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Home >European
Touring > France touring
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France Touring
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| France is such a varied country that we can only give an
glimpse based on our travels in recent years. We have toured through many
regions and Departments which are detailed in the links below. We have also visited
Britanny, the
Morvan and Yonne areas a few more years ago. We have highlighted some of the smaller
"undiscovered" places that we have happened across sometimes by
accident when getting lost along the maze of D roads.
Find out about our travels....
2007 tour
Western France, the Pyrenees and Northern Spain
2006 tour
to Queyras, Southern Alps, Provence as part of a round trip to Slovenia
2005
tour to the Auvergne,
Cevennes, Cote d'Azur, (Italy) Alps, Jura, Vosges and Alsace
2002 tour
to Provence, Camargue and
Dordogne
2001
tour to
Bourgogne, Alps and Drôme regions
Regional Photo
Guides
Queyras
Southern Alps Provence
Vosges & Alsace Franche-Comte
Jura Drome Isere
Bourgogne Yonne
Var Camargue
Read about the amazing Palais
Ideal at Hauterives near Valence (Drôme)
Other Amazing sights in France
click here for Guidebooks
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Northern France
Although the countryside appears rather flat with rolling hills there are some
interesting places we have discovered, often tucked away towns and
villages. Rocroi, a fortified town near the Belgian border is
worth an overnight stay. Further east are the Vosges mountains, mainly
wooded but there are some small resorts and interesting scenery. Take a
short pause in St Die where le Corbusier lived, before driving over the
Vosges mountains via the Ste Marie pass to the
Alsace region. Not difficult driving and there are fine views down to
the Rhine valley and the tourist town of Riquewhir among the vineyards,
where there's a shop selling Christmas decorations all year.
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Entrance to Rocroi
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Yonne and Burgundy
Druyes les Belles Fontaines is a delightful serene village with
sparkling clear millponds and a chateau on the hillside. There is a shady
aire de pique-nique on the hillside just past the ponds. Nearby is
St.Fargeau where there is a large Son et Lumiere event during August and
the Reservoir du Bourdon with pleasant wooded parking areas. This little
toured area known as la Puisaye is between the Loire and Burgundy and has
some surprises including a complete rebuilding of a medieval chateau by
traditional methods at Guedelon.
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Druyes les Belles Fontaines
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Gorges du Tarn and the Causses
Ispagnac at the eastern end of the Tarn Gorge is a pretty village worth
visiting on foot. The old streets have been restored and there are
some charming houses and lanes. Its best to take the gorge road in a west
to east direction to avoid the overhanging rocks. Take the road north from
La Malene up to the Causse de Sauveterre and west to the Point Sublime for
fantastic views. In this "wild" countryside we came across a
local village football pitch complete with advertising signs in the middle
of nowhere!
visited in 2002
and 2007
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Ispagnac flowers
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Provence
Where does one start to describe the wonderful picturesque places and
magnificent scenery of this region of France? It has a distinctive
Mediterranean feel that has made it such a popular area yet we have found
many small villages and tucked away places not far from the busy towns and
cities of the Rhône where you can be alone. There are extensive vistas of
lavender fields, rough countryside, mountains lakes and gorges. It is best
to avoid the overcrowded coastal strip especially in high season of July
and August, but a few miles inland is a different world of shady town
squares with their fountains and colourful markets.
visited in 2002
and 2006
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Pont du Garde
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The Pyrenees
The mountain range separating France from Spain has a different
character on the French side and we found it more accessible.
Starting from the western end south of
Biarritz, the Basque region has a unique feel with distinctive buildings
and people including many men wearing berets not just for the tourists. A
trip up the La Rhune cog railway is worthwhile on a clear day, and the
Cirque de Gavarnie is unmissable. Further to the east is the Cathar
country with many castles and long climbing roads over the hills around
Andorra and down to the coast at the artists' town of Collioure
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Cirque de Gavarnie
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Guidebooks
We have used several guidebooks over the years but our old favourites for
finding places off the beaten track are "Hidden France" and
being an avid map reader especially the Michelin road atlases, "Mapaholics
France" by Richard Binns* (which is available now as a download in pdf
from his website - see link below) and also
"Exploring Rural France"
by Andrew Sanger.
Another well used book is Footpaths of France by Michael
Marriott (Crowood Press 1990)
Another guide that travels
with us if there is space is "Secret France" published by the AA
a few years ago but occasionally seen in discount bookshops. Also we use
various Michelin Green Guides covering the areas of France (some only
available in French) but these tend to have more details on historic
buildings rather than countryside.
Link to Richard
Binns website
* Richard died in December 2006 after a long illness but was still able to
tour and write useful and informative travel guides until early in 2006.
We found his guides an inspiration for us to turn off along many side
roads to find hidden gems in France
Link to Andrew
Sanger website
Please contact us using the
feedback link if you would like more details of places we have visited.
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