maitaitom

It's possible I might have been drinking or nearly comatose when I made this plan for our 2012 trip to France, so your help is more than appreciated. It seems the following is possible, but would love some feedback. I have read Dordogne and Languedoc reports, but the planning is still a little daunting.

Day 1 through 6 - Fly to Paris (after spending the night, take an early train to Limoges - arrive about 11 a.m., pick up car, see Oradour-sur-Glane and Chateau Hautefort, then drive to Sarlat where we spend five nights and see the region via day trips.

Day 7 and 8 - Carennac area to see Rocamadour and Dordogne Valley

Day 9 - Drive to Albi via Figeac and Conques (St-Cirq, too?)

Day 10 - Day day trip to Toulouse from Albi

Day 11 - Carcassonne

Day 12 - Carcassonne to Pezenas via via Peyrepertuse & Quéribus Châteaux

Day 13, 14, 15 - Pezenas (see Grotte des Demoiselles, Grotte de Clamouse, St Guilhem le Desert, La Couvertoirade, Roquefort, Millau/Tarn Gorges/Aven Armand, Beziers, Montpelier

Day 16 - Day 20 - St. Remy area (via Aigues Mortes) and then do Provence day trips.

Then back to Paris for a few days.

Thought about taking a day off of Provence and stopping in Collioure for the evening between Carcassonne and Pezenas. Is Pezenas area a good base to see the places I have included?

We will give StCirq fair warning about our arrival so she can board up her Dordogne residence before we arrive.

Thanks.

kerouac

Pezenas is the one town that 'shocked' me on the list. I am not at all an expert on Pezenas, but I have always considered it to be a place that you pass through as quickly as possible. However, I will admit that this impression dates from back when my parents lived in Béziers for a few years before the A9 autoroute was completed, and Pezenas was the summer nightmare traffic jam for cars going to Spain. I'm sure that things have calmed down considerably since then.

Michael

Carennac is too far east as a base for the Dordogne; it's not even in the département. You're missing the most important part of the Dordogne, which are the caves, Sarlat and some of the villages along the river (Domme, La Roque-Gageac, Beynac).

Toulouse is a big city. I'm not sure that it is worth trying a day trip. Staying there overnight would be something else, as you could wander around after dinner. If anything, I would reverse the stay: Toulouse with a day trip to Albi. But I would simply forget Toulouse and visit Moissac for its abbey church and Montauban for its Place de la République and Ingres museum in the former bishop's palace.

Carcassonne is just worth a couple of hours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623877915948/

maitaitom

Hi kerouac, It is more the Pezenas/Beziers area I am looking at as a base to see if that's a convenient place to travel around. Maybe Montpellier?

jamikins

MIchael - I read it that he is staying 5 of the first 6 days in Sarlat...but maybe I am misreading. Agree that this is the best part of the area - dont miss it!

maitaitom

Hi Michael, I have five nights in Sarlat to start the trip. Just was wondering where else to spend a couple of more nights before heading south. Any ideas? Thanks.

kerouac

Montpellier is an excellent city as a base and as a place to visit. Béziers has a certain charm, but you will quickly see that it is mostly a senior citizens' colony. However, if you don't mind staying in a chain hotel, Béziers has an excellent collection of them right next to the autoroute exit, which makes it super easy to get around to other places from there.

Luhimari

Welcome back, good to hear you are planning a trip! We have been to most of the areas that you mention, but on two or three different trips. Let me check my files and maps to refresh my memory and I'll get back to you.

JoeCal

Wow - I am jealous. I think your itinerary looks fine - (I don't quite understand day 7 & 8 - you will be in the Dordogne all week before that - so maybe you mean the upper Dordogne? Doesn't matter, just semantics I guess). The 13th, 14th and 15th look a little ambitious perhaps. I think St Cirq had praised Pezenas not too long ago in a positng here - but I may be wrong. I thought Beziers was fun and loved the area (I stayed nearby last summer). Didn't get to Montpellier but I think you'd have to choose - Montpellier might eat up 2 of those 3 days all by itself. If the drive from Figeac , etc., to Albi doesn't bother you then St Cirq Lapopie ought to be doable - it only takes a couple of hours to see or experience it.

