Our 2024 Road Trip Provence, Camargue and Côte d'Azur
Discussion
When I've posted this sort of stuff before some people have found it informative, so I'll give it another go.
My first advice is don't start from Nottingham!
Somebody has decided to make Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire & Essex pretty much one continuous roadwork. The slog down to the tunnel was the worst part of the trip by far.
We took Mrs 2SB's VW Golf GTD as it's capacious enough for her luggage and my pants, small enough to cope with some skinny roads, comfortable, can go nearly 600 miles without fuel stops and has a bit of go.
Our first stop in France was our new "go to": https://www.loisium.com/en/champagne/ . Just three hours from the tunnel, about 190 miles. Its setting is stunning:
As this is a car site I'll zone in on the parking. It's open air with 21st century car size spaces. There are charging points & I'd (generally) say there is more than ample quantity of spaces. I'll come back to this later.
My first advice is don't start from Nottingham!
Somebody has decided to make Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire & Essex pretty much one continuous roadwork. The slog down to the tunnel was the worst part of the trip by far.We took Mrs 2SB's VW Golf GTD as it's capacious enough for her luggage and my pants, small enough to cope with some skinny roads, comfortable, can go nearly 600 miles without fuel stops and has a bit of go.
Our first stop in France was our new "go to": https://www.loisium.com/en/champagne/ . Just three hours from the tunnel, about 190 miles. Its setting is stunning:
As this is a car site I'll zone in on the parking. It's open air with 21st century car size spaces. There are charging points & I'd (generally) say there is more than ample quantity of spaces. I'll come back to this later.
Next day we blasted down to St Remy in Provence for three nights.
We have stayed here a couple of times before, but not for five years or so: https://www.masdescarassins.com/
It's maybe due for a bit of a makeover, but we absolutely love it. It's a cracking spot to visit Roman Glanum, St Remy itself, which is really pretty & trekking up to the Alpilles.
We have stayed here a couple of times before, but not for five years or so: https://www.masdescarassins.com/
It's maybe due for a bit of a makeover, but we absolutely love it. It's a cracking spot to visit Roman Glanum, St Remy itself, which is really pretty & trekking up to the Alpilles.
Aah interested in this, I've visited and driven to many places along the South of France from Montpellier to Monte Carlo by car, my parents had an apartment near Le Grau Du Roi (on the edge of the Camargue) and we are heading down to Port Grimaud near St Tropez again this summer with the family in the car Last year we stayed near Antibes, and Cassis, the previosu year it was Le Lavandou.
We always try and mix up our stops up on the way, or way back (if we do indeed stop), we usually try and get further than Champagne on the way down as our hop to Folkestone is only 1.5hrs so we can get further than Dijon easily by early afternoon. We're stopping at the foot of the Ventoux this summer at Malaucene, and Beaune on the way back.
Looking forward to see where you visit and your experiences!
We always try and mix up our stops up on the way, or way back (if we do indeed stop), we usually try and get further than Champagne on the way down as our hop to Folkestone is only 1.5hrs so we can get further than Dijon easily by early afternoon. We're stopping at the foot of the Ventoux this summer at Malaucene, and Beaune on the way back.
Looking forward to see where you visit and your experiences!
After three days we leisurely drove here:
https://www.plagepalace.com/en
En route we visited
Seeing that sky reminds me why we generally go this time of year. Other than at Pont du Gard the weather was as we love it. Not too hot at 22-23 degrees, empty French motorways and service stations & generally speaking all the staff in restaurants etc are more perky as the stress is off.
We had two nights there, and whilst it was very nice I wouldn't rush back. We had a bit of a kerfuffle around VPNs and there was no draft beer (I'm a proper redneck)
https://www.plagepalace.com/en
En route we visited
Seeing that sky reminds me why we generally go this time of year. Other than at Pont du Gard the weather was as we love it. Not too hot at 22-23 degrees, empty French motorways and service stations & generally speaking all the staff in restaurants etc are more perky as the stress is off.
We had two nights there, and whilst it was very nice I wouldn't rush back. We had a bit of a kerfuffle around VPNs and there was no draft beer (I'm a proper redneck
)Edited by 2 sMoKiN bArReLs on Wednesday 5th June 15:45
prand said:
Aah interested in this, I've visited and driven to many places along the South of France from Montpellier to Monte Carlo by car, my parents had an apartment near Le Grau Du Roi (on the edge of the Camargue) and we are heading down to Port Grimaud near St Tropez again this summer with the family in the car Last year we stayed near Antibes, and Cassis, the previosu year it was Le Lavandou.
