lalecture

We will be traveling primarily by train around the country mid June to early July.
According to some of the guidebooks the cordoned area is a bit harder to see by train or bus.
So we either travel by taxi or rent a car.
One idea is to keep the car as we travel through southern France, although it isn't necessary.
Or just keep it for the three days we are in Sarlat and ?
Thoughts and comments?

bilboburgler

Teach me please, what is the "cordoned area" ?

sssteve

Sarlat is mentioned. Maybe the intention was "Dordogne"?

bilboburgler

I've got this image of a Cordon Bleu something held together by cordon (strings and ribbons). Anyway, Lactecture can you clarify?

adrienne

I immediately though that the map in this thread needed to be updated to reflect the area of France that was "cordoned off."

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...om-paris.cfm?6

I'm sure the OP means Dordogne.

StCirq

What the heck is cordoned off in France?

Christina

Do you mean the Cordon ski area near the Alps?

lalecture

Sorry for the confusion. My Mac autocorrected dordogne to cordoned!!
We will be touring the dordogne area!

StCirq

Aha! In that case, rent a car. Taxis barely exist in the Dordogne, and it would cost you an arm and a leg if you could even find one. In the town closest to me, the one or two taxis that exist double as ambulances; they're not going to just drive you all over to sightsee.

ira

StC knows what she is talking about.

FrenchMystiqueTours

You absolutely have to have a car to tour the Dordogne. Public transport will get you nowhere here unless you want to waste a lot of time and see very little.

Ackislander

It is also a very easy area to drive in. I recently have posted several whines about driving in northern Italy, but the Dordogne is not daunting.

Our only near accident (I wasn't driving) was coming around a blind corner and encountering a horse-drawn gypsy caravan moving very slowly in our direction. We felt lucky to see such a survival, once our hearts stopped pounding.

sssteve

Check out my web page about our recent trip to Bordeaux and Dordogne. (link below) Everybody is right about renting a car. It's a necessity in Dordogne.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/bordeaux/bordeaux.htm

lalecture

These replies are really helpful. Thanks everyone for your interest.
In light of the information you've supplied we will rent a car! The guidebook suggested picking it up in Bordeaux. Now we are wondering if it will benefit us to keep the rental car as we tour southern France.
We plan to visit carcassonne, arles, marseille, a peak into nice then north toward chamonix.
Train travel is also possible but I am wondering about driving along the coast instead. Sounds so beautiful!
I'd love your opinions!

StCirq

Well, I think I know a bit more than the guidebooks, actually. You only want to pick up a car in Bordeaux if, say, you're flying into Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a big pain to drive out of - it's really easy to get on the wrong road after you go over the bridge (and it's incredibly easy to go over the wrong bridge, too).

Are you traveling from Paris? How? Plane? Train? If plane, don't fly into Bordeaux; fly into Toulouse. If train, take it to Brive, not Bordeaux. If you must take the TGV, get off it at Libourne instead of Bordeaux and drive from there (but Brive is a much easier, shorter drive). You can also take the slow train from Gare d'Austerlitz in Paris through Limoges to Périgueux and then have only a 30-minute or so drive to your home base. Up to you, but renting a car and driving from Bordeaux is about the LAST option I'd choose.

And yes, keep the car. You'll want it in Provence and for the drive between the Dordogne and Provence.

lalecture

This is good! We plan to train it from paris stopping along the way in the Loire region (chinon).
Brice looks like a good suggestion for renting a car. I'm glad you mentioned the driving hassles in Bordeaux. We will definitely avoid that.

Carlux

Best recommendation if you are coming from Paris is to take the train from Gare d'Austerlitz to Brive la Gaillarde (not Brice) and pick up a car there. It's about 40 minutes to Sarlat.

Since we live in France, we don't necessarily want to be in Paris, and so usually fly in and out of Toulouse, which is about 2 hours from Sarlat. A much easier drive than from Bordeaux.

Taxis are virtually non-existent in the Dordogne. You would need to book one ahead of time, and pay his time to get you there, wait for you, and take you home. Not a cheap option.

Once you get here you may start to understand just how rural this area is. Wonderful, but fewer people than in the Middle Ages, and not always the same services you might expect. Someone asked me if we had a nail boutique in our village - No. There are 600 people, one butcher, one baker, one shop, one cafe. Period. Taxis only by previous arrangement.

Mamaleah

I'm the mom and traveling partner of lalecture. We will be taking a train from the Loire probably Tours to the Dordogne. It looks like it comes into Bordeaux. Is there another way so that we don't have to Sri e in Bordeaux. BTW, everyone's replies are very helpful. Thanks.

Mamaleah

I meant "drive" on Bordeaux

kerouac

Even after the revelation of the mystery, I can't help but chuckle every time I see the topic about the "cordoned region."

Obviously you need to rent a car to take full advantage of the region, but there are many places where you can decide to pick up or drop off a car (without extra charge) depending upon your specific interests.