Places to see in France???

[Ben Breese]

Planning a trip to France next year around the end of June time for about 18ish days, depending on booking hols etc. I know there's been a few of you on here who've been to France, and a few that live in there too, so want to get an idea of some of the best places to go and see. Interested in WW2 and historical sites of this nature, so we will be going to Normandy along the coastal road seeing the D-Day beaches. Have also got a book on places to visit but apart from that we're a bit in the dark!

Any advice on places of historical interest would be very helpful, as well as eye catching scenery and towns with great architectural buildings to keep the girlfriend happy;)

We'd like to drive nice country roads with interesting landscapes, staying off main roads/motorways as much as possible, and we don't really want to head into any major cities.

Will be camping most nights so would prefer places more off the beaten track to stay, if anyone has any recommendations of good sites? Will stay in an area for a few days during the trip to give a break from driving and time to relax, so again if anyone knows of any ideal places feel free to shout up!

On a navigational note, does anyone know of any good detailed maps of France as I'm not a Sat Nav kind of guy, prefer seeing a route on paper! Don't want anything like OS detail, but obviously something that will show us where we are when out in the sticks.

Not got a plan or a route yet, so fire away with anything and everything, and hopefully we'll have a plan by the end of it! Not done any major travelling before so your experiences would be good also, what's a sensible mileage to do/expect each day? I enjoy the driving so don't mind covering a fair distance, but don't want to go too crazy, it's a holiday after all!

Cheers, Ben

[Dave-H]

Best thing to see in France?...... the back of it!! :mad:

[Alyn]

Ben,

If you are interested in military history the Somme is the place to go.

I spent a couple of weeks there a few years ago and only scratched the surface. Talk to the locals, avoid the tourist traps and prepare to be humbled and shed a (not so) few tears.

If you decide to go to the area read as much as you can beforehand, take contemporary maps, alow time to sit and ponder........................

Places not to miss are

The Thiepval monument
The Welsh memorial at Mametz Wood (Hard to find but it blew me away)
Vimy Ridge
Beaumont Hammel
LochnagarThe Caen WW11 Museum (Can't remember the name is also worth a visit)

I'm determined to visit the WW1 sites again ............ It's a formative experience.

Alyn

[JOHNSTAR]

I'd also go further south to the Pyrenees to visit some Cathar castles and Carcassonne - absolutely amazing :).

[conkers]

One thing I would reccomend is learn some of the language. They would quite happily watch an Englishman starve to death before resorting to speaking English themselves!;)

[BabySpanner110]

One thing I would reccomend is learn some of the language. They would quite happily watch an Englishman starve to death before resorting to speaking English themselves!;)

Ben's knows a bit of French (:D) which he rememebers from school, but we're looking into a cd to help us both learn a bit more, any recommedations? Never done French myself, did Spanish at school, and seeing as I'll be on the left side in the car I'll have to get learning:p We wouldn't go without learning some of the language;)

[conkers]

Ben's knows a bit of French (:D) which he rememebers from school, but we're looking into a cd to help us both learn a bit more, any recommedations? Never done French myself, did Spanish at school, and seeing as I'll be on the left side in the car I'll have to get learning:p We wouldn't go without learning some of the language;)The thing that brought back what little I learned at school was actually being there and having to speak french to french people:rolleyes: some frechys will be understanding and speak slowly and simply to you most will not and none will speak English to you! Satnav too, french signposting can leave a lot to be desired. Don't let me put you off, France is a great country with great food the only trouble is the french live there.:D

[Dave Sumner]

Its a big country, we love it. Go most years with caravan.
The Normandie area is good, lots of museums etc. There are loads of campsites in that area. It gets busy in peak season (end of July to mid August).

Most towns and villages have "Camping municipales" which are good.

Campsites ted to be signed clearly.
English is widely spoken in Normandie as it is a tourist area.

For maps. the Michelin atlas is good -large scale plenty of detail.
Alan Rogers guide books are good, or ACSI.

Most towns have internet sites, multilingual too just google them.

The local "office de tourismes" are very helpful and will normally have an english speaker., publications etc.

Remember its not just brits who go, thousands of dutch folk do also, a lot of whom use english, parce qu'ils ne parlent pas francais!

I have reasonable french and have always found people to be ok if you try and are polite.

We have sat in a cafe watching brits being totally ignorant and rude-thought about helping , but decided not to! ( Did not want to be associated with them!)
Have helped others who were ok.
There are some good teach yourself CDs by Michelle Thomas which are very good, he was a renowned language teacher who spoke lots of languages and developed his own method. Amazon or Smiths may have them.
As for other ares, the Gorges du Tarn, Auvergne, Dordogne and Carcassonne areas are lovely. Also Alps(Annecy, Chamonix etc-but they get busy in summer)
Have fun!

[Snagger]

There are a lot of fascinating WWII museums in the Pas de Calais, south for Dunkirk, including V1 and V2 sites.

[Alyn]

I usually make sure I have a Welsh dragon on the car and a couple of rugby shirts to wear when out and about................:angel2:

[LandyV8]

Hi Ben. I will be watching the thread with great interest as I have just planned a very similar trip. 8-18 June. I have booked the ferry with Norfolkline, £37 all in, Return, for my Discovery and 4 passengers. That's Dover to Dunkerque. It’s the 4am ferry, but for less than 40 quid I’m not complaining.

I haven’t booked any campsites as yet but I have them all planned out at various stop off points etc. I have been in contact with a few and they said I’ve no need to book as its early season but I am welcome to book so I’m guaranteed a plot. I used a book called Cool Camping (France). (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cool-Camping-France/dp/0955203651/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_2)This book is full of quiet traditional French campsites. None commercial or your typical Pontins type of places. I too plan to stay off the main toll roads and see as many little villages as we can. We will be going into Paris for one day. I have picked a campsite just a 20 train ride out of the city so I won’t have to drive and find somewhere to park.