We always try and mix up our stops up on the way, or way back (if we do indeed stop), we usually try and get further than Champagne on the way down as our hop to Folkestone is only 1.5hrs so we can get further than Dijon easily by early afternoon. We're stopping at the foot of the Ventoux this summer at Malaucene, and Beaune on the way back.
Looking forward to see where you visit and your experiences!
We always try and mix up our stops up on the way, or way back (if we do indeed stop), we usually try and get further than Champagne on the way down as our hop to Folkestone is only 1.5hrs so we can get further than Dijon easily by early afternoon. We're stopping at the foot of the Ventoux this summer at Malaucene, and Beaune on the way back.
Looking forward to see where you visit and your experiences!
enjoy.Cassis was in last years' write up & Beaune will feature later.
Plage Palace was valet parking. I don't really get on with that, but I know that's me & I'm a bit odd. (Not just because I like to park myself, but invariably we need to get something else from the car & it's a bit of a faff.
By the way. Always take two car keys away with you. Not just in case you lose one, but also to cover valet parking etc. (If you know where the car is you can let yourself in and out at will)
By the way. Always take two car keys away with you. Not just in case you lose one, but also to cover valet parking etc. (If you know where the car is you can let yourself in and out at will)
I Need to look at your posts then and compare trips!
Last year was a great trip, to Chamonix, then to piedmont in n Italy then down to the coast along to Monaco, antibes, Cassis, Marseilles and back via Dijon.
I ought to write some of these trips up as I always enjoy reading others on here!
Good to see some familiar places you went to.
Last year was a great trip, to Chamonix, then to piedmont in n Italy then down to the coast along to Monaco, antibes, Cassis, Marseilles and back via Dijon.
I ought to write some of these trips up as I always enjoy reading others on here!
Good to see some familiar places you went to.
After two nights at Plage Palace we took a hop skip & a jump (via a day trip to Sète) to Aigues-Mortes.
We had three nights here: https://www.remparts-aiguesmortes.fr/en/aigues-mor...
This is THE most fabulous hotel.
We'd been to Aigues-Mortes before, but only as a day tripper....which seems commonplace. The town was rammed during the day (bearing in mind it's off season), but come 6pm we had the choice of any restaurant in the town.
We had three nights here: https://www.remparts-aiguesmortes.fr/en/aigues-mor...
This is THE most fabulous hotel.
We'd been to Aigues-Mortes before, but only as a day tripper....which seems commonplace. The town was rammed during the day (bearing in mind it's off season), but come 6pm we had the choice of any restaurant in the town.
Next we had four nights here: https://www.hotel-juana.com/en/
I'd never been to Juan-les-Pins before, so I don't know what I was expecting. In my mind if it was good enough for Marie-Claire either with or without her lowly born tags (you'll need to be a certain age to get that) it'd be good enough for me.
I was completely underwhelmed when we arrived, it made me think of Stevenage by the sea.
But! We had a beer by the sea, then discovered Antibes next door which was lovely.
We did several outings, including a short train trip to Cannes where it was the last day of the festival. Tip: use the Trainline app to buy your tickets. It costs a few pence more but is so easy & tells you the platform to head for etc.
I'd never been to Juan-les-Pins before, so I don't know what I was expecting. In my mind if it was good enough for Marie-Claire either with or without her lowly born tags (you'll need to be a certain age to get that
) it'd be good enough for me.I was completely underwhelmed when we arrived, it made me think of Stevenage by the sea.
But! We had a beer by the sea, then discovered Antibes next door which was lovely.
We did several outings, including a short train trip to Cannes where it was the last day of the festival. Tip: use the Trainline app to buy your tickets. It costs a few pence more but is so easy & tells you the platform to head for etc.
Thinking about it, the Remparts hotel was so magic most anything that followed was going to be like "after the Lord Mayor's show".
The hotel at Juana parked our car (at extra cost) in a two bay garage at the back.
Hotel Juana was nice enough in an old school type of way. We did have a great time, but if I were to go back I'd 100% stay around the corner in Antibes.
The hotel at Juana parked our car (at extra cost) in a two bay garage at the back.
Hotel Juana was nice enough in an old school type of way. We did have a great time, but if I were to go back I'd 100% stay around the corner in Antibes.
Next we had five nights here: https://www.welcomehotel.com/en/
We've been here loads & save this towards the end of the holiday as it's our banker.
I don't know why we love Villefranche so much, but we do.
This is our tenth visit in the last quarter of a century.
We did take a short train trip to Nice, but mostly spent our time in and around Villefranche.
