travellers.
Thanks in advance!
I wanted to run our rough itinerary by the sage francophile fodorites and hope that you'll be able to offer some advice.
Last year, we did the Dordogne as the last part of our trip. We liked it alot, but wanted to explore the Catalan region near the Spanish border. We love our location in Provence and the place we are returning to in the Cevennes, near St Germaine de Colbert..high up in the mountains.
May 25th - arrive/ Paris
May 26th-28th- Le Vallon, near Avignon
May 29th- possible stay another night at Le Vallon or stay one night Arles
May 30th- June 2- Cevennes
June 3rd- one more night in the Cevennes or elsewhere???
June 4th-9th- Orientale Pyrennees-
June 10th- Toulouse?
June 11 and 12th- Paris
We'll be doing the TGV in and out of Paris. We will have a car in the south. I have am still researching affordable B&Bs near the spanish border (we'd like to do some day trips over to spain..Cadaques, Girona?, Figueres...?) along with exploring this little corner of France (Canigou, Ceret, Coullouire, etc..).
Does this sound like a good rough itinerary (we don't really plan daily sightseeing ahead of time)?
As for the Pyrennees, we're looking to be based outside of town, somewhat in the countryside. I've been looking near Ceret, Perpignan, etc...and have found two to three places that truly appeal to us...
http://www.activityholidayfrance.com...on_france.html
L'Ombre du fort, Villfranche de conflet
http://www.sanglierlodge.com
Sanglier Lodge, Le Tech
http://www.visitfrance.co.uk/outclick.cfm?idnum=4491
Villa Le Lafabregue, Prades (a little more than our budget but considering...)
Stu- I'll probably be emailing you for your Languedoc guide. Your Dordogne and Provence guides were extremely helpful to us last year, and though I've found alot on the web about the Pyrennees region, I haven't seen alot of posts from travellers.
Thanks in advance!
Jan 30th, 2007, 12:02 PM
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Seems like a good plan to me.
We spent 2 weeks in a Gite in the Pyrennes Orietales, and were busy almost every moment. Lots of stuff to see. The driving through the Cevannes region is beautiful, but it consumes a lot of time. Don't try to shorten that portion of your trip or I think you might find yourself spending too much time in the car. We spent 1 week north of Ganges.
Stu Dudley
We spent 2 weeks in a Gite in the Pyrennes Orietales, and were busy almost every moment. Lots of stuff to see. The driving through the Cevannes region is beautiful, but it consumes a lot of time. Don't try to shorten that portion of your trip or I think you might find yourself spending too much time in the car. We spent 1 week north of Ganges.
Stu Dudley
Jan 30th, 2007, 12:25 PM
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Thanks Stu.
The Cevennes is a return trip, and we are actually spending more time there this year than last because we enjoyed it so much (and I have to say, we won't be taking the tiny D13 road up towards St. Germaine de Colberte again. More exciting than any amusement park ride I've ever been.). It truly is an great area. We missed out on kayaking down the gorge du tarn last time, and it's one of our must do's this time around (we did do kayaking down the Dordogne though, and loved it).
Here is a link to the place we stayed at and plan to stay at again this year
http://causses-cevennes.com/mas-abei...0breakfast.htm
Highly recommended to anyone who can stomach driving up through the mountains!
We love the idea of renting a self-catering gite one of these days, but we like staying in B&Bs and getting to know our hosts and sometimes the other guests too.
maybe next year...
That being said, I just started doing the mappy and michelin thing to figure out driving distances....
Is my gut instinct to stay near Perpignan/Ceret/Prades good, or would it be better to stay a little further north and closer access to the autoroutes, possible near Pezenas? Or does it not matter?
The Cevennes is a return trip, and we are actually spending more time there this year than last because we enjoyed it so much (and I have to say, we won't be taking the tiny D13 road up towards St. Germaine de Colberte again. More exciting than any amusement park ride I've ever been.). It truly is an great area. We missed out on kayaking down the gorge du tarn last time, and it's one of our must do's this time around (we did do kayaking down the Dordogne though, and loved it).
