blowfish

The trip we were to take last October, that was unfortunately cancelled due to business, is back on for 2005. In a way it's even better because we will be leaving 5 weeks earlier. We arrive early in Paris on Saturday, August, 27th, where we will pick up our leased Renault Megane at CD Airport, visit Fontainebleau (Paris 3xs & Versaille twice, and Loire once) and over to Chartres for a late afternoon/evening visit to the Cathedral.
Up early Sunday morning and we will head straight to the Dordogne. I changed the route last year to include a stop there, because of all the raves. I am now reading a recommended biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. We have four nights at Les Granges Hautes and plan on 3 days of day tripping from there. Thanks again Stu for your great notes on the region. Everyone talks about getting reservations for the various cave sites, but I can't seem to find a website to do so. Lascaux II gives info on it's site, but no link for reservations. Also read-but foolishly didn't write down-mention of a boat trip one can take on the river. Anyone help with these?? I'm sure if I have to, I can write the nice folks at Les Granges to help me out, but would prefer to book times myself.
We will do 2 days in the areas around Sarlat, and one day doing Souillac, Rocamadour, Gouffre de Padirac, and time allowing a drive through Bretenous, Collonges-la-Rouge, and/or Martel.
We head south after that towards Provence, via Albi. Would really like to get a reservation at Pech Merle for early morning if possible?? Also plan on short visits/photo stops via Cirq-L, Najac, Cordes-sur-C, Castelnau-del-M, sleeping at the Mercure Albi Bastides. Any suggestions otherwise??
Then it's on to Provence for 5 nights, based at the Hotel du Moulin d'Aure. Debated splitting the nights in two towns, but really hate having to change hotels constantly. Driving long distances never fazes us - we're Canadian. The general Fodorite consensus seems to be St. Remy area for basing oneself. Plans for 4 days of sights, going east, west, north and south. Then off to visit Carcassonne, on the way to 3 weeks in Spain.
I am an old (in more ways than one Fodorite from several past trips to other locales - Middle East, Prague, Italy, Paris, etc. I even had the pleasure of hosting my friend from Florida & her husband, that I met here in TALK while we were both planning trips to the Middle East back in 2000. They flew to Canada for a 2 week holiday, just in time to enjoy our local wine festival in the fall.
Look forward to any advice you pros can give me for the French part of our trip. At present we fly home on Oct. 1st, but if my husband doesn't need to rush home, we will add an extra week on the French Riviera/Alpes Maritimes before heading home. Counting the days!

RonZ

I think Stu will be back in about a month.

JulieVikmanis

We aren't particularly fond of caves so we only went to one and I can't be helpful with most of your questions. I can commend you, however, on your choice of lodging. We stayed at Les Granges Hautes in april and absolutely loved it. Our accommodations were lovely and the grounds are beautiful. You will likely get to use the lovely pool that was closed while we were there. Do try to have dinner there at least once. Jean Yves is a fantastic cook and the two meals we had there were certainly the equal of those we had in restaurants. If your schedule permits, make a special point to go to Sarlat on Saturday morning. There's not just a market in town that day. Rather the entire town becomes a market. Fantastic. You're going to love it.

ira

Hi fish,

For Lascaux II Caves, on the Lascaux hill, 1.2 miles from Montignac; Open 0930-1830 Tickets are sold at the Tourist Office
Email to [email protected]

For Peche-Merle http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/engl...ons_acces.html

Boat rides on the Dordogne: There is a dock in La Roque Gageac, across the street from La Belle Etoile.

Hope this helps.

progol

Blowfish,
Here's a link to a discussion on Dordogne caves that I started last year before my trip; it includes the number to call Font de Gaume.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34502207

(okay, I haven't figured out how to post a direct link, I hope this works! If it doesn't, the title is "Dordogne caves&quot

I recommend going to Font de Gaume, too. Although LascauxII is impressive, I could never shake the awareness that it's a replica and I was overwhelmed by the experience of going into an original cave. Standing in front of images actually created 13,000 years ago (give or take a few) brought me almost to tears.

I, too, stayed in Les Granges Hautes which was wonderful. Jean-Yves and his wife Beatrice are the most charming hosts, gracious, warm and helpful. We found their recommendations for things to do well worth following. The dinner that we had outside was one of the highlights of our time there, too.

JulieVikmanis

Progol, it was your report and glowing recommendation re: Les Granges Hauts that resulted in our going there. Thanks so much for a great rec.

rex

There are two &quot;providers&quot; of the boat (<i>gabare</i rides in La Roque Gageac - Gabares Norbert and Chaminade. I can't imagine that you need a reservation; these only last an hour, and you may find them mildly underwhelming if you take a look at what we thought was by far and away the highlight of the area - - www.air-chateaux.com - - my trip report will be up &quot;soon&quot; (with links to geocities for pictures and more details). Absolutely awesome!

