Meander Through France To Barcelona.

[Winks]

Meander Through France To Barcelona.

I posted this in the middle of another thread and I think it got sort of lost. So here goes ...

Well, having looked at the ferry crossings to Spain and given that the Circuit du Catalunya is very near the bottom end of France I've decided to just take our time and do the long drive down from the tunnel.

I have a pal who lives here, https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/...773!4d1.052927 not too far from Limoges and would want to nip in on the way down to Barcelona. Got in excess of two weeks available for the south bound trip but need to return in about four days maximum from the circuit to Calais.

So,dear readers, any route suggestions for a meandering trip down and advice on reasonably direct route back is greatly appreciated. Don't like tolls and prefer real roads any how but I'm willing to shell out for part of the return leg in order to keep it simple. I'm thinking the northern end of the return trip might be better on toll roads.

Thank you in advance.



Cheers

H

 

[Venturerdave]

Hi
If you're visiting Limoges make sure you visit the Martyrs village at Oradour sur Glanes. It's not far away and quite a moving experience. We came back from Spain a couple of years ago and after heading across France towards Toulouse we drove north on a non toll but good road that took us very near to the village.
enjoy the trip.

 

[RoaminRog]

Lots of knowledge regarding choice of routes on here www.about-France.com

 

[RoaminRog]

Hi
If you're visiting Limoges make sure you visit the Martyrs village at Oradour sur Glanes. It's not far away and quite a moving experience. We came back from Spain a couple of years ago and after heading across France towards Toulouse we drove north on a non toll but good road that took us very near to the village.
enjoy the trip.

Good suggestion, but worth researching the story before you get there.

 

[Wooie1958]

The free aire at Oradour-sur-Glane is very quiet and peaceful but a lot of the pitches slope 2 ways so getting level can be a bit of a challenge.
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[witzend]

Oradour aire may be peaceful and quiet at times.When we visited it was over flowing with vans parking in the entrance before the toilets can't remember what time of year but not July or August. We ended up overnighting in the carpark opposite the visitor centre.

 

[Rockburner]

Doing a similar trip ourselves starting next week! Our first foray abroad. So will watch this thread with interest.

 

[Phillybarbour]

Hi
If you're visiting Limoges make sure you visit the Martyrs village at Oradour sur Glanes. It's not far away and quite a moving experience. We came back from Spain a couple of years ago and after heading across France towards Toulouse we drove north on a non toll but good road that took us very near to the village.
enjoy the trip.

we are planning to visit in late May this year.

 

[Wooie1958]

It was mid May when we went, the aire was approx half full and the weather was glorious.

We walked down to the village for opening time ( had to wait 10 minutes or so ) and were the only ones there.

The museum was very surreal with no other people in it and then walking through the village alone was a very strange experience, the silence was deafening.

Towards the end of our visit other people started arriving including a party of school children which brought us back to reality sharpish !

Highly recommended.

 

[Rockburner]

Oradour should be compulsory for all as a reminder of what can happen. I've been a few times , the new town has a couple of nice restaurants .

 

[Wooie1958]

We wandered back into the town mid afternoon because we needed some items from the mini-market there.

We couldn`t believe how many people were now there and the car parks were rammed full, so glad we visited early morning.

Definitely going back in the next year or so.

 

[alwaysared]

We visited Oradour when we went to France on the motorbike, very moving and well worth the time to visit

 

[Jo001]

We tried to visit Oradour last year but couldn't get in as dogs are not permitted - just a heads up for anyone who might be there with their dog.

 

[snapster]

We just got back from meandering around the southern part of France, there are plenty of nice places to visit on your way down, but not knowing what you like to see and do, it’s difficult to recommend places.
But, as above, Oradour is well worth a visit but can be a bit depressing.
We started our trip from Brittany and did the opposite to you, we got down there in 3 days and took nearly 3 weeks to drive back.
We kept to the west both ways taking in areas around the Loire, Vendée coast, Dordogne, midi Pyrenees, drove along some of the Gorge du Tarn, Gironde and Lot. Lots of vineyards south of Bordeaux and the countryside is beautiful.
We also stayed at Gastes near the Atlantic coast below Bordeaux, La Palmyre above Bordeaux, Piriac sur Mer and St Hilaire de Riez in the Vendée. Further down we drove across the Black Mountains from Castres and visited Carcassonne, Narbonne, Sete, Peyriac sur Mer and Perpignan.
We drove up the Pyrenees to Payolle, down some very hairy descents and through snow.
There is so much to see, it’s worth getting hold of a few books and planning your journey down. We covered almost 2000 toll free miles and missed lots of places we wanted to see but did see lots of wildlife including deer, flamingoes, storks, coypu, kites and eagles.
Next time......