Help needed with road trip in North Spain West France

[therolfie]

Dear all heading off to Santander to make road trip East into France & then up the West coast in our +2 as our honeymoon. Need some help with good places to stay, hotels, b&b's & campsites. Any suggestions welcome, we have a campsite booked for a week north of La Rochelle & have two other weeks to fill, we want to stay near the coast where possible. Thanks )

[elanfan1]

Our very own TerryP runs gites near Crazannes, it's not near the coast but he does have some Lotus meets hosted there. You might be lucky and get to meet up with some fellow owners whilst there. The website is something like:

www.frenchruralcottages.com

We spent our 3 week honeymoon in France 24 years ago now. We spent a week in St John de monts but found there wasn't much to do there apart from beaches. A bit further up the coast was Vannes which had some festivals on and is a medieval walled city so quite nice to visit/explore. We managed to see a Genesis concert in Paris, maybe worth checking if any bands you like are on tour anywhere nearby whilst you're there.

[therolfie]

Thanks for the help, they both look nice & we may stop off on route. Found a campsite near Vannes that looks good for a night. Then onto Roscoff from there for the smooth crossing back to home. )

[Almondgreen]

You HAVE to stop at La Rochelle, which is a very nice city. And a night in Noirmoutier is a must, it's nicer than Saint Jean de Monts (in my opinion), and more romantic. But beware, the traffic could be heavy at these times of the year, this region is very popular.

[elanfan1]

Can't remember which city it is on that bit of coast that has a huge arched bridge over a navigable river - the toll was eye watering back then. Les Sables d'Olonnes is nice. A day at Futuroscope just north of Poitiers is fascinating and fun check out their website - it is very French orientated but many of the attractions have headphones with English commentary/instructions. Very weird modernistic buildings.

Last time I went to France I found it very handy to take a card that was preloaded with Euros -it worked in many of the tolls but not all and better than getting charged exchange rates on your debit cards etc. Mine was free from the Halifax but things may have changed now.

Camping on your honeymoon? Isn't your back going to be bad enough?

[alan.barker]

A nice visit is the "Golfe du Morbihan", "Saint Cado", "Port Louis + museum Compagnie des Indes", "B?nodet", "Douarnenez". There's lots to see.
Alan

[SADLOTUS]

Hi,

last year my daughter and I went on a good the Bad and the Ugly tour of Spain via France. Had a great time.

In North West Spain near Santo Domingo de Silos is Sad Hill Cemetery, scene of the big shoot out
It took a bit of exploring to find it but I think that's because the stuff on the web is a bit vague.
Took about two hours to walk from the town to the cemetery..... after we'd driven half a mile up a rough rocky track in the Elan!
A fabulous town with an abbey, The Hotel where we stayed: Hotel Arco San Juan de Silos was fab.

ps the car was loved everywhere and Spain seemed empty. Went all the way to Almeria and back up to UK.
Great trip.

[terryp]

Our very own TerryP runs gites near Crazannes, it's not near the coast but he does have some Lotus meets hosted there. You might be lucky and get to meet up with some fellow owners whilst there. The website is something like:

http://www.frenchruralcottages.com

Thanks for the plug Steve, yes we are here and depending on when you are passing we may have availability ..... or just a Lotus chat!

Terry

[S3FHC]

I have just returned from a trip to Spain/France (on a motorcycle) taking the ferry to Santander from Plymouth and then riding through the Picos and the Pyrenees. I stayed at the Ibis hotel in La Rochelle for a couple of nights - they have a secure garage which may be a good idea if you felt uneasy about leaving the Elan outside in a busy town?
Have a great trip!


Mark

[therolfie]

Thanks for all the replies, we have now planned out a route & are now looking to book some accomadation. Looking for a hotel/bb in Santander, then on to San sabastian via the coast, so would like some where to camp or bb again. The tail end of the trip North of La Rochelle we think we have organised now, then it's just the middle bit from Royan down. All good fun. Thanks again

[therolfie]

Hi all well just got back from our 1350 mile, three week honeymoon & it was awesome, if a little smelly at time! Not sure how many accidents we caused due to people rubber necking as we went past. I have now got to right up an article for the club mag & maybe for here? Car was great & best bit of kit was my named air con mister (trigger water spray bottle) very good in high temp. When parked one day the outside temp gauge read 48oc! Wish I knew how to post pics! Thanks for all help with route & getting the car going )