Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley Accommodations
 

I'll be traveling with my wife through Normandy, Brittany, and The Loire Valley June 4 through 9. Do we need reservations for accommodations or can we find places to stay along the way?
We plan to stay in Honfleur, Bayeux, Dinan, and Either Chinon or Amboise. We end up in Paris for 4 nights with reservations.

I think that you should be able to find places to stay along the way. Not always at the price you expected, or at the comfort level you might have wanted, but such are the joys of freedom from a set schedule.

We travelled without reservations the first time we went to France and I swore I would never do that again. Finding a place to stay usually took up most of the day and was very stressful. I'd rather know exactly where I'll end up for the night and not have to worry about it. But that's me; others would have diffring views.
Two years ago, we stayed at the beautiful Chateau Bellefontaine in Bayeux. You'll love Dinan; sorry, can't remember the name of our hotel.

Should be easy to pick up a room along the way. I would recommend the following strategy.

In Normandy follow the Honfleur to Bayeaux coast road and book into any fish restaurant with a good view. It will be fresh and you will have a real French experience.

As you move away from the coast look out for the logis-de-france.fr hotels for more of the same.

In Loire you might try Abbey de Fontevraud (near Chinon) as a high spot, but also Le Mans (roman walls still standing) is worth a stop over as are the little towns on "le loir" which is the river north of "La Loire". Le Chatre has a lovely little square and the hotel is where the racers used to stay.

Just check the Le Mans 24 hr race is not on over the week as they may change things about a bit

Googled lemans and note that

Le Mans 24hrs: 16th - 17th June 2007 is the race. So you may find hotels full up and roads very busy.

At the end of May we are staying at http://www.leclosamboise.com/FR.asp

I like the location in Amboise and the hotel's prices are reasonable.

Having stayed in several towns (and Tours) in the area, I prefer Amboise for the sort of middle feeling, large enough to choose restaurants, small enough to feel like a town. I also like its location.

Thanks for all the responses. We'll be in the Loire Valley on June 8 and 9. Do you think that the Le Mans race will impact traffic and Hotel availability?

YES

The time to book was yesterday. In earlier threads folks were having trouble booking for the Nice area because of the Formula 1 race in Monaco on May 27.

It's the start of high season for a very good reason, more people.

Le Mans is not right on top of La Loire and the real nuts stay awake for the whole 24 hours so they ar not the problem but it may have an effect on hotels (smallish) but it may block the roads a bit if you hit it at the wrong time. Again if driving Loire to PAris say it will have little effect but may interfere with North to Le Mans for example as a large proportion of the visitors will be Brits