South coast of France

[Baj]

Me and the missus are considering driving down to the south coast of france when the weather picks up, taking a week out and maybe spending 3 or 4 days there and the rest driving of course.

 

We aint made of money, but dont want somewhere **** either, so can someone recommend a good place, just literally after a half decent beach and somewhere (sorta, name a town thing) to stay.

[buctootim]

Collioure near Spain - very pretty with small beach, 'arty'. Argeles sur mer just up the road is cheaper if pushed for cash and has massive beach. Alternatively Villefranche near Nice. Lovely old town, good restaurants, small beach, easy train ride to Nice / Monte Carlo etc

Edited 28 March, 2010 by buctootim

[St Landrew]

Anywhere around the south coast is fine. Places like Cap d'Agde are the closest you'll get to a seaside postcard style holiday. Over in the Provence and French Riviera region [Nice etc...] you'll need a bit of dosh. However, check out the other coast, Mèze, for example, which is a cute fishing village, and very near to surrounding nice countryside. Sète has a long beach and is nearby. I've stayed in Montagnac before, which you can see on the map I've linked, just inland. Plenty of local accommodation and markets. If you like some classic architecture to look at, this is the area. Carcassonne is just up the road, and obviously there is Avignon. Check out the bridge from the song, and try the Pont Du Gard, Pont D'Arc, and of course, driving across the new Millau Bridge. Towns like Uzes are just pretty, and Nimes has a colosseum that's in far better nick than the famous one in Rome. Try canoeing down the Ardèche River gorge too. The Pyrenees, Andorra and Spain aren't far away should you want to go in the other direction.

 

I would make mid-April the absolute earliest time to go though. It doesn't get properly warm/hot until well into the year. But that's up to you. As you can see, I like it there.

[action man]

Collioure near Spain - very pretty with small beach, 'arty'. Argeles sur mer just up the road is cheaper if pushed for cash and has massive beach. Alternatively Villefranche near Nice. Lovely old town, good restaurants, small beach, easy train ride to Nice / Monte Carlo etc

 

stayed in argeles sur mer last summer.a lovely place with a great beach plenty of good resturants,took a boat trip to collioure for the day ,nice place,its very near to the spanish border,france is not cheap most cross the border into spain to get there food.beer etc.its so much cheaper

[Wes Tender]

There is the cheaper South of France and then there is the expensive one. From the Spanish border to Marseille is cheaper. There is a sandy beach along a lot of the cheaper part and lovely towns like Carcasonne, Narbonne, Beziers, Montpellier, etc. Places like Carcassonne and Aigue Morte are worth a visit, as is the Camargue if you're along that stretch. The Cote D'Azur has some glitzy places and lovely scenery and is expensive, but like all places, cheaper accomodation and eateries can still be found with a little digging. Personally, I liked Menton better than Cannes and Nice.

 

What we did was to rent a Gite on the coast near Beziers and with the car, we were able to see most of the area between Perpignon and the Camargue. We did the Cote D'Azur staying just across the border in the slightly cheaper Italian Riviera.

[marc_saint]

St Maxime is nice. Not overly expensive by South of France standards (Loads of camping on the beach aswell if thats your kind of thing)

 

It's on the bay opposite St Tropez and for about 10euros return you can get the ferry across and have a good look around.

 

Also Nearby Gassin is a lovely hilltop town/village where i had the best meal ive ever had in my life.

[ecuk268]

As others have said, the east is expensive but worth a look. St Tropez for the yachts (that never seem to go anywhere) and the posers. Monaco is spectacular, full of Ferraris and other pricey motors.

 

If you head west past Marseilles, Sete is OK and is at the end of a very long sandy beach (about 15 miles) which never gets crowded. Farther inland, Montelimar is the home of nougat, loads of free samples to be had but not good for the teeth.

 

As with most places, everything's cheaper away from the coast. It's a nice part of the world, very laid back, loads of cheap fresh food and wine.

[Saint Martini]

Menton is really nice and not as expensive as other towns on the South coast. It lies inbetween Monaco and Italy and its not as touristy as the rest of the southcoast. The only disadvantage is that it has cobblestone beaches (they can get a bit warm in the summer) but that didn't make it less enjoyable for me as a kid.

