The present Mrs.Louch and I have just returned from a round trip of 2322miles around the highways and byways of France,in which we covered the Isle de France,the Loire,the Rhone Alpes,Provence and the Cote d Azur. Its 30years this year since we started these holidays by car,and we continue to enjoy them,meeting many old and new French friends. To my fellow Franco-philes who are inclined to enjoy the freedom of the road we recommend the Hotel De L Abbaye at Ferrieres en Gratinais, which is a small village just off the old N7 between Dordives and Montargis. The bedrooms are first class,and the restaurant which serves French quisine is absolutely marvellous. This Hotel is ideal for that overnight stay. We have been using it for the last 10years,and it never fails to impress. We did discover another Hotel in a rural area known as the Isle of Barthelasse just on the outskirts of Avignon. This Hotel is called Le Ferme Logis. It is everybodys idea of a typical Provence Hotel,where you can dine outside under the Wisteria. These two hotels can be found in the Logis Handbook,or on their web site. We always follow their guide,as they provide good traditional French accomadation and food. They are all run by French people. However we did stray from the Logis guide and stayed at an independent hotel in Le Lavandou. This hotel was situated in the town centre,as a result the parking was difficult. Once in the tiny car park,you could not get out,without the other guests moving their cars. That was if you could find them. As a result there was a high risk of damage. We had to negociate 40 creaking stairs to our bedroom on the top floor. This room had wardrobes where the doors opened themselves.The toilet facilities were also a joke. The w.c. was jammed between the shower cabinet,and a chimney breast. To sit on it one had to sit sideways,which in my case proved extremely difficult. Another point to make for those of you who may use the Auto route. During the whole of our trip we never saw a manned pay station. All were automated including Lancon,near Aix en Provence. This meant that I had to get out of tha car and run around the bonnet in order to put my credit card in the machine. Mrs.Louch had a bad arm andcould not operate the procedure from the front passenger seat. On each occasion it felt as though the whole of France was waiting behind me. Roll on September,when we are hopefully heading for the Dordorne and the Charentais.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 10:31:09 +0000
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