Favorite Places in the Sth of France
Marilyn October 10th, 2007
Carcossonne – An almost perfectly restored walled city between Toulouse and Montpellier, it is of course crawling with tourists during the day but I recommend you stay at a hotel within the walls and emerge at night (everything is floodlit) to eat and enjoy the magic. Take the tour of the castle.
Hotel Donjon — hotel.donjon.best.western@wanadoo.fr. 132-157E high season for a double room. Old world setting.
Hotel de la Cite — www.hoteldelacite.com if you are feeling cashed up, this Orient Express luxury hotel is wonderful. 375-525E per double. Or just drop in for a drink as we did but expect to pay $A14 for a beer — worth it though.
Uzes — this ancient town was the administrative capital of France when the Pope sat at Avignon. It is wealthy and rocks all year round, with fabulous markets every Wednesday and Saturday.
Chateau Hotel d’Arpaillargues — close to Uzes is a wonderful place to use as a base. 28 rooms and apartments in a grand mansion. www.lcm.fr.savry. June & Sept breakfast/dinner/room = 150-240E.
Aigues-Mortes – near Montpellier and now a land-locked port with a wonderful walled town. Good restaurants and shopping. Take the little train tour.
Saint Guilhem le Desert – in the hills outside of Nimes, lots of history in the village. Eat and stay at Le Guilhaume d’Orange (www.guilhaumedorange.com). This charming restaurant with lovely rooms is worth the drive.
Nimes — boasts the most intact coleseum (used in the filming of Gladiator) – take the audio tour.
Pont du Gard — outside Nimes, this extraordinary 3 tiered Roman acquaduct is worth the short drive. Take a tour to get the full story.
Thanks for your notes on the Dordogne region – it’s been a long time favourite of mine. You may be interested to take a look at my website http://www.bigvillage.com.au and in particular a hotel near Sarlat–le-Caneda called Les Charmes de Carlucet. It has the rare distinction of making it to our Double 5 Club, the crème de la crème of accommodation.
If you have the time it would be great if you added one or two of your favourite hotels to the listings on BigVillage.
By the way, I’m looking forward to my first visit to Baguette later this month.
bigvillage.com.au is great — this sort of information is so valuable and not likely to be offered by travel agents. I will add a couple of my favourite hotels. It’s already ‘later this month’ so I hope you enjoyed Baguette. We have been so busy with our Shared Platter offer, obviously it hit the spot with our customers.