We left Lyon during the last week of May and headed north in our Kia car. By the time we left Lyon (a year after it was delivered to us in Lyon), our Kia car had 15,418 km on it! We slowly drove north to Normandy, first through the Burgundy wine country. We must have been some of the only tourists meandering through Burgundy who didn't drink wine!
Our first stop was in Puligny Montrachet (a wine which we had drunk a lot of before 2022 when we stopped drinking). We liked where we stayed at Como Le Montrachet. We ate well and had a wonderful e-bike ride on a veloroute et Voie Verte from Puligny-Montrachet to Santenay, where we had lunch at a place in town with other bikers. Dimitri had been wanting to test out his hip on a bike, and this is where we were first able to do that. He was very happy and did not suffer the next day!
For us, our accommodations are almost as important as the food in the restaurants where we eat. We really hated our second stop at Auberge des Templiers. It was part of the Relais & Châteaux group and had a supposedly 1 Michelin star restaurant there. It did not deserve to be mentioned in those guides. One night was enough, and off we went to our third stop.
We loved Les Hauts de Loire and wished we could have stayed there longer. Sadly, our suite reservation could not be extended. Not only was our suite very much to our liking, but the food there was delicious. And a remarkable thing happened at Les Hauts de Loire. A fellow resident of the Four Seasons Vail recognized us in the lobby. Two couples who own apartments in Vail were staying at the hotel! It was amazing and a truly fun encounter.
Moving north slowly, our next stay was at Manoir du Lys. We didn't like our suite, but we had a great bike ride on the Bagnoles de l'Orne along Velo Rail on Route Forestière de Saint Ortaire/ Vois Verte Vélo Bocage. Another bike ride without Dimitri suffering the next day. We called that a great success! We are very glad that we found the Vois Vert system in France. It was a fantastic network of biking trails.
All along the way we ate very well following the advice of Michelin and of Gault & Millau. French food, even when it is simple, is delicious. The sauces are exactly what sauces should be, and Audre was impressed repeatedly!
And then we got to Étretat in Normandy (and we started eating oysters in the exquisite, prototypical, Norman town called Honfleur). The coastline was just as magnificent as advertised and so were the oysters! In Honfleur we also ate a famous crépe with apples and calvadoes and malaga (rum raisin) ice cream at Aristochoche creperie Hamelin. Wow, was that good!
In Étretat, we stayed at a hotel where we had our own private Jacuzzi with a fantastic coastline view. The room was minuscule, but the view and the Jacuzzi were great.
We had been worried about cloudy, rainy weather in Normandy and Brittany. We weren't bothered by that, although we did have grey days. The temperatures stayed comfortable for most of June too--until the heat dome--canicule--arrived in Brittany in July.
We were underwhelmed by Trouville and Deauville, just next door. We walked the famous Promenade sur Les Planches boardwalk in Deauville, and we did something unusual for us. We went to an international horse jumping competition at Pôle International du Cheval Longines-Deauville, and we were entertained. We talked to a couple from Australia who bring their horses (and their children who compete) to Europe every year and make a circuit of the competitions. Amazing!
We had one super duper dinner in Deauville at Drakkar. We shared everything and had the ris de veau rissole that were seared crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. They were served in a copper sauté pan with a divine cream, morilles, white wine, and shallot sauce. For dessert we decided to have the mousse au chocolat. It came in a salad bowl and was such rich dark chocolate we could only eat a little. We took most of it with us and Audre ate a little each day for weeks!
In 1999 we had a perfect omelette in Le Mont Saint-Michel at Le Mere Poulard. Ever since, all omelettes are judged against our memory of that one. We decided not to return to have an omelette at Le Mere Poulard in 2026. The TripAdvisor reviews were bad, and we didn't want to destroy our memory.
After Deauville, we stayed at a magnificent château called Château d'Audrieu. For us, the grandeur of this hotel was limited to the façade, the grounds and the casual restaurant, La Table du 1715.
Nothing on the website, our confirmation or elsewhere prepared us for our garret suite in the eaves at US$1000 a day, with a two story climb to get there. What if Dimitri, after his hip replacement, had not been able to climb up there?