[ART]

Anywhere around the south coast is fine. Places like Cap d'Agde are the closest you'll get to a seaside postcard style holiday. Over in the Provence and French Riviera region [Nice etc...] you'll need a bit of dosh. However, check out the other coast, Mèze, for example, which is a cute fishing village, and very near to surrounding nice countryside. Sète has a long beach and is nearby. I've stayed in Montagnac before, which you can see on the map I've linked, just inland. Plenty of local accommodation and markets. If you like some classic architecture to look at, this is the area. Carcassonne is just up the road, and obviously there is Avignon. Check out the bridge from the song, and try the Pont Du Gard, Pont D'Arc, and of course, driving across the new Millau Bridge. Towns like Uzes are just pretty, and Nimes has a colosseum that's in far better nick than the famous one in Rome. Try canoeing down the Ardèche River gorge too. The Pyrenees, Andorra and Spain aren't far away should you want to go in the other direction.

 

I would make mid-April the absolute earliest time to go though. It doesn't get properly warm/hot until well into the year. But that's up to you. As you can see, I like it there.

 

Excellent report Saint Landrew. :smt038I am most impressed!!! Will be recommending you to the French Tourist Board for such a beautiful and factually correct summary. Amazed that you've stayed in Montagnac where I did the vendange back in 1975. My back is still recovering. As you mention considering prior till late April isn't recommended due to cold northerly winds that don't begin to drop until well into May.

 

For those who like crowds and intense heat July and August is just for you. September I consider the connoisseur's ideal time to holiday in the south of France if it's a late break you want.

[St Landrew]

Excellent report Saint Landrew. :smt038I am most impressed!!! Will be recommending you to the French Tourist Board for such a beautiful and factually correct summary. Amazed that you've stayed in Montagnac where I did the vendange back in 1975. My back is still recovering. As you mention considering prior till late April isn't recommended due to cold northerly winds that don't begin to drop until well into May.

 

For those who like crowds and intense heat July and August is just for you. September I consider the connoisseur's ideal time to holiday in the south of France if it's a late break you want.

 

That's very kind, ART. I've been going to the S of France since the mid-80's. Nearly bought a tiny farm near St Ambroix back in 1986, but was talked out of doing by friends who wondered why on earth I should do such a thing. In those days I didn't have the perfectly good countering argument of why not..?

 

As you know, it's a beautiful area, and I certainly wouldn't mind retiring there in 20 or so years, perhaps with a boat or canoe for my leisure time. As for holidays, it's a brilliant place for driving to, and around, whether in a car, or campervan, or on a motorcycle [my choice]. A lot of Camp/Tent holiday companies, like Eurocamp and Keycamp, do business down there and it works very well.

[so22saint]

Excellent report Saint Landrew. :smt038I am most impressed!!! Will be recommending you to the French Tourist Board for such a beautiful and factually correct summary. Amazed that you've stayed in Montagnac where I did the vendange back in 1975. My back is still recovering. As you mention considering prior till late April isn't recommended due to cold northerly winds that don't begin to drop until well into May.

 

For those who like crowds and intense heat July and August is just for you. September I consider the connoisseur's ideal time to holiday in the south of France if it's a late break you want.

 

As St Landrew & ART have both said, the stretch from Spain to Marseille is amazing. We've holidayed in Thur (near Perpingnan) and had day trips to Castlenau (which is stunning), Carcasonne (also amazing), Port Bao in Spain (lovely beach - completely different place) and spent quite a bit of time in Banyuls sur Mere which has black volcanic sand and is really quiet but has good cafe's and easy parking, as well as a marina and aquarium. Collieure (sorry for the spelling) is stunning, and this year we're going back to Agde as we fell in love with it last year - 10 minute walk up the Canal du Midi to the floating cafes, beach at Cap d'Agde 10 minutes away - all in all a great base.

[Baj]

Cheers for the good advice everyone.

