For the French and Spanish Posters

[MOBIUS]

If you were to travel from say Cherbourg and wanted to travel south through inland France into Spain as far as Valencia, then across Spain via Segovia to Basque country and then back up through western France mainly close to or on the coast back up to Cherbourg...

Which would be the non-obvious attractions/restaurants/places to stay?

Main accommodation will be camping, staying with friends and the odd luxury Parador etc...

Merci Beaucoup/Muchos Gracias

[Drake Tungsten]

Three threads in a little more than an hour?

[Spiffor]

Re: For the French and Spanish Posters

Originally posted by MOBIUS
If you were to travel from say Cherbourg and wanted to travel south through inland France into Spain as far as Valencia, then across Spain via Segovia to Basque country and then back up through western France mainly close to or on the coast back up to Cherbourg...

First, as you prepare your trip, I strongly suggest you to look at maps from http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ I don't know what it's worth for other countries, but it is an absolutely excellent service in France.

I don't know those places too well, but I can think of the following:
- As you arrive to the Loire, make sure you visit some Loire palaces. My favourites are Blois and Loches, but there are plenty to choose from.
- A few kilometres south from these palaces, you have an excellent restaurant, called Dallais La Promenade in the tiny village of Le Petit Pressigny (it's so small it only appears on regional maps. Basically, it's between Grand Pressigny and Preuilly)

As you go further south, and arrive in the almost uninhabitated hills, make sure you enjoy the nature there. I've heard it's possible to do some sports on the river, but I'd advise simply to spend some quality time in a remote area
(Tourist Information, which is obviously in French only )

As you arrive near Spain, see if you can go to a feria in the local big cities: Montpellier, Narbonne, Béziers, Perpignan. Those are great parties, and they occur in August In th vicinity of Béziers, I've enjoyed walking next to the Canal Du Midi, though I'd advise you to take several bottles of water if you do it (Basically, should you make a long walk at that point, or anywhere further south, always think of taking large quantities of water with you).
Visit Carcassone, but don't eat there: the entire walled city is a tourist trap, they don't respect the customer.
I don't know if it's of interest to you, but I'll trow the info anyway: the Cap d'Agde nude beach is rumored to be basically a swindler's beach, not the usual family nude site.

I don't know anything about Spain. Back to the French basque country.

Bayonne too has a feria, which is supposedly amazing (never saw it for myself).

There are quite a few good beaches toward the north. Biscarosse is simply huge. However, it's also likely to be full-up in this season. You might want to look for less touristy beaches in the Landes (I couldn't tell you myself, however)

You might want to get a look at Bordeaux. The city-centre is clean, now that city-wide construction has occured (it was a ****ing mess at the time however). Some cool places, such as the Place de la Victoire (where students abound), the more proletarian area of St Michel, and the more Bourgeois place Gambetta are good places to go.

La Rochelle is a pleasant city. The city of Rochefort, nearby, is quite surprising: it's basically a full-fledged urbanism project that dates back to the 17th century. Quite different from council housing, but some similar concepts

I don't know what the Vendée beaches are worth, but the countryside is nice. I've spent a vacation close to Cholet when I was younger, and there were some really nice nature spots there.

While close to the Brittanny coast, make sure you buy some fish at local merchants (it's often been fished the night before), or some shellfish at the vivier, where they are kept and sold alive. St Malo is a city worth visiting, especially with its great history of sticking it up the Rosbifs

[Fake Boris]

Bayonne feria is first wednesday of August and lasts a few days. I have never met a SINGLE person who didn't tell me to go (I've only been living in Bordeaux for less than a year).

[Fake Boris]

If you're into shrooms, do some at the Pyla Dune, on the coast near Bordeaux.