We had a wonderful stay in Saint Malo at Le Grand Hotel des Thermes. Our suite, and its beautiful view of La Manche (aka The English Channel), was perfect for us. The staff brought us flowers and fruit and personalized the room very well. The hotel had e-bikes that we used for a great bike ride along the coast. This is where we rode 29 km round trip from Saint Malo to Cancale (our longest ride since Dimitri's hip replacement). Cancale is famous for oysters, and we had an al fresco lunch by the outdoor oyster market. It was really fun talking to fellow oyster-eaters. Dimitri and his hip were not unhappy the next day. Yipee!
During WWII, Saint Malo was destroyed. It was reconstructed, brick-by-brick, into a picturesque replica. Very impressive.
In Saint Malo, we had a perfect 1 Michelin star meal at Le Saint-Placide. We like to share one entrée, one plat and one dessert. The server graciously said we could, and so we looked at the à la carte menu. When we didn’t see oysters from de la Famille Boutrais (in Cancale) with Granité glacé au vieux Xérès (they appeared in the fixed menu but not in the à-la-carte menu), we asked if we could have some. Of course, our server said. For our plat, we shared the homard, and the lobster was cooked à la vapeur perfectly and in a delicious sauce.
One of Dimitri's quests is to find baba au rhum that he likes. We had that for dessert at Le Saint-Placide, and it was wonderful. What a great meal!
We crept our way to the Rose Granite Coast and stayed in a very nice hotel in a cramped suite. Sometimes, the people and the place can make up for rooms that we don't like. Ti al lannec was one of those hotels. Wallid at the front desk was wonderful to us, and we enjoyed chatting with him in Arabic. Actually, all of the staff were welcoming, personable, and professional. We rented bikes in the little town of Trébeurden and cycled 22 km to Pointe Bihit and to Pos Mabo. Again, Dimitri and his hip suffered no ill after-effects. We had one really good meal in Trébeurden at La Tourelle. We had our first Breton clams there, and they were served farcie--with breading on top. They were good.
Our next stop was in Quiberon where we stayed at a Sofitel. We were there during a canicule and it was really hot. We didn't go biking or walking--it was just too hot. Our suite was air-conditioned (sort of), and we hung out. One day we took a kind of long drive to Ty Huitres where we sat by the water under an umbrella and ate oysters. Then we ate the perfect crab. The heat didn't bother us when we were eating that crab!
During most of our stay in Brittany, we were spared the canicule that was in Europe in June. Then the heat dome descended and included Brittany. At this point in Brittany, we were having great problems in booking our accommodations--everyplace we wanted was full. We didn't even get to the Finistere region--there was no hotel that we wanted to stay at that had availability. More than that, we had a favorite hotel from 1999 in Brittany where we wanted to stay again. No luck, no availability. Chatgpt told us to go south and inland to avoid the crowds, so we left Brittany and off we went to the Loire-Atlantique. So we braved the canicule and found accommodations south and inland.
Our first accommodation in Loire-Atlantique was not ideal for us. The Domaine de la Bretesche was a Relais & Châteaux in Missillac and each day we were brought a large plate of fruit that we really enjoyed. We even used our garden for lunch one day. We liked all of the attention we were given even if the accommodations were not to our liking.
Our next stay in the Loire-Atlantique at the Château de Maubreuil was not at all to our liking, we even disliked the breakfast. We needed help from technicians and housekeeping until M Philppe Rousse, the owner and general manager, came to introduce himself (and, we thought, to find out who these demanding guests were).
We liked the accommodation of our next stay in the Deux-Sèvres countryside at Alexandra Palace - La Maison Younan (Le Petit Chêne , 79310 Mazières-en-Gâtine).
Pierre, at reception, was perfect and made our stay a delight. The owner, Zaya Younan, was a Iranian immigrant to US who was a real estate developer in LA until he started buying and renovating châteaux in France. Recently constructed from the ground up, Alexandra Palace and our 50 m² suite dazzled us with its opulence. The Michelin Guide described our suite as "full Versailles using gilt-edged chairs and brocade upholstery in cobalt and gold." Then, of course, we found the problems--like the wi fi and the air conditioning could not keep up with the canicule.
Céline at reception told us about a Voie Verte path from Parthenay towards Bressuire. We were able to rent e-bikes in Parthenay and ride about 30 km along the Voie Verte. There were lots of trees and shade; the path was a good surface for us too (once we got to it in 5 km). The only problem was that there were no services at all along the path. There was a Halte Randonneur near Férery where we stopped, ate fruit and nuts that we carried with us at the picnic table and replenished our water. Again, Dimitri was happy with his new hip and its performance.
