ekscrunchy

topping for poster looking for Bayonne information...Bayonne was the first stop so it will be early in the report; San Sebastian comes next..

Pawleys

Book Marking

ekscrunchy

Adding the article from the NY Daily News that resulted from our stripped clutch in Domme (regarding rental cars in Europe):


http://tinyurl.com/7kbpub

ekscrunchy

How can I have this tagged as a trip report? Can I do it myself? (I did send the request to Forums, but it remains untagged..)

Thanks!

ekscrunchy

anyone? Thanks!!

LowCountryIslander

Ek...

Maybe it just got lost in the shuffle on an editor's desk. I had one of my trip reports that wasn't tagged and I copied the thread from my brower and pasted it into an email to the editors, a few days later it was tagged as a report.

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Low Country! I've already sent it to them twice but will try again!

dina4

Hi Ekscrunchy,

I just throroughly enjoyed your report, beginning to end, with my morning tea!
Loved your Paris restaurant and shopping info -- took lots of notes!!

Thanks so much for sharing.
I'm curious, do you take a little notebook with you into the restaurant?

dina

ekscrunchy

Dina: Yes I usually have a notebook. If I am eating with other people, sometimes I leave the notebook in the hotel and try to write a few notes before I go to sleep. Sometimes I write the notes on a scrap of paper, or on the bill; sometimes I cannot find that scrap or paper or bill!
The bill is good because it often details each item..

ekscrunchy

For Low Country Islander...

LowCountryIslander

Ek...Thank you! I have to admit I'm slightly embarrassed because it looks like I replied to this thread back in early 2009....I need to re-read it! Thanks again!

CathyM

ekscrunchy-
Thanks for sending me this link on another post. Incredible reading....so much better than work!

jubilada

bookmarking

HeaAndrews

bookmarking

macdogmom

Ekscrunchy, great report. I am trying to figure out an itinerary for a trip next May. Right now battling between Piemonte area in Italy or Dordogne region of France with maybe a bit of southwestern France thrown in. If you were going to visit Dordogne area for 3 or 4 days (without car) where would you base yourself? Thanks for any insight.

ekscrunchy

I think you have to look into the public transportation options and, also, tell us what you want to do while there--markets, relaxing, etc etc.(??) I don't know much about the public transport because I've had a car the three times I've been in that area. Is there any way at all that you could change your mind and consider renting a car for a few days? The driving is easy; I know this because I actually drove there and I do not often do this in Europe.

I do know that from Alba, inn Piemonte, there are various tours offered by the tourist office and others that would allow you to gat around and see some of the nearby region..this was discussed in Marija's recent thread with "Naples and Piedmont" in the title....

http://www.langheroero.it/default.asp?language=UK

Carlux

Visiting the Dordogne you really need a car. You could stay in Sarlat for a few days without one, but you'd certainly want to get around to chateaux, markets, villages, etc., and there is virtually no public transportation here.

About the only alternative is to hire a taxi to take you around, but that would obviously be expensive, and limiting.

It's not difficult to drive on country road - windy, but not difficult.

macdogmom

I was reading the Spanish part of your trip report, Ekscrunchy, and this caught my eye-

if you love Cal Pep in Barcelona as I do, you need to make a beeline for La Cuchara de San Telmo. We ate and drank standing but there are tables in the back outside that may be difficult to snag but worth a try.

we love Cal Pep and have stayed in an apt right around the corner from there in 2008 and 2009. Perhaps I should think about Spain and dordogne and rent a car for the days we are in France.

You mentioned Le Vieux Logis as a nice place to stay. How is location?

We will be ending up in Paris for a week (business conference for my husband) and will be renting an apt in the Marais. Will need to try some of the restaurants you mentioned in your report. Someone said Le petit pamphlet is no longer? We ate at chez janou last year and they seem to be very close to each other.

ekscrunchy

Macdogmom: The Dordogne and San Sebastian make a good combination. But do not forget the Pays Basque--the Basque area of France, especially the rural villages inland from Bayonne.

We once did a week-long trip that gave us a taste of this area (flying into Bayonne and home from Bordeaux) Although it was rushed, we did get a taste of all three areas. ( We spent the first night in St. Jean de Luz, then drove to St. Jean Pied de Port; then to Sarlat for three nights, and finally, two nights in the wine country outside Bordeaux (visiting the Medoc one day and St. Emilion the other; dining in Bordeaux one night) before flying home. This was partly a business trip so it did cover rather a lot of ground but it still worked out really well..

)I am only mentioning that for you to keep in mind...let me know how many days you have before you get to Paris and where you will fly to. If you did something like this, you might think of flying into Bilbao, or whatever the closest airport is to San Sebastian, and staying in San Sebastian without a car. And yes, you must get to Cuchara de San Telmo and the other top places in the old quarter and in the Gros quarter (we did not have time to visit that area,, alas).

Then you could take the train to Hendaye and get the car there..travel to the Pays Basque and maybe spend a night in St. Jean de Luz and two nights in St. Jean Pied de Port.

We had an invite at Les Pyrenees (known for their restaurant):

http://www.hotel-les-pyrenees.com/

which I would highly recommend, but there are lots of options in and around that town and hopefully someone else can give additional tips..

http://www.hotel-les-pyrenees.com/



From there, it is an easy drive of a few hours to the Dordogne.....

This is just one of many options and might cover too much ground for your taste; I am just mentioning it to give you an idea. I took this trip around 2004, just before I discovered Fodor's, so there is no trip report, but I am always happy to "talk travel" with you!

macdogmom

Thanks for the feedback. We are flying from Ca. And I am hoping to get non stop tickets to Paris. Probably would train down to dordogne region, maybe pick up car and then explore down to San Sebastian and Bilbao and drive back into France and drop car and train back to Paris. Or train all the way to spain and then get a car for last 1/2 of trip-the pays basque regin sounds interesting. I was there when i was 12, so not much memory of it all. We would have 9 or 10 days before we had to be back in Paris. I would love to use public transport, we love taking trains, but realize we need to probably get a car for at least the dordogne segment. We drove through Provence 3 years ago and I know how necessary a car was there. We did manage to tour a wide swath of Italy this spring without a car-even explored some hilltop towns by bus in Tuscany.

What do you think of Le Vieux Logis as a place to stay?

Sorry for all the typos. New iPad is not easy to keyboard on.

My son reminded me that San Sebastian is one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite food spots. Sold!!!!