Can someone talk to me about France? I've no idea how to cobble together a holiday there

[oranges]

I don't really know how France 'works' iyswim. We have a fortnight off in early March, and want to go to Paris to visit friends and then head somewhere, preferably by a beach and warm-sh - doesn't have to be baking, just mild enough to be outside. And want to stay in a nice villa type thing (gite?). Where do I start?

Wow Aznerak... That villa looks great. I'm gutted because we have just booked up to stay near there in September. Have saved in my favorites for next year though

Oranges - to stand a chance of warmish weather in March, you will probably need to head to Med coast (pretty long trawl from Paris - probably about 8 hours by car). The Atlantic coast (near La Rochelle) etc is nearer and would give you beaches but the weather is likely to be not much better than UK. We went to the Loire in August last year and it rained all week

We used tend to use www.gite.com or www.ownersdirect.com

oh thank you. villakarli looks wonderful. how is the drive down to the med coast? is it pretty?

To be honest, a lot of it is autoroute... Not especially inspiring but much nicer than UK motorways (French service stations are brilliant !).. Once you get as far as the Alps there's some nice scenery and the Languedoc region itself is beautiful

Am v I have to wait until September !

TillyScoutsmum

Thanks for your thoughts, if you want to email me your email address I can keep you on our mailing list and notify you of our special offers if that is of any interest!

Such a shame you have just booked somewhere else - we are offering special rates on September right now.

Oh well!

Take care

x x x

Oranges - the drive down is very straight forward. Although most of it is motorway, some of the scenery is stunning.

The route from Paris down to Orleans and onto Bourges is rather boring - miles of flat ground much like the fens here in the UK - though it does enable you to put your foot down and motor it!

Once you are down at Clermont Ferrand and you go through the Volcans, it is stunning.

You cross the Millau Bridge - the world's tallest bridge - and this is amazing.

As you descend the A75 after the Millau bridge, the landscape is beautiful and somewhat breathtaking at times.

The Languedoc is a lovely part of France - the miles and miles of vienyards with small Meditteranean villages nestled on hillsides makes for a brilliant holiday spot.

Will do.. Shall I send it to the info@villakarli address ?

Will see if I can talk dp into a second holiday this year

yes, that'd be perfect....definitely push for a second holiday....its too long to wait until September!

Tillyscoutsmum - didn't receive your email yet...did you send it and it is now lost in cyberspace or have you not got round to it yet?

x x x

Just sent it now. Thanks

Hi Oranges, I have a very child friendly house you may also want to check out in the Dordogne www.acabanes.co.uk.
There is a travel section on the website with lots of advice and tips if that helps
Tracey

We have booked accomodation through www.cheznous.com, they have a great selection.