Mr Moggle and I have just bought a brand new motorbike, and to celebrate we want to go on a short holiday in France - on the bike :)
We are in Oxford, so our closest port would be Portsmouth, so we're aiming for Normandy or Brittany. I'd like to try for the Loire Valley, but that might just be pushing it too far. We only have 3 days, as most of our holidays are being used up at christmas time.
Has anyone got any experience/suggestions of things to do and where to stay in this part of France? EJ was it Brittany you went on holiday to recently?
We've only driven via the Dover-Calais ferry, which is a bit further, but it means more time in France?
Moggle
This is a report on our holiday a couple of years ago in Normandy I posted on another web site. I have also done the Loire, (Last Year), and it is too far for a short break in my opinion.
Hope you find it useful.
Jerry
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Normandy
Just back from a 2 week trip by Chunnel and car to Normandy in France. We stayed at: http://boncourage.co.uk/index.htm
This is our second stay as we enjoyed our first trip last year so much.
Trip under the channel was 100% painless, everything ran to time and we were one of the first cars to be loaded so escaped the French terminal with ease. Times the run so I arrived in France with about a quarter of a tank of fuel ready to fill up on cheaper French petrol. (Note, do not use the Total petrol station right outside of the terminal, they charge about 20% extra for fuel. Supermarket petrol is the cheapest and Citie Europe is only a few miles away.)
Once I had a full tank of fuel it was off to the motorways to get down to Normandy. Again very painless, great roads well sign posted, for more about driving in France see my post here: http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=7373981
On arrival we were given a warm welcome by Judy and Steve, 2 expats that own Bon Courage. These two people are both ex school teachers and have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area and will bend over back wards to make the stay a pleasant one. They want to make you enjoy yourself. And also are not intrusive if you want time to yourself.
The gites are well appointed, the two smaller ones are really studio flats, open plan, light, airy. We squeezed into one with a 10 month old in a cot and a 5 year old on a put you up bed and still had plenty of room. All properties have French TV and the two larger also have English satellite. All have vidoes and Judy and Steve hold a selection of films, about 50, on site you can borrow free.
The grounds are huge, about 5 acres and include a swimming pool which they have now covered so it is indoors. Even if the weather is not great it is still warm and we swam most days. With the kids Judy and Steve normally organise a night time swim towards the end of your stay and the little ones love it. They also arranged a big bar-b-que one evening and a fire outside around which we sat drinking Calvados and roasting marshmallows with strawberries late into the night. Judy is also happy to baby sit should you want to escape to a restauant in the local area, more on that later.
Boncourage is set on the Bocage country of Normandy, about 7 miles from Vire, which is the nearest town of any size. Vire itself is not a pretty town as it was pretty much flattened after D-Day. The Church survives and the remains of a medieval castle. Though it has all the shopping you will need including a large Le Clerc and Intermarché supermarkets. The nearest village is Vassy. Here you will find 4 boulangeries and 3 butchers, a pharmacy, 2 doctors, newsagent and small local supermarket (expensive).
The area is full of things to do, with 2 young ones in tow we tended to do things for them:
Clecy: Pretty area in what is called Suisse Normande. The Orne river flows through the area and at Clecy you can hire pedallos and canoes to explore a stretch of the river. A number of restaurants near the bridge, some better than others.
Condie sur Noireau: Medium sized town, again a good supermarket. Just outside town on the Clecy road is the Velo Rail. An enterprising French man bought a section of old railway track, about 10 miles long. He then built small rail carts that take 4 people. 2 people relax and 2 pedal and you can travel along the line. Various stopping points for picnics. At the end of the line is a tunnel in with Himmler's train used to hide at night. Apparently he was bored looking out of the windows at the brick sides so had them painted with rural scenes!!
Montchamp St Percy: Small french village with a memorial to the French Resistance. Very simple but very touching
Bagnoles sur L'Orne: Famous spa town. Attractive walks and town. Good play ground!
Flers: Very nice good sized town, HUGE supermarket!!! Cery nice shopping and excellent playground in the grounds of the Chateau. The Chateau itself has a very good art exhibition.
Soudeval: Market town to south of Vire. Tuesday is market day and at the top of the hill is the true farmers market. Interesting to watch as sheep, calves, steers, pigs, goats, etc changing hands. Being a farmers son from England I found this fascinating, and the RSPCA would be very interested too!!!!!!
La Vallée de la Souleuvre: Stunning area for walking and for the more adventurous you can visit the old Viaduct where you can Bungy jump or take a death slide from the top. Needless to say I did not attempt either being content to watch the nutters who did!!! Also quad bikes and buggies for the little ones to try their hands at.
The Enchanted Village: near Soudeval: Set in a quiet valley a small “theme park†for under 7's. Small houses set amongst the woods depicting fairly tails etc. Small train ride (Not worth the 1.5 euro extra) Small petting zoo. Adventure play ground and puppet theatre, (all in French so not great for the kiddies)
Normandy Beaches: Amazing sites to see, Pegasus Bridge museum up dated since my last trip and very very good. Arramanche also very interesting. The Cemeteries are always moving though I found the small Jerusalem Cemetery especially so. Only 30 graves but immaculate. Small book detailing all the deceased. If you visit more than one museum hang onto you ticket as it gives you a reduced rates in the next museum. Also note that the sea path around Pointe de Hoc has collapsed so the area is not as accessible now.
