France has a designation for its’ prettiest villages called “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”; think of the political infighting this must have caused. We try to visit as many of them as possible from Honfleur in Normandy, Beaumes Les Messieurs and Chateau Chalon in the Franche Comté; St. Cirq La Popie in the Lot Valley, Domme in the Dordogne; Bormes les Mimosas, Seguret, Menerbes, Gordes, Roussillon, Moustiers, Cassis in Provence; Collioure, Conques, and on and on. There are more than 140 and they are indeed lovely. There are a few recurring themes that we have noticed that could help the 1st time Plus Beaux Villager. #1arking is not a game for children. There will usually be well marked parking lots on the outskirts of the village. Avoid these; they are usually a 3 hour up hill hike involving crossing one minor mountain chain. If you are programmed to follow all guide book directions or if you like Hummers and other normal size to wide cars then only leave the items you want stolen in the car and leave it unlocked to avoid the collateral damage caused by your mistrust. We recommend that you studiously ignore all advice otherwise and follow the signs to “Centre Ville”. This is the area next to the church where the postcard and souvenir shops are. #2: Directions. Directional signs are abundant and somewhat accurate once you learn that most arrows pointing to the left or right really mean straight ahead and that North, East, South, and West apparently can’t be used in French signage . #3: Streets. Most will be named Charles DeGaulle for a portion of their route but this boredom is alleviated by the custom of a name change every 4th block. Street design is interesting in France in general but especially so in “Plus Beaux”, where you can almost always reach out either window and touch a building. Remember that your side-view mirrors can be tucked in. Beware of streets exiting “Centre Ville”, they frequently become narrower and narrower until they come to an abrupt end surrounded by precipitous cliffs on 3 sides and usually have about a 25% grade and are paved with loose shale. A word here about #4, reverse gear, is in order and I have yet to see this life saving topic covered in the guide books. First, make sure you have one; just because your gear shift lever has an “R” marked on it don’t get too cocky…it may just stand for “Renault” which is a popular name for cars in France. Reverse in a Renault can be an adventure, as some models have wondrously concealed a little ring which you must lift to shift into reverse. I have now made it standard practice to back out of the rental car lot. #5: Cameras. Leave your film-devouring camera at home or leave it in your car in the designated car theft areas. “Plus Beaux” require so many photos that you can’t possibly bring enough film, and the rolls for sale in “Centre Ville” will either be the wrong kind or cost more than your camera. Digital cameras are the only way to go, particularly if you have enough zoom to see the parking area from “Centre Ville”. #6: Tour buses. There are few good reasons to waste your coinage taking a guided tour by bus. They could be of some aid to the directionally challenged who wish to get home before dark or those wishing to better their comprehension of English as spoken by the rural French person. Admittedly they may also assuage the neuroses of those who fear driving in reverse or parking.
For the gastronomically stunted among you, please note I have avoided any reference to food. To the other 99%...more to follow.

France magazine (which originates in the UK but we can get in the US) features one of these villages every month. I'd like to visit them all..

Here's the official site:

http://www.villagesdefrance.free.fr/

There is actally a book "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" available at Amazon.com

Laidback, I chuckled when I read your descriptions of the recurring themes you've found in visiting the most beautiful villages of France.

I believe there are several books with the same title. I've the 6th edition of the one that says it's the official guide of the association, created by "Sélection du Reader's Digest" with publication addresses in Paris, Brussels, Montréal and Zurich. For some villages, it has the same basic descriptions that one finds on the website of the association, but also includes recommendated things to see, accommodations, restaurants, etc. For other villages, the desciptions are a bit different. BTW, Honfleur, Cassis, and Collioure, while all lovely and well worth visiting, are not designated "Plus Beaux Villages;" they exceed the maixmum 2,000 population criteria.

There's also a Michelin Map with the same title that shows all of the selected villages with the association logo. When we're visiting an area, I generally check to see whether or not we want to include nearby "plus beaux villages" in our itinerary.

MaisonMetz,

Thanks for the correction. I was not referring to the official list when I posted, rather going by memory which at my age is a dangerous means of transportation.

Do you actually have a house in Metz?

Laidback,

Unfortunately, we don't have a house in Metz, although we finally managed a day trip there from Nancy last spring and enjoyed it. After all of our trips to France, we decided it was time to visit our namesake city.

Trip report from Sept., 2005:

We have been in what is called "France Profonde" for the last several days. Internet access is about a millenium away from some of these little villages; we are talking remote here; some don't even know the 100 years' war is over or haven't yet heard who won.

Our next stop was Eygalières at the Michelin star adorned "Bistro d'Eygalières". This is a tiny little burg in Provence, between St. Rémy and Les Baux and Pat admired it from afar(the highway) on past trips and has followed its' ascension to Michelin stardom. The hotel/restaurant is rather unprepossessing from the exterior. We had very nice accommodations, with hand embroidered sheets, fluffy bath robes, and the room service breakfast was picture worthy but I am not too sure about 28€ worthy. The restaurant "Chez Bru" was probably 1 star worthy. I started with a poached egg with truffle and shreds of 3 fish(one of this Flemish chef's specialities) and I guess it was probably about as good as a poached egg can be, but my palate doesn't have the refinement required for full truffle appreciation. Pat's palate is superbly refined when langoustines are the subject...I don't recall her sharing her croustillant de langoustine, which is like a prawn tempura, even though I distinctly offered her some egg. Our mains were milkfed veal medallions with ginger and other spices, and croustillant de cochon de lait, which in GA is called suckling pig with a crusty outside...delicious in both languages. Both dishes were "foamed" to death; these last few years has seen the rise of foam in gourmet restaurants. What happens is the chef emulsifies some herbs(a French word for weeds) in cream a/o other liquids and decorates your plate rather artfully. If they are doing this out in the hinterlands of France can the Waffle House be far behind? Pat's favorite course was the dessert,"Rosace de Peche" , which translates as a thick chewy cookie covered with sliced peaches roasted on top of it. The chef has parlayed his success into a much more wallet friendly little bistro right across the street, inventively called Le Petit Bru which we enjoyed for lunch, elbow-to-elbow with other budgeteers.

