Two full months out,... Normandy is pricey, Provence is already booked.

My condolences that you are having troubles - if you give us details of where exactly you want to be going perhaps we could make some recommendations for available places?

Although it is true that you are booking two months out during a global recession, remember that the recession is not hitting continental Europe in the same manner, and that although you are booking two months out you seem to be choosing the one month where most Europeans also take their vacations.

I don't quite understand your question. Are you still looking for accommodation in either Provence or Normandy? For what time of the year? For how long? For how many people? I'm sure you'd be able to find some affordable options. Have you tried:

http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/rural_gites

Thanks for your prompt responses!

It's not so much that I can't lock something down. It's really about being afraid to go between the Loire and Arles with no set plans and no pre-booked place to stay.

I want to have a little bit of adventure during this road trip, but I'm now thinking that playing it safe and choosing a place to stay now, (at full price AND settling for second best) may be my only option.

What would you do if you rolled into Le Puy-en-Velay and accidently found out there was a Renaissance Festival going on?

Why not look at all the towns you want to visit, then visit their websites and you will then know what events are going on and when. No surprises then.

Okay, Kent is right.

It's three months from now I'm having issues with...

No wonder I'm so stressed. I can't even do the math.

Anyway, the fact remains... bargains have been quite elusive, especially when I expected otherwise, in light of the "current crisis."

Someone please ask me how much I paid for my flight so I can feel better about all of this!

I would check out the gites website mentioned above. We waited until the end of May to look for places to stay in Provence for our July visit and found quite a bit of availability. You can searched based on which town you would like to stay nearby. Of course Avignon was booked due to the music festival, but several of the gites had multitple rooms free. I even found availability at some of the hotels in smaller towns mentioned in Rick's Provence book. When we were in Normandy for d-day last year we also decided last minute to go. We stayed at the Ibis hotel in Caan because everything else was either booked or 300 euro a night. It had no ambiance at all, but it was inexpensive and available. Good luck.

Are you trying to book Rick's recommended hotels? Those book up SO far in advance, as do many hotels that appear in guidebooks. Have you used the Logis de France website? Lots of good quality, good value lodgings there.

It depends what you think of as expensive v. cheap. Around here on the Loire/Normandy border 50 euros a night for 2 in bed and breakfast is about average. That seems cheap to people from the UK - is it dear for people from the USA?

Bill,

I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck. While driving in Normandy I did see a bunch of "chain" hotels scattered.

Give this link a try... maybe you can find something not sold out and within your price

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187179-Normandy-Hotels.html

If you're going to Bayeux in Normandy, you might check out Hotel Reine Mathilde. Excellent room, charming restaurant, and attentive service. It is close to the Cathedral and Tapestry, and only a two-minute walk to the pick-up point for the Battlebus Tours. Pefect!

Bill, we just got back last week, and yes, we pre-booked all of our Gites/ Hotels in Provence, the LOire, and Normandy. We looked at Rick's book, and saw that we had to contend with two Holidays, and wanted to make sure that we were covered.

If you are going to be traveling on a Holiday, ensure that sure you are driving the opposite way the Parisians are...otherwise you will be caught in the mother of all traffic jams!

You have been given some great info above from some pretty sharp people. There is alwyas a way to meet your budget goals, but "winging it" may not be the best thing during the time of your visit!

PS. Make sure that you look at the Gites!

Isn't it strange how we have a love/hate relationship with festivals?

Watch an episode of "Globe Trekker," and there they are, enjoying the pageantry spectacle of the season, with their new best friend and seasoned guide to assist their enjoyment, as if they had a video camera growing out of their appendix.

But I'm like,... "Pamplona during the running of the bulls?, are you F#%k'ing Kidding ME!"

Anyway,..

The flight from San Diego--into Amsterdam, out of Barcelona--$600.

Bayeux, at "Sainte Croix", 81 euros.

Arles, our third choice, 60 euro.

An apartment in Sarlat, don't ask.

Eating pan-seared, fresh, foie gras (hopefully bought directly from the farmer) after a day of canoeing,...

Priceless.

Bill,

do I understand it right that you find 80 Euro pricey? that is for 2 isn't it? Hmmm, we went to the Eastcoast of the US for our spring vacation and there was nothing available for the equivalent of 80 Euro or less. And it wasn't even high season. We originally wanted to travel in July/August but we simply couldn't afford it. Europe would be cheaper for us ...

Anyways, check out the links listed in this thread. There ARE cheaper accommodations available if you look for them. However, if you're looking for a bargain in a prime tourist destination during high season 2 months is not much of a lead time. Those go first, especially during rough economic times.

My favourite B&B is not quite in Normandy but at Eastern border of Brittany. And it's under 50 Euro/night

www.manoirdelagrandemettrie.com

I really have to say that I'm more irked at the cost of continental breakfast.

Our last trip, in the former Yugoslavia, breakfast was included at nearly every place we stayed.

10 to 12 bucks for a cup of coffee and a jelly smeared toast is what triggered this thread in the first place.

