Ed

Just a few thoughts.

Can't particularly recommend places to stay as it's a while since I was in south western France. Life seems very slow in that neck of the woods. St Jean de Luz, just across the French border, is a quaint old fishing port, very Basque, worth a stop. Bayonne is well worth a visit. As in St Jean, they speak Basque as a first language rather than French. I thought Biarritz was disappointing and wouldn't bother again.

Bordeaux is a lovely city, St Emilion (not far from Bordeaux) is also a worth a visit but don't buy anything at the overpriced wine shops. La Rochelle is the big daddy I think, stunning fortified harbour, and a fantastic old town. Worth spending a few days, there's a lot to see - include a boat trip round the harbour. We sat at a quayside resto (expensive though) and whiled away a hot lunchtime and afternoon getting slowly pickled. The English attacked the town in 1628, you can still see some of the damage to the towers at the harbour. You'd probabably then head inland, Tours is simply fantastic - really lovely town, one of the finest in France I think.

After that - depends which way you go...