 

Another question, toll roads! I've seen its going to cost the best part of €200 there and back in tolls! What does everyone else do? All tolls? no tolls? Mix it up a bit?

[Wes Tender]

Cheers for the good advice everyone.

 

Another question, toll roads! I've seen its going to cost the best part of €200 there and back in tolls! What does everyone else do? All tolls? no tolls? Mix it up a bit?

 

Depends on whether you want to get down there fast, or whether you consider that the joorney there is part of the holiday if you take it at a more leisurely pace.

 

When we had a gite at Beziers, we drove straight down south from Caen, stopping at Limoges the first night and then it is an easy drive from there to arrive late afternoon. It's a very pretty route down and we stopped at Cahors for lunch, which is also worth a look. It's South of there that the climate gets noticeably warmer as you get closer to the Mediterranean.

[Whitey Grandad]

We've been towing the caravan down to the French/Spanish border every year in early July for nearly 20years. We go Portsmouth to Ouistreham (use to be Le Havre) on the early morning boat and stop the first night at about 7:30 just south of Saumur on the Loire at a lovely place called Montreul-Beuilly (4 hours or so). Next day down past Limoges and toulouse to Carcassonne - fantastic place (6 hours). Then a short run to either Argeles-sur-Mer (3 or 4 hours), or over the border toi the Costa Brava. It's just under 700 mile in total and used to be 17 hours total driving with the caravan bu these days it's more like 13 or 14. On the way back we come up the middle through the Auvergne via Beziers - Millau, Clermont-Ferrand, Montlucon etc stopping two or three nights on the way. Loches is another interesting walled town remiscent of Carcassone. Some motorways are toll but the newer ones funded by the EC are free, notably the A75. Try www.viamichelin.com for routing, speed cameras and road tolls.

 

France is a lot more expensive than it used to be and eating out in spain is about two-thirds the price. A day trip from Collioure is very easy, it's only about an hour to Roses, L'Escala or Estartit. For really cheap booze of any sort there's a place just south of Pals at Palafrugell http://www.vinsilicorsgrau.es/ 3 magnums of Rioja for about £4.

 

The weather is not really settled until June/July and the area around Perpignan is the windiest place in France although Collioure is sheltered by the Albéres mountains and is usually a bit warmer than further up the coast.

 

Let us know what you decide Baj and I will try to dig out some recommendations for you for hotels/restaurants.

[Whitey Grandad]

Depends on whether you want to get down there fast, or whether you consider that the joorney there is part of the holiday if you take it at a more leisurely pace.

 

When we had a gite at Beziers, we drove straight down south from Caen, stopping at Limoges the first night and then it is an easy drive from there to arrive late afternoon. It's a very pretty route down and we stopped at Cahors for lunch, which is also worth a look. It's South of there that the climate gets noticeably warmer as you get closer to the Mediterranean.

It's noticeable how the light improves once you get south of the Massif. Everythign becomes more luminous and intense. All the buildings have terracotta roof tiles and much shallower slopes.

[oxfordshire_saint]

If you don't fancy the actual south coast then the Dune du Pyla near Bordeaux is spectacular.

 

You can make that as expensive or cheap as you want, camping is available (http://www.pyla-camping.com/)

 

If you fancy venturing further from there using it as a base, Biarritz and San Sebastian are both do-able on day trips.

[saintkiptanui]

I hear kenny Everett has a nice place near Narbonne.

[St Landrew]

Cheers for the good advice everyone.

 

Another question, toll roads! I've seen its going to cost the best part of €200 there and back in tolls! What does everyone else do? All tolls? no tolls? Mix it up a bit?

 

The Autoroutes are brilliant roads with barely any roadworks on them because they do their small maintenance work overnight [gosh, what a good idea], and they don't take up half the motorway with cones that have been there for 3 months either side of the work schedule. Which means that you can really shoot through the country on them, and cut down on the journey time.

