French Agriturismo?

April,

I assume you're referring to a Gite, Chambre d'Hôte, or something along that line. Have a look at THIS website for some examples.

You might consider mixing-up the accommodations and staying in the central part of towns for at least part of your visits, as that will provide some "atmosphere" in the evenings for having a nice meal and wandering around or window shopping. The France Guidebook has lots of good listings for small hotels, etc.

Happy travels!

Hi Ken, perhaps I am misunderstanding what I have read and seen on the RS shows, but my understanding of Gites is that they are more of a self catered house or apartment. The Chambres d'hôtes is the equivalent of a B&B, correct? I am looking for something that is moreso where the owner is on site, breakfast is provided, perhaps a cooking class, etc. is that just an Italian thing?

We do plan to mix up the lodging. We will likely stay in Beaune and vaison la romaine.

Thank you!

April, probably such a place does exist in France but I have never seen a reference to it anywhere. For lodging where the owner is on site, try logis-de-france.com/provence or /burgundy This is an organization of small, famiy-owned hotels all over France and more often than not the owner is also a chef, and a good one at that. You might be able to persuade him/her to give a cooking lesson.

Take a look at Bienvenue a la ferme - it has a seach engine that allows you to look for farm-based accommodation, activities, courses and so on. I don't see an English version, but if you use the Chrome web browser with built-in translation it does a very good job.

I'd also suggest looking at the Alistair Sawday (Special Places to Stay) website. He has written many guidebooks which are only about lodgings, and much of his info is on his site. He has several books just for France, including one in the "Go Slow" series. That group of guides features agriturismo-type places. One more nice feature of his listings is that they span a wide price range.