Didn't visit Sarlat, but from the air at least, it is quite a big and spread out place (the old center is not, of course, though) - - for an interesting contrast, I can recommend you consider Domme - - you pretty much HAVE to go through Domme if you decide to go to the airstrip from which air-chateaux departs.

Best wishes,

Rex

blowfish

Thanks so much for all the great replies.
Ira, I have just made our Pech Merle reservations using your info. Did you visit any of the other spots I mentioned as we head to Albi?
Julie, I too read Porgol's recommendation for Les Granges Hautes. Plus they were so nice to deal with via email. My mouth is already watering.
Ron, Thanks for the heads up re Stu. Is he back in France again?
Progol, excellent links, but as I had this trip organized last summer, I have already spent a zillion hours in 'TALK' over the last year, and had noted all your favourites. Always ready for more.
Rex, what can I say - flying over the region would be an absolute gas. I have bookmarked that site to show my husband. I went via google and found the home page for Gabarres Norbert http://www.gabarres.com/us/intro.htm and even got a discount for booking on their website. Always like to get the visits/tours booked first thing in the morning, and then wander that region for the rest of the day. Nothing to be found re Chaminade.
Again, tons of gratitude to you all!!

progol

Glad that my recommendations helped Julie V &amp; blowfish choose Les Granges Hautes. It's especially pleasing to know that you, Julie, have been as pleased with the place.
Sorry, blowfish, that I can't help any more!

Your trip sounds great! I only wish I could go, too.

Paule

ira

Hi fish,

&gt;Did you visit any of the other spots I mentioned as we head to Albi?

Nope. We will visiting Albi from the South.

RonZ

Yes, Stu is in France. Following is 0ne of his itineraries that I copied for a trip last year.

Here is a very nice driving itinerary I did for a friend that goes through St Cirq-la-Popie

The drive starts from Toulouse. It does not stop in Albi, because my friend did not have the time. I would strongly recommend a visit to Albi - it's a lovely town.

From Toulouse
Proceed on the A68 towards Albi. At Gaillac (not worth a stop) take exit #9, get off the freeway &amp; take the D968/D999/D18 bypass around Gaillac and then the D964 north towards Castelnau-de-Montmiral. This drive will become very scenic at this point. Castelnau-de-Montmiral is one of my 3 favorite Bastide towns in southern France (look up what a Bastide town is, in the Michelin Green Guide - Dordogne pg 37 &amp; 43). Visit this town. Perhaps have breakfast/coffee there in the central square (take plenty of film).

Continue on the very beautiful D964 north towards Brunique. Along the way you will pass the town of Larroque. We have driven this route several times &amp; always wanted to stop here, but we didn't - it seemed like a cute spot.

When you get to Brunique, get out &amp; explore this very lovely town. You are now in the Gorges de l' Aveyron. Take the D1/D87/D9 to Penne (the road numbers change on the same road because you pass from one department into another &amp; they like to change the number on the same road to make it confusing for us tourists). Penne is another interesting place to visit with an old castle ruin sticking up into the sky. Good place to take some pictures. We usually take this route in the opposite direction from what I'm describing here, so you may have to look back to get this very nice view of the ruined castle. There is a tourist office along the way with a restaurant with outside dining across the street. This place was packed at lunch time when we were there once, so it might be good.

Just past Penne, cross the river &amp; take the D173 towards Cazals. Just before Cazals, take the road back across the river &amp; take the D115 to St Antonin Noble Val. You will be on the opposite side of the river as you approach St Antonin. If I were driving this route, I would have picked up some picnic provisions along the way &amp; I'd have a picnic at the grassy/plane tree covered picnic areas just across the river from St Antonin, just short of the bridge (it's easy to spot this area). The views of the town across the river are lovely. St Antonin has a very nice farmer's market on Sunday mornings. We've purchased a lot of stuff in this market - magrets, cepe mushrooms (porcini if you were in Italy), white asparagus, cheese, and even some small porcelain appetizer plates and a market basket. If you have time, visit St Antonin. There is a great view of the entire gorge area &amp; St Antonin from the D5 heading northwest out of St Antonin. Drive along this road from St Antonin looking back to get the view. As soon as you can't see the view anymore, turn the car around (it's a wide road), and head back to St Antonin to see the view in front of you.

If you got an early start today &amp; didn't dawdle a lot, perhaps take a side trip to Cordes. This is a very nice perched village - one of the most popular in this region. Take the D958 &amp; D600 there &amp; the D600 to D115 (to get a slightly different route) back to St Antonin

When you get to Cordes, park your car as close to the top of town as possible. There is a very steep climb up to this perched village that will put some &quot;pain&quot; in your leg muscles if you walk up to this town. Visit Cordes. It's quite touristy, but there is a reason for that (it's a pretty town).