 

However, having said that, the traffic gendarmes are pretty hot on the on-the-spot-fine front [*cough*, so I'm told], and you'd be missing out on some cracking countryside too, by not taking the time to mix it up. For my money, I'd take the time on the outward journey, then blast back to the north, on the return. You can always slow it up should you want to. For me, with what you are upto, the North of France is the missable bit because, let's face it, the South is where you want to be. And you can always take in the north's sights, like Paris, Chartres Cathedral, St Malo, Mont Saint Michel, Normandy beaches, etc.. on day/shorter trips.

[CB Saint]

If you are planning a half way stop, stay at Bourges. It is slap bang in the middnle of France. Beautiful town.

[Baj]

Thanks again guys, more great advice.

 

We would plan to probably stop over night on the way down once, and maybe once on the way up, so any recommendations for places to stop if doing just one overnight stay from north to south.

 

I actually know the north of france fairly well, with the ex-wife from Belgium we often stopped places in north france, done normandy beaches, done paris LOADS, so really im just interested in southern france.

 

Windy doesnt sound good. I'll reiterate, we are just after a nice beach, we just want to sit on our arses for 3 days on a beach and take in the scenic stuff during the journey, so we arent bothered about in-land beauty when we reach our destination, but would LOVE to see that sorta beauty on our journey.

[saint lard]

Antibes is very, very, nice.

 

Maybe slightly different is Soulac,wonderful place with a stunning beach.

Also as mentioned, the Dune de Pyla is well worth a visit.

[Baj]

I like how much closer Soulac looks, but wont it be a) colder than the south and b) windier as its exposed to the atlantic?

[mdearlove]

Used to head down there a lot when my parents lived down there. Its a long old drive but the roads are usually very good, with the exception of the road around Lyon. When we have driven down with the kids we have stopped in or near Beaune in the Burgundy region. Lovely area if you like wine! Good place to stop on the way back and visit a vineyard or two to get some quality wine at prices you would pay for standard supermarket fare here (I can point you to a couple if required!) We have also stopped near Montelimar but if its just the 2 of you with no kids then a single stop should be enough. My sister and Dad have done the run from Calais to Cannes in a single day - but its tough to do.

 

Most of my visits have been in and around Grasse, Cannes, Antibes, Juan les Pins, with trips up and down the coast. I love the area - Antibes is great - especially the food market. You can get some decently priced apartments on www.holiday-rentals.co.uk or there are plenty of campsites around.

 

If you head down the coast to St Raphael area, and on to St Tropez there are lots of the big campsites (2000 pitches or more).

 

If you like a leisurely drive then you can take the road from Lyon towards Grenoble, then through Gap and the Gorge Du Verdon - the French Grand Canyon.

 

Once you are down to the coast you can leave the car behind if you wish and use the coastal train to head to Eze, Menton, Monaco, even up to San Remo in Italy. Its pretty cheap and the views are spectacular.

 

This is a link to Google Maps directions from Caen to Cannes following the Gorge Du Verdon

 

Another good place to go if you want a day away from the crowds at the beach is Lac St Cassien - a man made lake with loads of places to set up for the day swimming in the lake, fishing, eating at the many small restaurants. I know of some great swimming places on the rivers in that area too - damn cold water as its coming from the mountains but clear as anything - very refreshing on a hot day.

[mdearlove]

I like how much closer Soulac looks, but wont it be a) colder than the south and b) windier as its exposed to the atlantic?

 

It can be hit and miss weather wise on the west coast. I have been in the area just north of Bordeaux in the middle of summer and its been 18c and grey, another time 30c and brilliant sunshine. The south coast is more reliable, particularly the Var/Cote d' Azur.

[Goalie66]

Go to Bio just up from Cannes.Lovely old village with cobbled streets.Charming hotels that are not expensive and short drive to beaches and all that Provence has to offer.

[mdearlove]

Go to Bio just up from Cannes.Lovely old village with cobbled streets.Charming hotels that are not expensive and short drive to beaches and all that Provence has to offer.

 

Biot?

 

Mougins old town is nice too - loads of restaurants to take the missus for a nice lunch.

