capper21p

Thanks for the tips on Paris appartements.
We are thinking of renting a car and meandering through the Loire country for five days (May) then going down to Languedoc where we will take a gite. Is it possible to just drive into a town and find cheap to moderate accomodation for the night, without reserving, at an auberge, or B&B, somewhat the way we can do it in North America with motels? We don't want to loose the spontaneity of our trip by tying everything down in advance if we can help it. Thanks

StCirq

Yes, at that time of year it's possible, as long as you're willing to give up a chnk of each day's potential sightseeing time to looking for a room.

RJD

A small story. I was in the Loire in May a few years ago with what I thought was a secure accomodation. It turned out that my reservatiopn had gone wrong. The hotel agreed to find me another room. The closest they could come up with was an hour and a half away. It was a long drive in the rain made tolerable only by a cuban cigar. Take the chance if you want but be prepared for trouble and time spent just on finding a room.

laverendrye

For years when motoring in Europe we would never reserve ahead, and never had any great difficulties. On our past couple of trips, we have arranged accommodation in advance but that was because of having tighter itineraries and co-ordinating with others.

You should be OK in May, but if you are travelling over one of the many public holidays at that time, you may want to reserve. As a compromise, try calling ahead in the morning before you set out for the day. Our friends who have taken bike trips in the Loire, Lot and Dordogne usually do that.

Pegontheroad

We drove through Normandy and the Loire in September and found rooms at tourist offices. It worked out very well. We were pleased with the inexpensive but charming rooms that we found that way.

Amart

If you want cheap and are not looking for charming: http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/ and http://www.choicehotelseurope.com/hotels/directory and https://www.envergure.fr/pclassefr.html
offer hotels on every toll road exit almost. We printed out directions in the areas we visited and were able to find cheap quick accomodations easily.

Dave_in_Paris

If you want pleasant bed and breakfast accommodations you can't do better than use the Rivages "Maison d'Hotes de Charme" guide. I believe there are English-language editions of the Rivages guidebooks, and they have a Web site with abridged information (and rather terrible translation.)