kja

Toulouse!
But of course, it depends on what you want to see and do.
I loved Albi and saw everything I wanted to see there in one day.
I did not see everything I would have liked to see in Toulouse, and I had nearly 3 days there.

Have you looked at the Hostellerie Du Vigan? Nothing special, but it met my needs well enough!
And for St. Cirq Lapopie, I greatly enjoyed the Auberge du Sombral.

I'm not sure what that means. I'm sure you are aware of "sunk costs."

jpie

I agree with the posts from Stu and and kja. We stayed in Belcastel and it was nice. We didn't love Rodez either so I would definitely try to stay elsewhere. I also agree that 1 night in Albi for me felt sufficient.

For Day 6 I think another night in Toulouse might be nice partly so that you could 2 nights in one place. But here is another idea:

day 6 Carcasonne to Narbonnes 60KM stay in Narbonne (one of the nicer smaller cities in the area)

Day 7 Narbonne to Toulouse 150KM stay in Toulouse

Day 8, Flight back

tomboy

We stayed in a very nice B&B in Figeac which we recommend.
nice garden/terrace/pool like being in the country, coupled with a 5 minute walk to the center of town
https://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/cha...=total;ucfs=1&

otherchelebi

So, conques or Espalion (which has more lodging possibilities than Estaiing) for third night.

The fourth night has been irrevocably booked at Chateaux de la Caze, including dinner.
Nights one and two are also booked.

By the way, should I wear a blazer or even put on a tie for dinner at the Chateaux?


Ipie, thanks. Stretching to Narbonne on sixth day sounds interesting. And the route back to Toulouse should be fast. to give us time to wonder in the city.

So should start choosing lodging. Lots of great choices, and of'course, your recommendations for Albi.

By the way Kja, we are not staying at St Cirq La Popie.

otherchelebi

tomboy, thanks, I saw and loved that B&B, but if we stay at Figeac, the next day will be spent mostly in driving to St. Enimi with limited possibilities of seeing much en route.

StuDudley

"By the way, should I wear a blazer or even put on a tie for dinner at the Chateaux?"

Nope - I didn't have a jacket on when we dined there, and neither did I see anyone else with a jacket (couldn't see everyone - many were dining outside).. We dine at upscale restaurants - even Michelin 3 star. At Troisgros (Mich 3 star) there were several people there wearing jeans & no jacket. I don't even pack a jacket when going to France - even Paris. We dine out in France about 30 times each year.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

No need for a blazer or tie.

Narbonne is one of our favorite places in the Languedoc. Amazing archaeological museum and cathedral. Be sure to take Eser to the Comptoir de Mathilde.

otherchelebi

Interesting that some years ago we were required to wear jacket and tie at two French restaurants at New Orleans, LA. I wish Eser had taken a photo of me looking funnier than a clown,
wearing the small size jacket and oily string of a tie the restaurant provided.

Glad we do not need to dress up. Eser will pack some nice stuff but hers will not take up any space anyway. I have no idea why THY gives us each thirty kilos luggage allowance.
Will not tell Eser, so that she does not feel free to shop.

One more question: Are speed limits marked well on B roads and do they also tell you when you can resume?

StCirq

No, they are not always well marked, and sometimes the signs are hidden in bushes.

Signs to resume show the name of the town/village with a diagonal slash.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_France

jpie

I had just written that I think they are well marked and then saw St cirq say no lol! So I decided to edit my comment. I do agree with her that sometimes the signs can be hidden but I generally don't find it too bad to spot the signs on the smaller roads.

I use google maps on my phone to navigate (sometimes along with a built in nav system on our car) and it usually warns me when you have a speed reduction coming up. However, I don't know if you are aware of the fairly recent change by the government over the past year or so to lower many mostly rural roads from 90 to 80k/hr in France. That law has been kind of a moving target I think over the last year and the latest is that each department gets to choose whether it will be 80 or 90, so you may want to pay extra attention to that issue as you drive.

Also, when you approach a larger city like Toulouse for example, they usually have kind of a ring highway-those used to allow 110km/hr but most of those cities now have brought that limit down to 90-so be sure to pay attention there as well. The other thing that has been a big change for me in driving in France over 40 years now is the adoption of "round abouts" or traffic circles. Here's an interesting article from the New York Times on that topic:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/w...low-vests.html

But I have driven most if not all of the areas you are going on your trip many times and most of that driving is really easy and not too crowded-nothing like some other parts of France!

StuDudley

"sometimes the signs are hidden in bushes."

We're convinced that they do that on purpose!!. We usually get 1, sometimes 2 speeding tickets per trip. My wife always drives & she is usually the slowest car on the road. Use your GPS to tell you what the speed limit is - but the GPS is not 100% correct. France has a very efficient method of paying for traffic tickets..

Stu Dudley

Michael

► Speed limits and other rules

Here are the normal speed limits for driving in France:

• The normal speed limit on French motorways is 130 km/hr (just over 80 mph). - or 110 km/hr in rain.
• The normal speed limit on dual carriageways (divided highways) is 110 km/hr
• The normal speed limit on main roads is 80 km/hr (outside built-up areas).
• The normal speed limit in built-up areas is 50 km/hr – unless otherwise indicated.

Note: there is not necessarily a specific speed-restriction sign at the entrance to a built-up area, particularly at the entrance to small villages. The name-board at the entrance to a village or town ( dark blue letters on an off-white background) automatically indicates a built-up area with a speed limit of 50 km/h, unless otherwise indicated. Police speed cameras are often set up in villages where traffic too often forgets to slow down.