[mdearlove]

Oh and Baj - you might even want to consider getting a flight with Easyjet down there and renting a car - saves 3/4 days journey down there and back and the cost of the flights would be about the same as the ferry if you do a crossing from Portsmouth. The Car hire would be covered by the cost of tolls/fuel and you get extra time to explore the area

[angelman]

For tolls - use http://www.mappy.fr (I think that there is a UK version) as this will give route and costs of tolls. I am not sure how up to date they are.

 

I used to live in the South-West for a few years, and depending where you are crossing, it is relatively easy to get to and not to expensive. For the town, ignore Biarritz and look at Bayonne instead. North of Bayonne, there is about 100 miles of beaches that you can choose from.

 

If you do go this way, I like going from St. Malo which is 435 miles and the link says that the toll costs are eur 22.20. This is because a lot of the way is free dual carriageway rather than autoroute.

http://fr.mappy.com/#d=Saint-Malo%2C+France&d=Bayonne%2C+France&lm=r&p=itinerary

 

And then if you want somewhere really quite interesting, you can pop over the border and go to San Sebastian. If you do do this, I will warn you that the tolls for the small bit of autoroute for the main crossing are, in my mind, a rip off. It says eur 3.80 but not sure how accurate. You can google all this.

http://fr.mappy.com/#d=Bayonne%2C+France&d=San+Sebasti%C3%A1n%2C+Espagne&lm=r&p=itinerary

[Baj]

did the maths on cost and its the same, however driving is less risk in terms of delays and our relationship is still at the stage where we enjoy each others company, aahaha, so we're actually looking forward to the "road trip" aspect.

[Baj]

angelman, sounds good, but is the weather pretty much "guaranteed" in july?

[Whitey Grandad]

angelman, sounds good, but is the weather pretty much "guaranteed" in july?

July is probably the best month. It starts to get busy after the 14th and August is out because of all the french everwhere. We once went to Argeles in mid June and it was only 15 degrees, which was unusual but not what we went for.

[ART]

Last May my cousins drove down from Maidstone via Dover with 3 of them driving. Took them 12 hours (ferry included) to Marseillan Plage where they booked a caravan for 4 days. Home journey took them 9 and1/2 hours. There are lots of offers online, and you can also rent off season a GITE really cheap. They do Gite for 2 up to large families of about 12 in number. A Gite enables you to buy foodstuff locally and self cater and take up the chance of specially cheap priced 3 course menues at lunchtime. Evening meals are a lot more expensive and taking breakfast in a café is a rip off as you can buy freshly baked bread and croissants, and have them back at the Gite..

[Wes Tender]

.

 

We would plan to probably stop over night on the way down once, and maybe once on the way up, so any recommendations for places to stop if doing just one overnight stay from north to south.

 

If you're planning a one night stop on the way there and back, work out roughly where you'll be and have a browse of the Logis website. The Logis are character hotels at a reasonable price and along the road you can recognise them by their distinctive logo.

http://www.logishotels.com/en.html

 

Otherwise, I always liked staying at the Camanile hotels which are all over France, well presented and at good prices.

 

http://www.campanile.com/hotel/en/hotel-00.htm

 

If it's just a case of getting your head down at the cheapest possible prices, then Formule 1 hotels fit that bill.

 

http://www.hotelformule1.com/gb/cartographie/france.shtml

[Chin Strain]

Baj, if you want to just sit on a beach then, personally, it's got to be the stretch between Le Lavandou (just east of Toulon) and Antibes. The beaches are great, and loads of lovely little coves with beautiful beaches and scenery. Also, the road hugs the coastline along there and is backed by the Massif Maures hills behind.

 

If sandy beaches are your thing, you need to be careful once you get past Antibes (going east) as a lot of the beaches are pebbley, especially up nearer to Monaco (although it's spectacular along there).

 

The beaches down around Bezier and towards the Spanish border are long and sandy, and not at all like the coves mentioned above, and it's generally fairly flat leading away from the beach, until you get down right on the Spanish border. Also, what you'll find down in this region is that the coast road runs a few miles inland, and each resort is connected by one road that runs off the main road down to the resort. The coastal resorts are generally built around campsites, and are nothing really to write home about. Not for nothing is Argeles sur mer known as the Campsite Capital of Europe - there are loads of them.