We had an amazing stay in Bordeaux at Hotel Le Palais Gallien (144 Rue Abbé de l'Épée, Bordeaux). We were given a complimentary upgrade from Suite Montaigne with a private Jacuzzi, 50 m² (1710 € /2=855€ with breakfast) to the Suite Montesquieu, the Royal Suite! Dimitri (really, that was his name) from reception telephoned us as we were driving to Le Palais Gallien to ask us if it would be okay to upgrade us. We wouldn’t have a private Jacuzzi he said but we would increase our m² from 50 to 100, gain a second bathroom, a kitchen and a cinema room with a popcorn machine. Of course we said “yes, please.” This is the first time in our 20+ years of traveling full time around the world that this has happened--totally unexpected!
We really enjoyed the Suite Montesquieu, particularly having the
cinema room with two recliners to watch one of our movies, with popcorn. The
kitchen was an added benefit and we really liked having two complete bathrooms.
Audre particularly enjoyed the décor, the flowers and the fruit that were left
for us. The wine cellar and liquor cabinet were of no use to us because we quit
drinking.
Our welcome was friendly and good; the valet took the car and delivered our luggage to the suite. The bedroom area was large and comfortable and we could leave our suitcases open for our two-day stay. The air conditioning in the suite could not keep it cool during the canicule but the bedroom room did get cool enough for sleeping.
Breakfast was good; we sat inside and,
when it was not busy, service was good. It was a great stay and we recommend
this hotel. We were sorry we could not stay longer!
We had chores to do in Bordeaux (Dimitri needed to have a crown fixed and to have a haircut) and we had two very good meals: one Indian and a really good Chinese duck meal at Quanjude. Then we were off to our next stop on our road trip.
We do not have much good to say about our 10-day stay at Les Prés d’Eugénie, Place de l'impératrice, Eugenie-les-Bains 40320. Our Royal Suite costing over US$1200 a day was not comfortable and grossly over-priced. One good thing was that we arranged to have cuisine minceur dinners at the L’Orangerie (3 courses for 65€ each), the 1 Michelin stared restaurant on the property. Michel and Christine Guérard developed Eugenie-les-Bains into le premier village minceur en France with his “Grande Cuisine Minceur®. We ate le Grande Cuisine Minceur for about a week and the food was superb—the tastes distinct and pleasing. Another thing we liked was the Nordic tub on the lawn. The temperature of the water was around 37° and it was very pleasant socializing with other guests.
We found during our current travels in Europe that once we've made a reservation (and sometimes pre-paid) it is impossible to get out of it (without penalties). Another huge problem with cancelling, is finding alternative accommodations at the last minute. So we have stayed (and paid) at hotels where we would have rather left.
Another hotel we would have preferred leaving was our next one: Hotel Le Monastère de Saint-Mont. Our three-night stay was too long. It was ludicrus that there was an automatic light that went on in the entry hall where door to only toilet was located. Every time we went to the toilet that light went on and off (every 10 seconds or so). From that hall there was a very, very heavy door to the bedroom that slammed shut. So, when we went to the bathroom at night, the hall light went on and off and on and off. If we weren’t really careful (or if we didn’t prop the door open), that door slammed with a bang. Between the door slamming and the light going on and off, sleep was difficult when someone went to the toilet at night (which we do often). We were charged 200€ for a flimsy table that collapsed when Audre stood on it to try to reach and cover the automatic light sensor. Fortunately no part of Audre’s body broke when she fell.
Our final hotel in France was a welcome relief from the prior two. We had a nice stay at Hotel En Marge, Le Birol, 1204 Rte de Lacroix - Falgarde Lieu dit, 31320 Aureville. We had a very nice stay with gracious hospitality from Isabelle and Frank Renimel and their daughter, Claire. Natashia, at reception, and the restaurant staff were also very nice to us and helpful. Chef Frank would come to talk to us at breakfast or after dinner when we would sit in the lovely garden. We really liked that. We were impressed: Natashia found us e-bikes to rent for a day (even when Dimitri had not). We had the most wonderful e-bike ride along the legendary Canal du Midi and a great lunch on the canal at Le Crise de Foi. After three nights off we went to Andorra for the month of August.
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