Looks like a great trip to me. Don't get too locked into your plan - but it looks like a good plan IMO.

JoeCal

Sorry - on second thought, you have too much to do in Figeac, Conques and St Cirq L... in a single day. Figeac is a great little village all by itself and deserves more time. St Cirq only needs a couple hours (IMO) but this would mean a lot of driving to then go to Albi and have any time to see anything.
(Just my two cents worth)

Joe

StCirq

It looks like a fabulous start to me! I don't see anything wrong with moving on to Carennac after 5 days in the Dordogne; it's certainly easier to get to Rocamadour from there than from Sarlat. Would be nice to have a full week in the Dordogne, but you're going to some other fabulous places as well.

As you probably know, I"m not a SCL fan, but even that aside, I don't think you'll have time for it as well as Figeac and Conques, too, especially since you're landing in Albi and will want to explore for a few hours there (as I understand it, you're going to Toulouse the next day, and that will consume most if not all of the day).

I don't think I've praised Pézénas - I'm pretty sure it must have been Perpignan. I've driven through Pézénas a number of times and didn't find any appeal at all. I would head for Montpellier (and be sure to take the quick trip out of town to Bouzigues for shellfish at the water's edge).

Regarding Montauban, "the town of no left turns," if you do pass through, I hope you have better luck than I've had. I've never left there without my head spinning, and I like to think I can navigate darn well in France.

Signing off so I can go ring Madame Lacoste and tell her to empty the wine cave...

kerouac

If you find Gramat convenient, I think it is a great little town to use as a base to go to Rocamadour and the Gouffre de Padirac. I think it is less than 20 km from both of them, and it has many charming things in town itself.

Michael

I somehow missed the Sarlat part of the itinerary. My apologies.

StCirq

I agree that Gramat is a great little town. I also like Gourdon.

But if you want someplace special to stay near Rocamadour, check this out:

http://www.domainedelarue.com/index_uk.htm

My parents and I "discovered" it back in the early 1990s and fell in love with it (and the owners).

tower

maitai...so happy to hear that you are now trip-planning...you had a few hundred Fodorites praying you through the ordeal.

To base yourselves , our favorite in the Rocamadour area is the Domain de la Rhue...restored stables and farm house, pool, good walking trail through the forst to upper levels of Roc...Gouufre de Padirac is a short drive and you could easily experience the Cirque de Autoire from which you can see some pretty villages (Loubressac, Autoire) and drive up to Carennac, a classic in itself. It's on the Dordogne, one of the nicest stretches of it.

Gramat has one of the only supermarkets in the area, and I would also suggest taking a quick look at the Resistance Museum in downtown Cahors. Figeac and Conques can be daytrips, as can StC-l-p. Here are some scanned pix of a visit to the region for a peek at some of the places mentioned.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...eAndLotRegion#

So great to have you back amongst us, Tom!!

Michael

The Hautefort Hospice is, in my opinion, more interesting than the chateau itself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623164797649/

tower

tom:
If you don't mind hunting for the proverbial needle in the haystack...just a short drive NW of Conques is a mom and pop restaurant that we found to be a treat...we were the only non-locals in the place with several families of all sizes. ..in the remote village of Almon les Junies.... Frerrieres Restaurant, Best for Sunday lunch.

On a prior Dordogne visit, a Regional Magistrate, tipped us on a family style place quite near the Lascaux caves (was it you, St. C?)..also in a small village...La Chappelle...place called La Table de Terroir...For something a bit more "fine dining", try the Chateau de Romegouse near the Domaine on Highway 140...

You're in for a great journey, T and T..(please excuse typos)

Stu T.

rncheryl

Who cares about the French itinerary?? We just care that MaitaiTom is back in trip planning mode. Most excellent!!! Keep on planning.

maitaitom

This is great info everyone.

stcirq, The above website took me to a place in Normandy. You must REALLY be worried about your wine.

tower, it is great to BE back amongst you all, believe me! Now that I am in "stable" condition, the Domain de la Rhue seems perfect.

Thank you all, and your comments/ideas are appreciated as I try to coordinate this trip. Fortunately i have more than a year.

tower

St. C...sorry I didn't see your post on the Domaine...I think we have both agreed on one post or another that it is a gem. I would have just posted "me too"...

stu