Triumphrat

Two Tigers

Now the weather is warming up, I am starting to plan this years invasion of Europe. So far 6 of us are going to head for the south of France and Andorra for 3 weeks.
No sports bikes allowed, only big trallies (this way I am in front on the Tiger!!)

As mentioned in previous threads many have travelled this path before, but, do any of you have Must/Must'nt visit places in that bottom 1/3 of France ?

The Millau bridge has got to be one, The Pic de Noire another, but any other offers.

Are there any bike loving hotels out there, It would make a nice change to stay with real people rather than any of the accor hotels.

Any ideas would be most welcome.

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Pickaxe

The Millau Bridge is a bit of an anti climax.

triple3john

I can recommend the Hotel Colombet in Nyons.Built in 1736 and still owned by the same family.Also has a garage area to park.From memory a room is about £75 per night.Also has a good restaurant and friendly staff. The roads from Nyons to the Alps (say Gap) are unbelievable,combining empty windy roads with stunning scenery on the way to the Alps. But as you are going to the Pyrenees I don't know whether it suits. To be honest everywhere in this region is bike friendly compared to UK so all I would suggest is find local family hotels rather than the efficient but impersonal chain hotels (Ibis etc,which are perfectly good but no character).

HeavyDuty

Some of the best cruising I ever did- place is amazing.

Millau is great, nice campground just off to the side of the bridge.

St Tropez, but stay at the camping in Pampelonne Plage, not in town, its out by Ramatuelle.

Ste Marie de La Mer, by the Camargue.

Marseillan Plage, just between L'Cap D'Agde and Sete....

I'll be heading there with a 1954 Airstream in tow in 3 months time. Love it there, enjoy it.

ruscook

Have a look at Carcassonne a medieval walled city in s/west France, about 100k from the Spanish border. Not sure of the region, but the one just east of it is Languedoc.

Russ

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John Stenhouse

Gorge du Verdon, it's between Aix and Cannes but a bit inland. The road through it is the D952. Fabulous scenery and an amazing road.

Don't know if you saw the Top Gear where Clakson raced two rock climbers up a mountain then down again in the Audi RS4, that was filmed in the gorge.

Then on your way to the Pyrenees, check out Montpellier, great Roman city, Cap D'agde, largest nudist beach in Europe, you know it makes sense, and Carcasonne, which is fabulous.

HeavyDuty

There is a place in Mirepoix, near Carcassonne- great with the bikes, its all Airstreams, listed in the worlds most unusual hotel guide. Really cool. I camp in Airstreams, collect them, and go there every year. I have 30 of them, from 1930's to 1960's, from 16' to 45' and all made from Aircraft aluminum, beautiful stuff, and in this setting where they are- c'est magnifique!

www.airstreameurope.com

Perry and Coline, awesome folks... check it out.

Jacqueslemac

My mum had a house in the Montagne Noire, just north of Carcassonne, for most of the 1990s, so I toured the area a fair bit.

If you're over that way (i.e. south-west), there are lots of Cathar castle well worth a trip, plus various gorges on the way into the Pyrenees.

If you do visit La Cité in Carcassonne, do it in the evening. It's jam-packed during daytime.

South of Millau try to find la Couvertoirade (unsure of exact spelling), a pilgrim's staging post that was all but abandoned and is now being gradually restored. The tracks in that area look fantastic and is where some of the Dakar drivers and riders train.

I'm jealous!

Two Tigers

Thanks for the great ideas, with your info I have managed to find most of the places on the WWW and plot them in the GPS.

But no one has mentioned Andorra yet, the roads look great on a map, but does anyone know if they are full of coachs at this time of year.

Not much point of doing the mountain roads if you are all stuck behind coaches or caravans with no places to overtake!!

__________________
When you walk a mile in another man's shoes ... you're a mile away from him - and you've still got his shoes !

Jacqueslemac

The last time I tried to get there (by car) via Pas de la Casa, I gave up because of the queues, after about an hour stuck in an endless tailback.

The time before the clouds were really low, so it was just fog and snow - and shops.

The time before that there was still snow on the high roads, but to be honest, unless you really want cheap electrical equipment, it's not worth bothering with Andorra. There are plenty of other roads in the area to choose from.

I just wanted to go there so I could get the "AND" sticker to add to my collection!