This is a short walk around the bay
https://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en
We've been here loads & save this towards the end of the holiday as it's our banker.
I don't know why we love Villefranche so much, but we do.
This is our tenth visit in the last quarter of a century.
We did take a short train trip to Nice, but mostly spent our time in and around Villefranche.
This is a short walk around the bay
https://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en
Parking is the one thing we've been very lazy with. The hotel will park for you, but we like to use the eye wateringly expensive public car park opposite. (I don't know why, other than easy access).
Unusually we didn't take the car out at all during our five day stay. This meant that when we presented our ticket at the machine the bill was 253 euros.
Unknown to us the machine will not allow payments over 200 euros, so didn't understand why every card we tried to pay with was refused.
We were just scratching our heads when a voice came out of the machine explaining our predicament. We had to go to an ATM and pay the man on a scooter who rocked up to save the day.
We must be the most honest (or stupid) people on the planet, as a "lost ticket" incurs a fee of just 53 euros.
Unusually we didn't take the car out at all during our five day stay. This meant that when we presented our ticket at the machine the bill was 253 euros
.Unknown to us the machine will not allow payments over 200 euros, so didn't understand why every card we tried to pay with was refused.
We were just scratching our heads when a voice came out of the machine explaining our predicament. We had to go to an ATM and pay the man on a scooter who rocked up to save the day.
We must be the most honest (or stupid) people on the planet, as a "lost ticket" incurs a fee of just 53 euros.
We are always so sad when we leave Villefranche. Not just leaving the place we love, but it usually signals the closing stages of our trip.
Next we headed north & had two nights here: https://all.accor.com/hotel/1217/index.en.shtml
It's a unremarkable commercial type hotel, but was really rather good. Very comfortable & just a ten minute walk to the heart of the old town.
We didn't know, but Beaune has carved out a reputation as a classic car destination. The hotel had cordoned off one edge of the car park to allow a group of classics to park together.
Parking was ample, free & at night gated.
As we strolled towards town we counted 24 very noisy pre war Bugattis roaring through the town!
Beaune is a pretty walled town & we really liked it.
Next we headed north & had two nights here: https://all.accor.com/hotel/1217/index.en.shtml
It's a unremarkable commercial type hotel, but was really rather good. Very comfortable & just a ten minute walk to the heart of the old town.
We didn't know, but Beaune has carved out a reputation as a classic car destination. The hotel had cordoned off one edge of the car park to allow a group of classics to park together.
Parking was ample, free & at night gated.
As we strolled towards town we counted 24 very noisy pre war Bugattis roaring through the town!
Beaune is a pretty walled town & we really liked it.
And finally...
...back to Loisium.
In my first post I said the parking was ample.........which it mostly is (less than half full when we've been previously).
This time the top third was being used for a motorcaravan sales conference, and the Aston Martin Owners' Club of Belgium were present. This meant parking was busy, and really annoyed a Tesla driver from Denmark who blocked off fossil fuel cars parked at the charge points
Would be more space if the Belgians could park tidily
...back to Loisium.
In my first post I said the parking was ample.........which it mostly is (less than half full when we've been previously).
This time the top third was being used for a motorcaravan sales conference, and the Aston Martin Owners' Club of Belgium were present. This meant parking was busy, and really annoyed a Tesla driver from Denmark who blocked off fossil fuel cars parked at the charge points
Would be more space if the Belgians could park tidily
Brilliant write up! Villlefranche is one of the few places I've not visited, for rock history purposes I've always wanted to go and squint through the bars of Villa Nell Cote where the Stones stayed in 1971.
Aigues Mortes is an interesting one, I first went there as a youngster in about 1986, it was not that well developed or well known at all, but over the years has turned into a great attraction and destination.
Can't wait for our day/night in Beaune, looks great.
You've inspired me to put some pics and description down after our trip this year, I can see people appreciate them. I think I'm a bit overwhelmed by the depth, quality, humour and humanity of br d's summer experiences and trips away in his supercars, I don't think I can compete!! (Hopefully his next edition is pending...)
Aigues Mortes is an interesting one, I first went there as a youngster in about 1986, it was not that well developed or well known at all, but over the years has turned into a great attraction and destination.
Can't wait for our day/night in Beaune, looks great.
You've inspired me to put some pics and description down after our trip this year, I can see people appreciate them. I think I'm a bit overwhelmed by the depth, quality, humour and humanity of br d's summer experiences and trips away in his supercars, I don't think I can compete!! (Hopefully his next edition is pending...)
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