 

Personally I'm not keen on Argeles as it's a bit like Britain abroad with the number of fast food joints. and a flood of British tourists. Some people like that, but it's not for me.

 

I've been to a few of the resorts around that region with Eurocamp over the past few years (Vias, Argeles, Serignan) and have had good holidays as they're great for my young kids but, having been brought up with holidays in the area around Le Lavandou (Cavaliere and Cavalaire), I much, much prefer it along that stretch - although it can get monumentally busy around St Tropez and St Maxime in July and August.

 

I don't know you, so it's difficult to say what you'd prefer, but hope I've helped!

[Patrick Bateman]

Me and the missus are considering driving down to the south coast of france when the weather picks up, taking a week out and maybe spending 3 or 4 days there and the rest driving of course.

 

We aint made of money, but dont want somewhere **** either, so can someone recommend a good place, just literally after a half decent beach and somewhere (sorta, name a town thing) to stay.

 

Have to be the South? Why not the South East and somewhere like Lacanau-Ocean? Bordeaux is on the way.

 

Or a bit further down, Biarritz?

[Patrick Bateman]

I meant the South West of course, I'm a dunce.

[Chin Strain]

I meant the South West of course, I'm a dunce.

 

Don't be so harsh on yourself.....'Geographically Challenged' is a better description;)!

 

I agree re the South West. Sea's a bit colder and a lot rougher but certainly a nice part of the world. I like Biarritz too. We went to Labenne Ocean a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed it.

[Baj]

As it happens, at the moment, we are looking at Bayonne (as someone mentioned above, Biarritz and that area.

[tpbury]

Traffic is bad past Bordeaux. I have had really nice weather and really crap weather in SW France - it's a bit of a gamble. We were near Bayonne 2 years ago in August, and it friggin rained (all day!) 10 days out of 14. On the other hand I went 3 years on the trot to Vendee/Lot/Dordogne and had great weather!

 

In Brisbane, it's ****ing down right now, but I know for a fact I'll have holiday weather 70% of the year.

[saint lard]

I like how much closer Soulac looks, but wont it be a) colder than the south and b) windier as its exposed to the atlantic?

 

 

I went the last week in August and the first week in September and the weather was perfect for lazing on the beach eating some of the finest seafood i have ever had.I will agree that swimming in the surf was great fun due to the fact it did on occasions get 'breezy'.

 

We had a static caravan at at a lovely sight in soulac and travelled to places from there.

 

When you head down south,especially Avignon,which is lovely,you get the mistral winds which are fierce at times.

 

I found Soulac, and the surrounding area, all i wanted for some lazy time,good food,bars and not too busy with tourists.

 

My French girlfriend at the time recommended it as she had been before and it was where the French went instead of the mainstream 'beach resorts' populated with tourists.

 

I flew into Bergerac and visited her family in Villneauve sur lot, went to Archachon(sp) then Bordeaux,took in some footie whilst there!,was a superb area to visit.

Edited 30 March, 2010 by saint lard

[Lord Duckhunter]

Visit France regulary for years.

 

Biarritz can be a bit ropey weather wise, although its nice. I prefer Montpellier area. Sete is lovely and the weather is better, I would recommend it to anyone. Me and Mrs Duck would like to retire there one day.

[Chin Strain]

Visit France regulary for years.

 

Biarritz can be a bit ropey weather wise, although its nice. I prefer Montpellier area. Sete is lovely and the weather is better, I would recommend it to anyone. Me and Lady Duck would like to retire there one day.

 

 

Corrected your post;)

[Lord Duckhunter]

She's no lady

[bridge too far]

Have to be the South? Why not the South East and somewhere like Lacanau-Ocean? Bordeaux is on the way.

 

Or a bit further down, Biarritz?

 

I've been there. As well as the great beach (with great surf if you're into that) there is also a huge lake inland.

 

We stayed in a holiday chalet about 5 mins cycle ride from the beach and about 15 minutes from the lake. You have to cycle through pine forests and sand dunes to get to the lake (past a quad bike place). There are catamarans for hire at the lake as well as a good number of lakeside cafes.

