Here's the link to the Slow Travel string I mentioned in my previous post, with some thoughts on La Charite sur Loire:

http://slowtalk.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/.../m/72710142221

Here is a link to the rental possibility I mentioned near La Charite-sur-Loire. The owners are Dutch. They also speak English and German. They live on-site, and they do have, or may have, by this summer, one other rental space on the propoerty.

http://www.vakantiehuis-frankrijk.nl..._burgondy.html

Another advantage of La Charite and its environs is the location, between Bourges in the Cher -- an hour's drive to the west -- and some great Burgundy sites like Vezelay, about two hours east. Not to mention Sancerre, about 30 minutes away, and the Pouilly vineyards, a 15-minute drive.

Btilke,

Thank you for the reminder about La Tour in Sancerre. I know it's highly regarded but wwe haven't made it there -- closed on one or two occasions when we tried. Another restaurant we love is La Ferme des Barreaux, in the Cher on the route from La Charite to Sancerre. They serve duck -- period. Foie gras made on the farm the appetizer and duck six different ways the main course. One of our favorites in the thick breast filet with wonderful local goats' cheese on top! In good weather you can dine on the lawn in the courtyard of the farm. In bad weather, in the smaller dining room in front of the fireplace. Rustic and charming!

Since we've been discussing Sancerre in this thrad, I thought someone might be interested in the following possibility, a "total immersion" French language and culture school based in Sancerre. They offer lodging as well as classes, and short practical "excurions" in the town with the teachers, such as going to the Post Office and going shopping.

http://www.coeurdefrance.com/programs.htm

I did not linger long on this site, but the tuition and lodging costs look reasonable.

The Loire Valley is likely to be pretty warm in July; so I'd suggest heading to Brittany and Normandy, or even the Dordogne. There are many picturesque small towns there, and if you do a search here for Dordogne you will find many suggestions.

Underhill,

You're right about the likelihood of heat in August in the center of France, though the weather isn't trustworthy. And I had thuogh to ask Bachan about level of comfort with hot weather and forgot. But in the heat wave of 2003, not to be repeated, I hope, Normandy wasn't spared, either. A Parisian friend withdrew to our place near La Charite sur Loire, which was better than the city but still blazing. I'm pretty indifferent to hot weather. No air conditioning in our car or in our Paris apartment, though we've though about it. Brittany is lovely. I don't know how croweded it becomes in summer. Bachan is trying to avoid crowds of visitors. We stayed last fall in Brittany on the Bay of Morlai. Lovely.

Yes, that's a good point about the heat. Under normal circumstances, Sancerre, Bourges et al will be hot (and somewhat muggy) in August. The best bet is to either find accommodations with airco to keep cool inside, a pool for cooling off outside, or possibly both.
Since the summer of 2003, central airco installations in France have risen over 30%; portable airco sales have been up over 50% in some regions. One market research report said installations would be even greater but the factories in China where most of these systems are manufactured are at maximum production levels.
Brittany may not necessarily be much cooler. I once spent a few weeks at La Baule, in a condo right across from the beach, and it was HOT during the day and still quite warm at night.

if you feel like going to Burgundy, this can give you a idea about Dijon:
http://www.ofoto.fr/BrowsePhotos.jsp...p;sort_order=0

have a nice trip :-)
corinne

Thanks for all the feedback and the great photos as well. As for the summer heat, I guess it "might" be an issue. I prefer the warm weather over the cold any day, and I love leaving the windows open in the summer just to feel the summer breeze while I'm sleeping but I don't do well in heat waves...you know, the kind of heat that makes you sweat when you're not even moving! Or when it's so warm & humid that you can't sleep at all! So, yes it might be an issue when it comes to choosing hotels, etc. It's something that I had not thought about until now.

As for my tentative itinerary here's what I was thinking:

Monday, July 25th - Arrive in Paris and stay at one of the following hotels - 3* is fine for us. (I chose Monday because many places seem to be closed on Sunday - am I wrong?)

Hotel des Grandes Ecoles / Hotel du Pantheon / Hotel Verneuil / Hotel Bonaparte / Hotel Central Saint Germaine / Hotel de la Tour Notre Dame - Yes, I am leaning towards Le Quartier Latin - St Germain.

So far I've looked into Hotel des Grandes Ecoles and it seems very warm & cozy even though the rooms are on the small side. I haven't yet looked into the other hotels. Our plans are to stay in Paris for 6 nights from July 25th - July 30th . Our intentions are to get an "overview" of the City of Paris so that we can fully explore it on another trip and possibly do one or two day trips - Versaille / Chartres / ?

We are hoping to rent a car (any recommendations - maybe in Chartres?) for our trip to the countryside - July 31st - August 7th (7 nights or more..) where we hope to enjoy a more relaxing vacation. As far as a route that we're going to take...we haven't come up with one yet! So far the following places sound wonderful but we have yet to map them out: La Charite-sur-Loire in Nievre, Pouilly, Sancerre, Burgundy with a base in Beaune (?), Bourges, Berry, Dijon, etc. We thought about the Loire area (Amboise, Chenonceau, Chambord), but we really need to sit down and map everything out. We will probably have to make that another trip. We are still very much interested in renting a small cottage and we plan to just drive & explore some of the surrounding areas . So far we haven't found anything. :( Can anyone recommend a cozy cottage that would be conveniently located so if we did want to explore other areas, we could. But if we decided to just spend a lazy day reading someplace serene, we would have that option as well. Six days in Paris may be just enough sight-seeing for us ....rubbing elbows with the tourists. If we can't find a cottage then a small, charming hotel will do as well! Now the question is...what about the heat? And how is this going to affect our choice of accommodations? To me "small & charming = no A/C"! How hot & uncomfortable was it during the summer of 2003?! Should we really consider this when deciding?

Getting back to our trip, after the countryside we will probably pick up the kids in Paris then we plan to take the train to Cologne, Germany to visit friends. If, for some reason, this does not work out then we will remain in France for another week. This time I¡¦ll need your advice on where to vacation with kids! (~10 & ~12).

I still have a million & one questions about restaurants, sights to see, etc., but for now I guess I should focus on a route and finding suitable accommodations. I would love to hear your suggestions! I look forward to them!

Bachan,

This company lists 19 homes for rent in Burgundy and others in the Cher:

http://www.holidaylets.net

If you'd like personal recommendations, e-mail me:

[email protected]

This is one possibility in the Sancerre region, although I think it's booked out for August. It has a pool.
http://www.holidayrentals.co.uk/inde...perty/6529.cfm

Hi, Bacan. After much searching the net for Loire Valley cottages with pools, and finding that almost every possibility required a week's stay in the summer (not surprising, given all the Parisians and tourists from elsewhere in summer), I decided on a chateau that looks wonderful for this coming August. It's called Chateau des Briottieres (where Impromptu was filmed), and it's surprisingly reasonable. I haven't been there yet, but I can't wait! Their website is http://www.briottieres.com