![]() ![]() The cold-and-wet combination is something I'm not fond of. Speaking for myself, I do care about rain in early spring, because it is often accompanied by fairly low temperatures. Both months average just over 3" of rain. The climate-summary chart for Bordeaux shows that May averages 10.9 days with rain April averages 11.9 days with rain. However, I don't think such anecdotal experience is very helpful, so I'd refer folks to the Wikipedia entry for Bordeaux (or such other town as you may be interested in). In general, western France and the north coast seem to have a good bit of rain, based on my time in those areas. I've experienced three gully-washer days of rain in southern France: May 6, 2107, north of Nice May 24, 2019, in Pau (but I left town after a couple of hours, so that may not have lasted all day) and June 5, 2019, in Sarlat-la-Caneda. Be aware that Brittany can be quite overcast and rainy even in the summer. It's known for the Machines de l'Iles but I didn't have time for them.īeyond Nantes there are more nice Breton cities and towns, including Vannes and Quimper. Few foreign tourists make their way there but I enjoyed it. North of La Rochelle is Nantes, a large city formerly part of Brittany. Between Bordeaux and La Rochelle is Saintes, picturesque and worth a visit. I took a city bus so I don't know anything about tolls or private-car limitations on that bridge. Enjoyable and a good base for the Ile de Re, which (conveniently) is accessible by bridge. On the coast roughly west of Poitiers is the popular beach city of La Rochelle, which seems to be popular with domestic tourists. Very nice city not often visited by foreigners. In the case of Poitiers there are also some very early churches. There's an excellent memorial/museum (worth as much as two hours, I'd say) as well as the remains of the destroyed town.įarther north is Poitiers, another place with lovely historic architecture. Very nearby is the Oradour-sur-Glane, site of a Nazi atrocity. Moving northward and back to the east, I can recommend Limoges, a city known for decorative arts (museums hold both porcelain and enamels) that has a very nice historic district. There are cobblestones (slippery when wet!) and steep streets-a recipe for a bad fall. Do be careful if it's raining the day of your visit. I enjoyed the untrafficked streets elsewhere. The vast majority of the tourists stayed down in the lower part of town. I dislike wine and prefer less touristy towns, but I quite liked St-Emilion. St-Emilion is a wine town often treated as a side-trip from Bordeaux. The Centre du Vin gets very mixed reviews. Not the most distinctive architecture in the country. Historic the buildings may be, but if you don't allow time to see the upper level, I suggest skipping Rocambour.īordeaux is a handsome city with a nice historic center. The lower level is nothing but tourist shops and cafes. Transportation (bus followed by a long walk along a shoulderless highway) took longer than expected so I didn't have time to see the upper part of town where the religious buildings are located. My visit to Rocambour was very disappointing. I also liked Bergerac and Brive-la-Gaillarde. Perigueux, Cahors and Figeac were my favorites. Allow me to mention that they are worth time, too. I was stuck with bus/train transportation so spent more of my time in several of the good-sized towns. If not, ask and we will give you some ideas.ĭordogne/Lot: Most people travel here with a car and see a lot of the lovely small villages. Lots of options there, but I'm assuming you want to stay on the French side of the border since your time is somewhat limited. The Spanish Basque Country: More interesting than the French, I think. I think they are covered in the book on Spain rather than in the guide to France. I didn't have time for any of the mountain villages, but Rick has some thoughts on them. The French Basque Country: I liked Bayonne and St-Jean-de-Luz better than Biarritz but confess it was raining cats and dogs on the day I visited the latter. With the caution that I haven't been to that part of France in late May or early June (my first thought is always about potential weather issues), here are places I found interesting in 2019: ![]()
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