 

When we went they didn't appear to have had that many British visitors so we all had to rely on our GCE French to get by.

[Patrick Bateman]

I've been there. As well as the great beach (with great surf if you're into that) there is also a huge lake inland.

 

We stayed in a holiday chalet about 5 mins cycle ride from the beach and about 15 minutes from the lake. You have to cycle through pine forests and sand dunes to get to the lake (past a quad bike place). There are catamarans for hire at the lake as well as a good number of lakeside cafes.

 

When we went they didn't appear to have had that many British visitors so we all had to rely on our GCE French to get by.

 

The lake bit is odd, but cool - with a beach as well, if I remember rightly? I liked the fact there were no brits anywhere to be seen. We stayed for a couple of days as a break from one of my many wine trips down there. That time, we stayed in St. Emillion for a few days, then Bordeaux for a couple, then in Margaux for 8 days or so as a base - the beach at Lacanau-Ocean was nice and totally different to sitting on the Medoc!

 

Good times!

[bridge too far]

The lake bit is odd, but cool - with a beach as well, if I remember rightly? I liked the fact there were no brits anywhere to be seen. We stayed for a couple of days as a break from one of my many wine trips down there. That time, we stayed in St. Emillion for a few days, then Bordeaux for a couple, then in Margaux for 8 days or so as a base - the beach at Lacanau-Ocean was nice and totally different to sitting on the Medoc!

 

Good times!

 

I think we went there when we visited Chateau Palmer? Strange to have an 'english' name for a chateau. We bought a very expensive bottle there to be opened 15 years later.

 

We opened it when my daughter graduated and it was FOUL

[Baj]

when in the year did both of you go?

[Patrick Bateman]

I think we went there when we visited Chateau Palmer? Strange to have an 'english' name for a chateau. We bought a very expensive bottle there to be opened 15 years later.

 

We opened it when my daughter graduated and it was FOUL

 

No way, that's such a shame. A decent Palmer should keep for years, I can only suggest you got a lesser vintage (i.e. a 97) which probably had no more than 5 years storage life, or, it was just not stored in ideal conditions/moved about. Wine needs to be kept at a constant temperate (under 16 C) and in the dark. Light and heat and variations of both, as well as movement will age a wine and ruin it.

 

My wines are stored in a cellar unit which is a constant "cellar" temperature. I've many nice Bordeaux in there and a couple of excellent Californians (it pays to shop around, I found an Opus One for £180, managed to sell it for £300, result).

 

I believe Chateau Palmer was owned by an Englishman (someone Palmer) in the 1800s and the name stuck.

Lynch-Bages was owned by someone Lynch, an Irishman, again, it stuck.

 

I actually stayed in the Relais de Margaux, which is next door to Chateau Margaux, a stunning building. I recommend Chateau Pichon-Longueville as well, awesome wines, amazing building.

 

Sorry, I could talk Bordeaux all day!!

 

Baj - last went down in 2005, a visit is LONG overdue.

 

Apparently the 2009 wines down there are showing well, may get down in the summer just for that reason

[bridge too far]

when in the year did both of you go?

 

We went to Lacanau Ocean in the summer school holidays so I guess August. Lovely weather with the edge taken off the heat (thankfully) by being so close to the Atlantic I guess.

 

Three years ago we 'did' the Canal du Midi in the June half-term break and had a couple of days of awful weather. Gale force winds (blew our canal boat through 180 degrees) and driving rain. It was then changeable and we got absolutely drenched walking through the old town of Carcassonne.

 

We did have a couple of warm days and, in spite of the weather, it's a holiday I'd do again at the drop of a chapeau!

Edited 31 March, 2010 by bridge too far
Needed to singularise 'chapeaux' before StL told me off AGAIN :(

[lutz]

Ahh what great places BTF,we used to go to Lacanau Ocean for some 11 years as my father in law had an apartment there,great for surfing!!

 

We also went to Carcassone last year for our wedding aniversary,really enjoyed the place,just think Warwick Castle but much,much larger a mimi town really.