Next we are off to a 12th century chateau unfruitfully searching for internet connections so we can catch up on important things like the football scores, Dow-Jones, and what Al and all the other Quaidas have been doing.

When last we met we had shared our room service breakfast at Bistro d'Eygalières in Provence. Don't even try finding our next destination on a map, it is in the wilds of Languedoc/Roussillon quite a bit west of Montpellier. I was off a couple of centuries, the Chateau de Madières was built in the 14th century, not the 12th, as you can see in the keystone over the drawbridge which says "1326" (which was still over 150 years before Columbus took sailing lessons). It has been converted into a charming 4 star hotel with a good restaurant, by a very friendly couple just 4 yrs. ago. It sits perched defensively on a cliff above the Vis River and the tiny village of Madières, with lovely views from every window, a swimming pool, terrace, gym. The grounds are covered with fruit trees and Pat & I gorged ourselves on self plucked figs and plums. One tends to forget how good freshly picked ripe fruit is compared to the green picked and shipped from Mexico variety. This is the off season so we were given an enormous suite with 2 bedrooms and separate rooms for the shower and bathtub. Mme Raspati introduced us to a good St. Chinian red wine served with some olives as a welcoming refreshment. This place has few drawbacks that we could find other than being severely isolated. It would be absolutely ideal for honeymooners or misanthropes; we are one of each.

Here is a link to some photos of a few of the villages in my report:http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...I7&notag=1

Laidback, this is so hilarious! I will have to come back later (ahem - I'm on break at work right now) to gaze longingly at what must be gorgeous digital photos of le Plus Beaux Villages.

Minerve is another of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" that we visited. The enclosed px. illustrate some of the driving hazards to be overcome; these are heightened during the grape harvest season(which is now in full swing) by the grape carrying vehicles which can vary from the dedicated conveyor enclosed, to the family car, all of which whiz along at about .5mph on the way to the local co-op which is invariably in "centre ville". I had one of our more interesting, but fairly typical, driving/parking experiences in Minerve. The garage in our tiny hotel/restaurant, "Chantovent", could easily store 3 bicycles, but 2 cars was dicey. We were the 2nd. Pat went in to check on our supposed parking space while I stopped in the street, holding up grape delivery and in the process learning a few new French expressions. The owner came out and opened a door to the "garage" and immediately left, as I suspect he couldn't bear to watch the intricacies involved in getting a 2nd car in the remaining space. We folded in both side-view mirrors and with the suggestions of the gathered onlookers and 14 gear shifts I finally managed it with only 2 more minor scratches to our Peugeot 407. Peugeots are comfortable to drive and have many amenities, but there is absolutely no visibility of the front or rear end which makes for intuitive parking. Departing was the same exercise in reverse. Most of the other visitors to Minerve were sissies and parked outside the village, avoiding driving across the bridge and holding up next years wine crop. The village is very typical of the "Plus Beaux"...ancient ramparts, stone bridges, quaint little café /restaurants, an old church, and an abundance of post card shops. Our hotel was probably quite modern during the crusades but has seen little upgrading since; not our best find. Their restaurant was not bad...the view was nice and we suffered no gastric distress afterward. Minerve would just be a drive-through if ever we were in this wild region again. The village was a Cathar stronghold back during the religious wars, and a Catholic gentleman named Simon de Montfort slaughtered several hundred of them during a siege...probably related to the poor parking accommodations.

Jim, Your driving experiences etc. are all so very real to all who have done much driving..

I, along with 2 other gals rented a car in Geneva upon arrival and were off to Burgundy..our first gas stop we couldn't find how to open the door to put the gas in..got the book out and it was in German and none of the French around us could read it either..finally via pictures found the switch in the little compartment between the front seats!! Another trip in Austria I couldn't find how to lock the doors..turned out that you moved the inside door handle up or down...leaving Geneva into France there are many tunnels requiring headlights..try to find out where they are located and how they work in a hurry...that has happened more than once..another trip driving in the rain after arrival in Marseille and trying to find both how the lights and the wipers work!!! I have finally learned to find all this before leaving the airport. I ill certainly find out about this Renault Lease buy-bak in the fall for how to get to reverse, after what you said...these are all humorous in thinking back on them..but not at the time!!

"les Plus Beaux Villages" are lovely to see.. I will be adding many to my list this fall with my travels....
Joan

Joan,
I know that you are an intrepid traveler with many years of experience dealing with the vagaries of foreign rental cars, and if one is to really see the countryside rental car mastery is the only option. I too have shared your near panic of trying to turn on the headlights after entering a long dark tunnel. We also enlisted the aid of a service station attendant in finding the release for the gas cap lid to no avail. Pat finally noticede a fuel hose symbol in the mid console camouflaged by hazard light switches and all sorts of other mysterious devices. One vehicle resisted all efforts to turn off or even lower the volume of the radio, finally the rental car agency sent out a technician who simply disconnected the radio shortly before I did the same manoevre but with a ball peen hammer.