I plan to drive groggy every morning, just to register my disapproval!

Well, in that case a B&B (chambres d'hotes) should be the solution for you as they do include breakfast in their quoted prices.

BTW, the only night on our road trip I don't have booked at this point, is the one night we're traveling from the Loire, to Provence.

So, specific suggestions in Burgundy or the Upper Rhone will be highly appreciated.

Also, to those of you defending the French countryside,

fear not,... compared to Amsterdam, finding happy accommodations has been a breeze!

Bill, are you talking about the Hotel de Sainte Croix in Bayeux? This is a wonderful, fabulous B&B, with one of the best breakfasts, gorgeous antique furniture throughout the house, plus we had a king size bed, giant bathroom, and a very gracious hostess. If 81 € is all they are charging for a double, I think you got a steal. Once you go there, you will NOT be disappointed. It is about a 10 min. walk from the center of town, but Bayeux is lovely to walk through, all these old houses from the 15 an 1600's.

Bill, I note nobody has answered your question about Le Puy-en-Velay. The correct answer is, "Party with the locals."

Which, by the way, is something I did at Bayeux's Medieval Festival a few years back to tremendous effect. The reviews are still coming in.

Are there only two of you traveling? It makes a terrific difference how many you need a room for. With two you can usually find something last minute, an Ibis or something along those lines. But you need to trade flexibility for the lowest rate...that's the bargain you strike without reservations during high tourist season.

Also, I make reservations for France trips starting in January. Reduces stress.

Hotel breakfasts are indeed a notoriously bad value. (There are in the US, too--my Marriott last week wanted $14.95 for 2 eggs and toast). You can easily go to a bakery or store and get croissants, yogurt, etc if you don't want the hotel breakfast.

Other than that, if you find decent sounding accomodations for under 100E, consider yourself lucky! That's quite cheap in my book. I actually think that French hotels, particularly in the countryside, are great values. I pay much more in the US or in other European countries (right now I'm looking at hotels in Rome and Swiss cities and YIKES--nothing decent for less than 200E!) for the same quality lodging.

Check for ETAP hotels for clean and basic rooms with private bath and shower. Part of the Accor hotel chain as is the Ibis. Etap is the lowest price and offers the basic at a very reasonable rate. We stayed at Etap in Honfleur for 47 euro. We opted for their 5 euro breakfast per person so the total including breakfast was 57 euros. You can check the town where you want to stay and see if they have any there. Also, we used Rick Steve's book and found good deals at other places.

If you have a car, there are numerous cheap chain hotels gathered at the Autoroute exits outside of town. I really like the Fast Hotel chain - usually between 35 and 50 Euro a room but with private bathrooms (really small, but serviceable), and small bar/restaurants on site.

The Logis de France association is one of great family-run hotels in France's smaller towns.

In Le Puy, I would look for a room at the Hotel Bristol

For 50€-60€ a room for 2 you'll find more B&Bs (chambres d'hôtes, not to be confused with the B&B Hotel chain) than you can shake a stick at in most parts of France. And by law chambres d'hôtes prices include breakfast.

However, some aren't immensely keen on one night stopovers.

Here are some B&B sites (NB they also offer gîtes - holiday lets - don't get them confused!)

www.gites-de-france.com

Fleurs du Soleil

www.clevacances.com

First off,... how did you guys make hyperlinks to those websites?!?

Is this something new?

Doug, the Hotel Bristol looks great! How's their restaurant for dinner?

The Bristol has an easy-to-check, availability calendar, and they still have plenty of vacancies during the Renaissance Festival.

Maybe it's not the crowd draw I thought it would be? It doesn't matter now, as we'll be leaving Arles and heading for Sarlat by the time it gets started--no luxury of back-tracking on this whirlwind exploration.

So if we spend a night in Le Puy de Velay, this means we definitely WON'T have time for a night in Carcasonne.

I'm still using Rick's 2005, France book, but in that, he doesn't even mention Le Puy. Part of me wants to do at least ONE THING that I thought up on my own, without Rick holding my hand through it.

So this means, on this trip, Carcasonne only gets a quick wave from the highway. Am I blowing it?

Hi Bill

ref the hyperlinks:

< a href="http://hyperlink.com"> TYPE NAME OF LINK

Insert the appropriate URL inplace of hyperlink.com and remove the space between "<" and "a href"

The really hard bit is to be able to present this without it turning into a hyperlink!

This is a test...

< a href="http://www.roideloiseau.com">

http://www.roideloiseau.com/

One more try...

http://www.roideloiseau.com

Obviously, I still don't get it... o_O

BTW, if you decide to cut and paste, turn down the volume a tad.

Bill - Dinner at the Hotel Bristol was great. It's been a few years, though.

As far as the hyperlinks, Kent helped me download bbXtra for Firefox but dang, I can't remember how I did it. Kent should be along shortly or by PM to help you.

Testing - just copied and pasted the (fake) hyperlink example I posted above

TYPE NAME OF LINK