Recommendations requested for places to stay in France please

Hello organs.

Me and the Missus are starting to plan a holiday in France.

We'll be travelling in a car from Bilbao to Calais over a period of two weeks.

I'd like any recommendations for nice places to go, bed and breakfasts and campsites.

Thanking you kindly.

stay at home, your that far south you may as well be french anyway

I forgot to mention;

If you're an Irishman called Dave who lives in Preston please DO NOT reply.

Thanks.

[dizzyblonde]

Up the coast via Il D'oleron. You can then have a peep at Fort Boyard, some beautiful sea food places, its the capital of Oyster beds there, if you like that sort of thing, gorgeous coast line
Wave at my best mate first though, and call in for a brew, she lives in Les Nouillers, which if you're using the A10 nest to St Jean D'angley( on the map, slap bang between Rochefort smelly cheese and .. Cognac brandy...

All in all, make you wish you were on the bike!

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...

Thanks folks.

Keep 'em coming please!

If you go via Loches (which is a nice little town, I can't remember what hotel we were in as it was 1996, it may have been this one) you can go visit the famous Lascaux caves (cave paintings! more interesting than it sounds!)

[mattSV]

Carcassone is a great place to stop for a couple of days, one of the largest medieval cities in the world (I think) and not far from Millau (big bridge) and the Tarn Gorge (amazing roads)

[Sid Squid]

Cahors. It's a beautiful town almost enclosed in a bend of the river Lot, and has a fortified medieval bridge, the Pont Valentre to the west, lovely place.

Also Chenonceau, the Chateau there is beautiful, (also it's about 25 miles or so from the above metioned Loche).

if you need to stop over try Hotel Diderot in Chinon,

Chinon town centre was great at night