Bayeaux: Nice town to walk around, good D Day museum also. The tapestry is a must to see but it is not suited to small children. They become rapidly bored!!
There are also many more sites to see. We went to a number of small markets and wanders around villages. There are also a number of theme parkes in the area for larger kids, Festy Land at Caen being the largest.
Eating out is great in the area, Vire is famous for a Blood Sausage, very nice too! Being in Calvados apples feature in the menu a great deal.
In Vire itself there is the Robbery, it lives upto it's name!!!! Not worth the visit. Also Hotel Normandy. Not bad but service awful.
Just south of vire in the village of St Germaine de Tallevand there is the Auberge St Germaine. This is a wonderful small restaurant. The food is wonderful!!!!! I think I have been there 6 or 7 times over 2 years now. You have to order the Calvados Tarte au Pomme when you order your main course as it is cooked to order. Heaven!
In Vassy there is Chez Nous. Simple cheap food in a nice setting.
In Condie sur Noireau, The Unicorn. Creperie/Bistro. Very popular with locals for Lunch. The Normandy Veal is to die for!
Other than that simply grab a stick of bread and some local cheese and wash it down with some wine. Lovely!
All in all it is an area of France I love. The people of very open. Lots of history to absorb and plenty to do.
Jerry
Yup Moggle, southern Britanny for us. Was glorious, but a good 7 hours by car once we were in Calais. Mind you, ahem......would have probably only taken us 5 hours on the bike....ahem. We have never been over the pond on the bike yet - would love to but do you have any idea how much it costs to bribe our parents to babysit overnite!
So, have both of you got a bike, or just Mr Moggle? And what type of machine are you whizzing about on?? We are off to see the folks in Devon at the end of August on the bike, can't wait, altho my nan is worrying and having sleepless nights already! ;D
Go for Normandy! Got back from visiting family on Thursday having crossed at Portsmouth and want to go straight back!
Loads of things to do, from zoos, stately homes, street markets, cute bars, brillient food, visit Mont st Michael, war graves, cidar farms, vineyards the list goes on.....
Even mundane things like supermarkets are a revolation food you never see here-strange giant black raddish, loads of artichokes and a multitude of other veg I don't even know the names of.
A tip for the ferry-it is a long crossing from Portsmouth and they will give you free cups of boiling water in the bar so take your own tea, milk and suger then you won't be stung for drinks all the way over! If you are going with P&O they were doing a very nice carvery dinner for £6.95 last week with a free pud which was well worth having and took a chunk out the journey.
have fun whereever you decide to go I know you will love it as its a bikers paradise-long clear roads with little traffic and folks who give bikes space when passing.
Sanders, thanks for all that, sounds fantastic. I'll definitely keep it in mind, although there were no prices on that web site, and it looks like it might be a bit pricey for us. Scungy B&B will do, as finances aren't that flush while we kit ourselves out again (been without a bike for at least 2 years). Lots of ideas of things to do though, however I think we will be giving the kiddie ones a miss :) I want to see a chateau or two and find somewhere do to some landscape sketching.
EJ, it's just Mr M that has the bike. Have to say I was never interested in bikes until I met him, but now I love getting out and about on it. When we first started going out, we used to race around on a Kawasaki GPZ550, which was great. Now we have a brand spanking new Suzuki SV650S in royal blue, and it is gorgeous ;D I'll post a photo as soon as we've got all the matching kit sorted out. Have already planned a weekend trip to South Devon in a couple of weeks, but I'm determined to get another trip in before the weather gets dodgy.
Jo2, thanks for your tips. Where did you stay in Normandy? Which port did you sail in to? Any tips on the good stately homes/chateaus to see? I know what you mean about the supermarkets - one of my favourite parts of going to other countries. I'm quite tempted by St Malo at the moment, but could easily decide on somewhere else, if i keep getting great suggestions.
Moggle, I went via cherbourge(not a very thrilling place but handy) and I stayed with my parents in a little village outside Villedieu les Poeles so can't help there! Villedieu les Poeles (hope I've got the spelling right) is very nice little market town the name means Gods Frying Pan and they specialise in all things made of copper and Pewter. Very good market on a Tuesday morning(everything from sofas to live chickens to black raddish!) Don't bother with it on a Sunday or Monday night as it tends to shut(as does a lot of rural France) Tourist information there (you can't miss it right in centre)keep a list of places with vacancys-ranging from cheap to frightening. there are cidar farms nearby to visit, bell foundarys, beaches within riding range, a zoo, swimming pool, fishing, loads of museums restaurents, nice walks etc. Camp site there is excellent if you fancy camping-in the middle of town with very good facilities cute little hedges arround the pitches and then you can just stroll off to the bars of an evening.
If you go to the P&O website they have loads of info on places to go, things to see and places to stay. have fun
Excellent Moggle. Ava and I are off to North Devon in a couple of weeks for a weekend biking. Maybe our paths will cross. ;D I am the same as you, never into bikes, until Ava did his test, then I had to have a go so I did my 125 test, and adored it, but due to finances and kids, that is as far as my road abuse went. Maybe in a few years I will do my big test and get a bike of my own, however, I love being pillion and whipping around the country.