French countryside choices

Le Perche is definitely countryside, made a French Nature Park in 1998. Here's the NYT article you remember--you'll want to bookmark or save it since Le Perche isn't covered in detail in most guidebooks: NYT article

No surprise that Rick doesn't cover Le Perche region, so if you want a guidebook that covers this area, albeit with just a few pages, look at Caddogan or Michelin's Normandy book.

It's in southern Normandy, closer to Chartes and Le Mans than to the English Channel, in fact about 40 miles northeast of Le Mans.

You'll need a car for this, not only to get there but maybe to keep the teens from driving you crazy if they get bored after a few days of true French countryside.

Your post was a nice change--finally someone here who says "Normandy" but is referring to the other 99% of Normandy that is not the D-Day Beaches.

We really enjoyed Brittany. After two nights in the Loire, we visited Carnac, Pont Aven, Quimper, Perros (on the north coast), Merlin's Forest, Dinan, St. Malo. Lots of variety and it wasn't hot---I also detest hot weather.

I can't imagine going to Normandy and not seeing the D-Day beaches, but I will say that I loved the countryside in Normandy. Since the focus of our trip was the D-Day beaches, I can't say much about what else there is to do there, although I think golfing and horseback riding are popular. I thought the food was great too, and the apple cider. I would think most teenagers would enjoy seeing the D-Day beaches, but you didn't give us any indication of what type of activities your family enjoys.

Norhern France is not typically hot in the summer, but hitting a heat wave is always a risk in July pretty much anywhere in France. And air conditioning is not really prevalent.

thanks all, that's a great start - gave me some new places to look into. I hadn't considered Brittany, don't know why. We're hikers and bikers, not golfers or horseback riders. Also looking forward to village market strolls.

You mentioned markets in your last post, the NYT article describes markets under "Shops."

I don't know if you need to go anyplace else, other than Le Perche, given your interests.

My only question would be whether the teens will get restless in such a rural setting--you'll be able to figure that out as you learn more about Le Perche. To continue your research, here's a link to the results of a Google search I just did: click here.

We've spent a lot of time in Normandy, love it, and one day we just drove around stopping in little towns, went to a farm (not a working farm anymore) that was from the 17th to 19th century and open to the public (we had it all to ourselves and it was charming), went to a few castles..a couple have "shows" and guided tours by candlelight at night (very fun)...there's actually a lot of enjoyable things to do other than WWII related. The towns and the scenery are idyllic.

Also, the people of Normandy are friendly, warm and wonderful.

wow, thanks, Kent et al. Le Perche is just an idea so far, not an idée fixe, but these articles will help. We will be in Paris first, I thought I'd alternate city time with country time, and also go someplace where my kids would really have to use their limited French. All northerly suggestions welcome!

Burgundy is also nice in the summer.Lots of medievil villages, the Burgundy canal area and the Morvan forest is great to explore.Send me a PM if you are interested in places to stay or any other questions about Burgundy.

Nelly, we spent 2 weeks travelling in Brittany and Normandy 3 summers ago with our pre-teen son. It was a very nice trip, the weather was not hot at all, just nice and cool. We went to Carnac, the pink granite coast, St-Malo, Mont St-Michel, and the D-Day beaches. There is lots to see and do, the food is good, the people are nice and you can find some nice B and B for a very reasonable price. Have fun!

I could not possibly imagine traveling with teenagers, but from what I've observed, they love to sleep in 'til noon and they get irrationally cranky when they are hungry yet the promise of a nice meal is only a few hours away.

Having just returned from 10 days and 3000+ Km. in a rental car through France, I can tell you this...

Normandy and the Loire was filled with ideally located campgrounds made for Euro-sized, "Mini-bago" motor homes.

Every place we stayed near a tourist site, there was a humming community of car campers a few hundred yards closer than we were.
For instance, I can think of no finer place to spend the night at Mont St. Michel than ON the causeway.

If one of the kids is a post-growth-spurt klutz, the cramped space may prove too tedious for everyone.
But if I had kids in tow, I would love to be able to just pull away and head on to the next destination while they were still in bed!
Strap 'em down for safety and keep the snacks within arms reach so you can shove food in their mouth when they start to ask, "Are we there yet?"

I have a friend who last summer traveled in France with his dad and brother in a camper van. At the campgrounds, they were always asked what time they wanted breakfast - and warm baguettes and croissants in a bag were hung over their rearview mirror each morning at the appointed time! Sounds great - but not for us.

We're looking at home swaps or VRBOs and staying put for a week at a time. I plan to alternate city and country weeks. In the city, I will drive the teenagers mercilessly to get up and see the appointed sites. During the rural weeks, my younger daughter and I will wander off for morning walks to bakeries and markets, while my husband and older daughter are dead to the world.

You just gotta play the hand you're dealt - and I'd much rather travel with teenagers than toddlers, myself!

P.S. Agree about the food - never underestimate the power of pain au chocolat or gelato to motivate teenagers.

great tip on the Tour de France. My husband watches it obsessively each year, but I had not made the connection. Though if it's anything like our Calgary Stampede, I assume people who live on the route may go elsewhere in droves, freeing up some vacation rentals!

Based on the Tour map, it looks like Brittany and Normandy would be good choices - they're not on the route at all. Comments?

Check the route of the Tour de France before you plan anything. It's in July. And don't forget to allow for the 14th!

Hotels in the area around here (including ours!) are already booked solid during 17th-21st July.

Roger

www.fermedecandeloup.fr