Map wise I have planned all my routes using either AutoRoute or Google Maps. I will be taking AA Touring Atlas France (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touring-Atlas-France-AA-Atlases/dp/0749532505). This is a great atlas with about 350 pages. I will have my TomTom with me and I have also installed a PC with GPS into the Discovery so I will be able to use my planned route displayed on AutoRoute. (or that’s the plan)

So far it has been great fun just planning a route, picking out places we wanted to stop off and see, picking out campsites etc. working out the fuel costs was a bit if an eye opener with a V8. he he

Enjoy!

[Rich_P]

It'll be interesting that's for sure. Louisa reckons I'll get us into a load of bother with my comments about the French. :biggrin:

I've been three times to France, first time was to Calais. Bumper to bumper parking, literally. :yikes: Second time we went down to the south east coast for two weeks, most of the people there spoke English and the campsite was made up mostly of Dutch. The museums were awesome, I can probably get the details of them but one of the war museums I went to had plenty of WW2 era weaponry. That was the first time I had ever seen a King Tiger in person, absolutely monstrous!

[Rich_P]

This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_des_Blind%C3%A9s) was the museum in France that I spoke of.

[LandyV8]

.... Louisa reckons I'll get us into a load of bother with my comments about the French. :biggrin:....I have some Duck Tape.

[StrangeRover]

I have some Duck Tape.
Take two rolls of duct tape:biggrin:!

[maffy]

Evening all, if its WW2 your after, you are better hanging around the north and coast, WW1 however is a completely diffrent matter, there is SO much to see and discover, someone mentioned some fairly obvious ones, but try Arras (a german cemetary with 44000 graves!) and a very large commonwealth one just up the road, try Albert, superb underground museum very informative and full of retrieved equiptment etc. also in Arras the tunnels under the town hall as were occupied during the war, "rue Du dragon" near laon with its dragon caves, which were occupied by english, french and german infantry throughout the war-at the same time!!!, often fighting 10 feet apart!!!, the main road out of Cambrai towards laon you will see a huge US ww1 cemetary, just after you will see a sign directing you to a museum of the great war, it is upstairs in the "village" town hall!, a private collection, all found by a farmers son who tragically was blown up by 80 year old bomb that had failed to go off!! you will meet his father who is quite rightly very proud of his late son and his VERY comprehensive collection--I could go on all day and night!!! there is so much to see and do in the area. You may have guessed I am a ww1 enthusiast and I travel to France frequently, DO try and learn some of the lingo, luckily I speak fluent French and I too have seen some ignorant rude "rosbifs" and try to avoid them.
if you need any more info let me know
cheers for now.:)

[diggerdog36]

Normandy is a must, been 3 times now!!

Point du Hoc, Arromanches Mulberry Harbour, Carentan is a nice town. St Mere Eglise. If you go to a few museums get the little card that gets you discount on the next one you visit, its well worth it.

We drove through all the little villages from Carentan, through Caen and Paris and ended up in Reims. There were bullet holes everywhere in the fountains in th town centre. Pegasus bridge is excellent too, not to be missed, and you can go for a coffee in the Gondres cafe, but make sure you save up for it!!!

[toppa]

If you get into Paris, you must visit the catacombes, the old minesd under the cuity that now contain the bones of and estimated 5.5milion peeps (or something similer) i was there in 2000 and loved it, sounds morbid, but it is more sureal than anything....

Cheers

[frenchmike]

I live just south of Carcassonne not far from the med. I have a gite business here.
Most people who come here on holiday leave this area only just having scratched the surface of things to do and see.
Even in the high summer months the roads are mostly deserted and you can easily escape the tourist throngs even on the beaches.
A great area to have a Landy especially if you want to do some camping of the beaten tracks.

[horacebat]

Well .. I also live part-time in France. The whole of the Brittany and Normandy area is awash with great places, but it really does depend on what you're after.

If its perusing the french food halls for cheese and quaffing back the wine, then this is as good an area as any .. at a reasonable price (although the Euro/Pound is taking a hammering at the moment!).

If you've just got off the ferry at Dover (or Dunkirk is only another 30 minutes), and are looking for a great campsite to stay in, I'd thoroughly recommend the area of Montreuil Sur Mer (http://www.france-for-visitors.com/north/amiens/montreuil-sur-mer.html), its in a very picturesque town with lots to see and do and really not that far ...

whatever you end up doing, good luck .. and report back on your findings!

[Gas Gas Ohlins]

Like everyone else states.....I would also try the `French` by Michel Thomas CD`s...no writing...just listen and repeat in the car when you drive to work....very soon you`ll gibber away the best...its a very good course indeed...try your local library to order them in for you or try ebay...I used this course on the months before I moved here and found it very relevant....

www.michelthomas.com and look out for his hair style...

[michaelhiggins]

Try "Saumur" in the Loire Valley it has the larges collection of tanks and military vehicles in the world.
Visited a few years back its on the outskirts among some industrial area if I rem . Very interesting

[frogflyer]

hi i run a b&b down in the limousin part of france and we have lots of people come to stay here to also see parts of ww2 historical bits.
sorry if i am repeating anything that is in previous threads, but i dont think i saw this place, i have visited it many times it is called oradour sur glane and it is a town left as it was the day the germans walked in and shot 634 people dead men,woman and children they locked the woman and children in the church and shot them all in the legs so they couldnt get away and then burnt the church down where you can still go inside today and see the massive bell on the floor melted in position and the bullet holes in the wall. in total the whole place has a really eery feel to it and well worth a visit there is also a website for it which is linked from our website have a look.

tony & lisa jones