We are off to France again!!
 

Some of you may have read my trip report on our trip in 2012
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-of-france.cfm.
Some information about us. We are a 59/60 year old couple from Australia. DH retires at the end of the year, so this is a trip to use up some of his Long service Leave. We fell in love with France after a brief trip [ 4 days ] in 2004. We think that each trip could be our last, and yet, here we are coming back again. We enjoy the ' slow travel ' philosophy, and for us it is as much about being there as it is about visiting ' must see ' places. But we that too.
This trip [ we leave in a couple of weeks ] will be a mix of re-visit and new places and we are slowing down a bit. We stay in self catering accommodation and do day trips. Some of our favourite days are where we just meander around and see what we see. Eating out a lot is not financially an option for us but luckily - hence self catering - we enjoy cooking ' at home ' with fabulous ingredients!!
I love to read books about France and have a large collection. I do like to visit places I have read about . DH indulges me in this as he gets to see some great, albeit out of the way , places. An example this trip - " French Spirits " by Geoffrey Greene set in Rogny les Sept Ecluses in Burgundy.

Here is the plan - all booked, so no changes, with a couple of days in Paris at each end.

#Two weeks in Pernes les Fontaines - a re - visit to Provence .
#Two weeks near Clermont l ' Herault - a new area for us.
#Two weeks in Cenac et St julien [ near Domme ] - a re - visit to the Dordogne.
# one week near Richelieu - we have spent a week in the Loire in a different part.
# One week near Cormatin - a re - visit to a favourite area.
# Two weeks in Villeneuve sur Yonne - a new part of Burgundy for us.

I appreciate this may not appeal to some - too much country and not enough cities. But we have done this enough to know that this is what we enjoy. I will do a report on our return from what I know will be another lovely trip. I have gained a lot of information from posters here and on other forums, so to all I say ' thank you '..

Hi rhon

Thanks for re-posting your trip report, I missed it first time around! We are in a similar demographic to you, and also enjoy the life of 'slow travel'.

On our last trip to France we stayed close to your last stop, so I want to suggest you don't miss Troyes and Auxerre - we thought them both delightful places to spend a day.

This year we're having three weeks in Toulouse - any suggestions for 'don't miss' places around there?

Happy travels, Di

We did visit Troyes in 2012. Such a lovely old part - there was a lot of work going on there but we still enjoyed walking the streets . And we have visited Auxerre, in 2010. We always find these places amazing. Never tire of seeing places with such history. We have a long history here in Australia, but not so much that is tangible and easy to see - like churches, bastide villages, ramparts to walk, and even the food heritage.
In our two weeks in Villeneuve we are planning trips to places such as Sens, Joigny, Provins, Chablis, Chateau de Fontainebleu, Vaux le Vicomte, Moret sur loing. The list goes on.
We have not been to Toulouse. But we did enjoy our week in the Aude region in 2012 where we visited the Cathar castles. So I am sure you will enjoy your stay.

Bon voyage.

This may be of use for your Villeneuve bit http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Yonne_Guide.php

Hi r,

Bon voyage.

We enjoyed our week near Pézenas. One of our favorite daytrips was just north of Clermont-l'Hérault to see the Pont du Diable, St.-Guilhem-le-Désert, and the Cirque de Navacelles.

http://www.saintguilhem-valleeherault.fr/en/

https://www.google.com/search?q=cirq...w=1280&bih=685

http://www.destination-languedoc.co....les-491-2.html

I loved our time in Languedoc. There's a good market in Clermont-l'Hérault on Wednesdays.

http://www.golanguedoc.com/languedoc...l-herault.html

Already on our list, Maine. And Millau, Roquefort, a couple of days down to the coast, across to Olargues, Pezanas of course [ have to have one of the petit pate de Pezanas ! ], lots of lovely wine. I have read ' Arazat's Aubergines ' which is set in this region. So we are really looking forward to this new area.

Did you say Clermont? "Its not even on our map".....Its 30 miles beyond where you thought it was...Just some humorous paraphrasing from the movie, Kelly's Hero. Clermont was the town where the gold was being held. Carol O'Connor should have received an award for his role of Major General Colt. "Booker!!! get me my uniform"

I'll be especially eager to hear about your time in Languedoc; we're spending two weeks near Sommieres (east of your base) in June. We stayed in Uzes last fall and did not get to St.-Guilhem but sure plan to this time.
I just sent to Amazon for Virgil's Vineyard, same author as Aubergines, I think.

Your itinerary sounds great; have a wonderful time.

Suggest you pick up a copy of "I'll never be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside - an easy read but very funny. It would be good holiday reading on a trip like this! Hope you have a fantastic trip and look forward to reading about it upon your return.

Sommieres looks very nice. we have it marked as a potential stop on a drive from Provence to L'herault. So many places to see and never enough time!!