Here is a link to the place we stayed at and plan to stay at again this year
http://causses-cevennes.com/mas-abei...0breakfast.htm
Highly recommended to anyone who can stomach driving up through the mountains!
We love the idea of renting a self-catering gite one of these days, but we like staying in B&Bs and getting to know our hosts and sometimes the other guests too.
maybe next year...
That being said, I just started doing the mappy and michelin thing to figure out driving distances....
Is my gut instinct to stay near Perpignan/Ceret/Prades good, or would it be better to stay a little further north and closer access to the autoroutes, possible near Pezenas? Or does it not matter?
Jan 30th, 2007, 01:19 PM
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We stayed near Ceret & found that to be perfect. Lots of things in the immediate area. Try to avoid Le Boulou if you can (not pretty city - lots of traffic). Pezenas is not that convenient for visiting the Pyrenees, Tet, Tech, Spain, Collouire, Banyuls, Cerdagne, Costa Brava, Gerona, etc
My 35 page Languedoc itinerary has lots of ideas on what to do & eat in the area. e-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.
Stu Dudley
My 35 page Languedoc itinerary has lots of ideas on what to do & eat in the area. e-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.
Stu Dudley
Feb 1st, 2007, 10:50 PM
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Hi
just an idea. Why not plan on staying a couple of nights in Spain ? Maybe in the old town in Girona. This would allow more time to explore Costa Brava, Dali, and even a trip to Barcelona.
The coast road from Cadaques to France has stunning scenery.
Peter
just an idea. Why not plan on staying a couple of nights in Spain ? Maybe in the old town in Girona. This would allow more time to explore Costa Brava, Dali, and even a trip to Barcelona.
The coast road from Cadaques to France has stunning scenery.
Peter
Feb 6th, 2007, 04:16 PM
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Peter, Thanks for your additional input.
I tend to find changing our home base too often tires me out a bit. Based on our trip last year, I was trying to stay in one place for a longer time so we could settle in and then go exploring on a daily basis and be able to return 'home' each nite. We're probably going to go with the B&B in Villafranche. I've done some michelin mapping online and am trying to make sure approximate drive times don't max out over 2hours from our base (allowing for getting lost and hitting traffic, really not more than an hour and a half, and not on a daily basis). Going to Barcelona would be a great idea, but I'm not sure if we'll hit it this time. I was there 10 years ago and loved it, so it's not as if I have anything against Barcelona itself.
Ironically, on the return trip from barcelona 10 years ago, I remember looking out of the train as we were nearing the french border and thinking how much I wanted to get out and explore this area. It just looked so beautiful. And now I will finally get the chance. And yes, Cadaques is one of the towns we are interested in exploring. I will take your suggestion to do the coastal drive.
I'm not discounting your suggestion about basing in Spain for a night or two at all, and am going to start researching more options.
BTW- Stu. Got your itinerary. It's great. The info on the Pyrennees has been very helpful. It's fun reading about the other places in the Languedoc that we have already visited. You never disappoint!
I tend to find changing our home base too often tires me out a bit. Based on our trip last year, I was trying to stay in one place for a longer time so we could settle in and then go exploring on a daily basis and be able to return 'home' each nite. We're probably going to go with the B&B in Villafranche. I've done some michelin mapping online and am trying to make sure approximate drive times don't max out over 2hours from our base (allowing for getting lost and hitting traffic, really not more than an hour and a half, and not on a daily basis). Going to Barcelona would be a great idea, but I'm not sure if we'll hit it this time. I was there 10 years ago and loved it, so it's not as if I have anything against Barcelona itself.
Ironically, on the return trip from barcelona 10 years ago, I remember looking out of the train as we were nearing the french border and thinking how much I wanted to get out and explore this area. It just looked so beautiful. And now I will finally get the chance. And yes, Cadaques is one of the towns we are interested in exploring. I will take your suggestion to do the coastal drive.
I'm not discounting your suggestion about basing in Spain for a night or two at all, and am going to start researching more options.
BTW- Stu. Got your itinerary. It's great. The info on the Pyrennees has been very helpful. It's fun reading about the other places in the Languedoc that we have already visited. You never disappoint!