Option
On Thurs, (the day you arrive), if you don't want to stay in the City of Toulouse (it's a big city &amp; you may not want to start in a big city), there is the option of staying in the town of Monticoux, in the Gorges de l'Aveyron. There is a very nice restaurant there, which also has rooms. It's one of my favorites - we've dined there twice. The hotel is Les Gorges de l'Aveyron 05 63 24 50 50, FAX 05 63 24 50 52 - no e-mail. It's very inexpensive, and it's a more &quot;country setting&quot;. The hotel is not in the center of Montricoux - it's across the river from the small village. I'm guessing it's 1 to 2 hrs there from the Toulouse airport - even with a stop in Castelnou.

After visiting the Gorges de l'Aveyron, head out to the Lot river and the very picturesque village of St Cirq Lapopie - perched on a cliff directly over the river gorge.

From St Antonin, take the D5/D926 northwest to Caussade. Pick up the D17 north through Puylaroque, and then the D42 north. The D17 &amp; D42 are the same road - it changes names when it crosses the boundary of the Tarn-et-Garonne department and the Lot department (again - to confuse the tourists).

Get out the Green Guide for the Dordogne and look up the &quot;Lot&quot; river on page 195 - map Pg 197.
.
Check the time. If it's before 3:30 &amp; you have some energy left, when the D42 connects with the D19 near Vaylats, take the D19 all the way to the Lot River at Cajarc. Then head west &amp; follow the very pretty route described in the Green Guide.

If it's after 4:00 or you are dragging, stay on the D42 all the way to the Lot River at St Cirq-Lapopie.

StCirq

Hi, blowfish:

Here's a website you can use to make reservations at most of the prehistoric sites in the Dordogne:

http://www.arachnis.asso.fr/DORDOGNE...S/msngrot0.htm

I'd definitely reserve now for Font-de-Gaume, especially if you want an English-language tour. That's a very busy time of year in the Dordogne, and the number of people admitted daily is shrinking all the time.

You can take an hour-long gabarre ride from Beynac as well as La Roque-Gageac. The ticket booth is just about in the center of the parking lot by the river. We did that last fall and found the commentary very interesting, plus just seeing some of the towns and castles from the river is an interesting perspective.

I doubt you'll be able to get an early morning tour of Pech Merle. Last time I was there, there were only two tours a day - at 10:45 and 2:30 I think.

Not sure what type of suggestions you're looking for in Albi, but we though the Moulin de la Mothe served wonderful Tarn specialties for very good prices.It's on rue de la Mothe close to the cathedral.

DianeD

I recently made a reservation for an english tour of Grotte de Font-de-Gaume in mid-July using a fax number given in a thread I saw posted here. The number is 011-33-5-53-35-26-18. (I wasn't ready to attempt a phone call in french yet.) I wrote my request both in english and my best attempt at french. They replied within 48 hours in french- but the date, time and number of people is easy to read. I got my first choice of tour times.

blowfish

Wow - I really need to start planning my next trip to France already! Finally recuperated from a nasty flu and ready for a Fodor's fix.
Thanks Ray for all of the good info. I don't seem to have that info in the notes Stu sent me. Just so much to see along that route, as we have only one day, but will definitely try to add some of the suggestions.
As I only bought the entire France &amp; Provence Green Guides - and corresponding Michelin maps - I realize I must go bite the bullet and buy the Dordogne Guide. They are so darned expensive in Canada -$30 with tax - I had resisted. Guess we will have to return often to the Perigord get our money's worth. With all the raves on the region, that seems like a sure thing.
StCirq, Your reservation for Font-de-Gaume inspired me to track down their home page and send off a request. I have used the link you sent since finding it last year on one of your very informative emails to others. Will definitely check out your restaurant suggestion in Albi and report back. Any chance you will be around the Dordogne late August, so we can buy you a drink/dinner??
Thanks Diane for your note and here is their website for any and all to use - http://www.arachnis.asso.fr/DORDOGNE...e/histoir1.htm - see the email address at the bottom of page. I received a prompt reply from Peche Merle and am just waiting confirmation of the exact time of the earliest English tour. Once I know that I will finish FdeG reservation.
What do you think of seeing Lascaux first thing in the morning and FdeG first thing after lunch on the same day? As they are fairly close by, I want to see as many things in one area each day, so we are not back-tracking and wasting valuable time.
Also, as we are not stopping in Loire as planned last year, is there one spot close to the A10/20 that we just have to see on our trip between Chartres and Sarlat. Or should we just head straight there in the morning and enjoy the extra 1/2 day in the Dordogne?
Merci beaucoup to one and all