French Tour

I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a local charity. Travelling
light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly travelling on country roads & through villages. Any
info regarding independent hostels and the like in villages and small towns?

 

"Michael Coleran" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a
local
> charity. Travelling light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly
travelling
> on country roads & through villages. Any info regarding independent
hostels
> and the like in villages and small towns?

In France, in small towns slightly off the tourist track, there are almost always very cheap hotels.
Even 4* ones are cheaper than british B+Bs at times.

BTW- Joe Heatley - did he have the bike shop up the road from Ribble?

 

W K <[email protected]> wrote:

> In France, in small towns slightly off the tourist track, there are almost always very cheap
> hotels. Even 4* ones are cheaper than british B+Bs at times.
Just 'at times'? The major difference seems to be that French hotels charge per room, rather than
per person, so if there's more than one of you going then the savings are obvious. The advice
about staying slightly off the tourist trail is worth sticking to, though. I shouldn't imagine
that hotels will be booked solid in April, except perhaps in bigger towns, so you could probably
get away without booking too far in advance.

Simon
--
Simon Ward, Accent Optical Technologies (UK) Ltd., York, YO31 8SD, UK "You'd never guess the things
that I do, I've had the Devil round for tea ..."
- "60 Miles an Hour", New Order

 

"Michael Coleran" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a
local
> charity. Travelling light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly
travelling
> on country roads & through villages. Any info regarding independent
hostels
> and the like in villages and small towns?
>
I did a 500 mile tour last summer through Brittany. Best kept secret are the chambres d'hotes (B&B)
on the Gites de France web site. Use them and you'll have a ball. Go to
http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/index.htm.

Cheers,

Martin

 

Yes Joe Heatley did have the bike shop near Ribble. Joe died just one year ago today 10 Feb...sadly
missed. "Michael Coleran" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a
local
> charity. Travelling light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly
travelling
> on country roads & through villages. Any info regarding independent
hostels
> and the like in villages and small towns?

 

"Simon Ward" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> W K

> > In France, in small towns slightly off the tourist track, there are
almost
> > always very cheap hotels. Even 4* ones are cheaper than british B+Bs at times.
> Just 'at times'?

err. not wanting to state it 100%. OK, so a 4* with a swimming pool and staff wandering around
in fancy uniforms was 60E, compared to a scottish B+B that was about the same. Almost always
if you like.

>The advice about staying slightly off the tourist trail is worth sticking to, though.

For much of the trip they will be (only sort of ... having just looked at
it)

> I shouldn't imagine that hotels will be booked solid in April, except
perhaps
> in bigger towns, so you could probably get away without booking too far in advance.

Unless they are going through really remote places or arriving very late, I'd rekon they could easy
get away without booking. -as its pretty planned anyway, looking at std. hotels might work out fine.

 

"Michael Coleran" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]btinternet.com...
> I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a
local
> charity. Travelling light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly
travelling
> on country roads & through villages. Any info regarding independent
hostels
> and the like in villages and small towns?
>
> Michael

Not usually a problem finding cheap hotels/chambres d'hote. It's a good idea not to leave things too
late. Be particularly careful Sunday, Monday and any bank holiday when all hotels in an area are
quite capable of closing. The French like their holidays and days off! As long as you are covering
reasonable distances you should be ok. If you send me an email with the rough route, I'll be able to
tell you of particularly difficult areas.

Cliff

 

In article <[email protected]>, Martin Robson <[email protected]> writes
>"Michael Coleran" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> I'm doing a French coast to coast in April www.channel2med.co.uk for a
>local
>> charity. Travelling light so no camping, just cheap b&bs. Mainly
>travelling
>> on country roads & through villages. Any info regarding independent
>hostels
>> and the like in villages and small towns?
>>
>I did a 500 mile tour last summer through Brittany. Best kept secret are the chambres d'hotes (B&B)
>on the Gites de France web site. Use them and you'll have a ball. Go to
>http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/index.htm.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Martin
>
>
I can endorse the chambres d'hotes idea. The only drawback is that they tend to be in the
countryside, where you may be hard pressed to find a choice of restaurants within easy travel. Of
course many provide dinner for a very reasonable charge. You normally just get whatever madame is
cooking for monsieur, very good food indeed but not for those with a difficult or faddy diet. Hotels
in towns are also very good value. I do a cycling hol in France most Junes, I reckon to be looking
for a hotel by about 16:00. Many towns have a tourist office which will phone around and find a
hotel, but a lot of them close early. Only ever had two problems, both in large towns (Bordeaux and
Toulouse) where a convention or exhibition had booked every hotel in town, and for 60km around in
the case of VinEexpo in Bordeaux (every 2 years in June, avoid it like the plague).

Cheers,

Pete

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--
Peter Grange