Five Favourite Places in France, 2009
Everyone likes to publish ‘best of’ lists at the end of a year so we thought we’d best join in. In a rare moment of unity Mrs B and myself have agreed on a shortlist of five places that we visited this year in France that we would be pleased to go back to or to recommend to others. In no particular order, here are our favourite places in France for 2009:
1) Gorges du Tarn
I drove along the Gorges du Tarn as a detour on my way back from somewhere else and was amazed how beautiful it was – not just the scenery of the gorges themselves but also the small villages along the route to explore. My only regret? I didn’t have my bike with me (despite the steepness of the cliffs in the Gorges du Tarn the main road runs pretty much along the bottom of the gorges so wouldn’t be too difficult for cycling) ! See Gorges du Tarn for more details.
2) Deauville and Honfleur, Normandy coast
I went to Normandy where I was surrounded by beautiful architecture. My two highlights were Deauville – a very up-market beach resort and Honfleur which has a really pretty port and lots of interesting historical details.
3) Ardeche Villages of Character
There are lots of villages in the Ardeche department that have received the ‘villages of character’ classification and some are more interesting than others but all have something special to offer – and they are a little off the tourist trail compared with the Provence villages that attract so much attention. Lots to enjoy – see Ardeche for more details.
4) Saint Tropez
Predictable, nous? Perhaps but Mrs B and the girls spent a week in the summer near Saint Tropez and theyall had a great time and want to go again, with or without me… Incidentally they stayed in a pv-holidays holiday village which also got a big thumbs-up – see Les Restanques for details.
5) Dinan
Dinan is a wonderful medieval town in Brittany. Wander round the streets and admire the beautiful half-timber houses, stop at lots of nice cafés and restaurants here too. If you like the sea-side, nearby Dinard is a very nice beach town. See Dinan for details.
Got your own favourite places in France? Let us know below, and if we don’t know them we will try and visit in 2010.
All the places are nice,but they are tourest France.
The France that fools lots of the people that visit.
The France that looks a lot different out of the shine of holiday glasses>
My 4 would be.
Chartres Catedral.
Troglodyte village of Troo.
The Gregorian chant at Solesmes Abbey.
Nancy, Place Stanislaw.
Johnny, your mention of Chartres and Solesmes has reminded me that I should perhaps have included Fontenay Abbey in Burgundy – I was there in the autumn and it was a very lovely place.
Interesting I have not been there.
The reason I put Nancy on the list was that we did a stop over on the way to Italy from Germany. Went for a walk from the hotel and found this fantastic square. It was such a suprise we have always rembered it. Why had we never heard of it ??, but then there is just SO much in France to see.
We visited a Troglodyte farm somewhere in Normandy out of the green guide. It was 1€ to go in it was fantastic and such a suprise but could not remember its name so did not include it.
Nancy is also a very interesting choice. I have not visited that region (it’s so far from here!), but we have a regular contributor who has recently sent us articles extolling the virtues of Nancy, Metz and Verdun – he also seemed keen on Place Stanislaus (see Nancy) so perhaps one day I need to get there myself (or at least visit when en route for the UK).
Hello
You don’t have many beaches listed but they are very popular i think. What about the Vendee beaches which my children like a lot, or the beaches on Ile-de-Ré? and lots of others near Biarritz. All are lovely family trip places.
Thank you
When we lived in germany. we used to be able to shop in Metz ( we later moved here) it was a 2 Hr drive but is was worth it to be able to buy real food and meet more pleasant people. We used to eat in a little place that was theamed on Britany. The people that ran it were delightful and as we were not happy living in germany it became a bit of a santuary for us.So we are biased to the area. i would not make a special trip to Nancy but would not miss it if i was passing.
When you go to the east, you must visit Alsace. One of the most beautiful small towns is Riquewihr. And if you go in December you will be enchanted by the Christmas markets in Colmar, Strasbourg and others. And the wines are exquisite!
http://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com
Chris. You are so right. What used to strike us we lived in a wine village in Germany. You never knew in any of the villages when the wine shops attatched to the vinyard would be open. There was never any indication. You had to knock and ask and more often the answer would be nein. Go to Alsace it looks like Germany but the difference in openess was staggereing, notices, signs, arrows to the car parks. We had a fantasic meal in Strasbourg all cheese in what was claimed to be the biggesr cheese board in the world. Is it still there.? The Alsace wines available in the restaurants are second to none. Its a very interesting place to visit it Germany with French people. Heavan.
I just checked and we are about 10 hours drive from Strasbourg – given the number of votes for Alsace it looks like I’m in for a long drive in the spring…