Route: Calais – Epernay – Langres – Dijon – Mâcon – Brignais (Lyon) – Pérouges – Lyon – Clermont-Ferrand – Volvic – Le Compas – Sermur – Bellegarde-en-Marche – La Feuille du Limousin (goat cheese farm) – Bourganeuf – St-Leonard-de-Noblat – Limoges – Chauvigny – Angles-sur-L’Anglin – Cheverny – Cour-Cheverny – Tours – Orbec – Deauville – Honfleur – Calais
(Thursday, 11th September – Friday, 19th September 2014)
Postcard
Medieval towns. Volvic mineral water tasting. Petting goats. Eating goat cheese made a few hours ago. Forests. Ruins. Tartiflette. Help yourself seven-cheese cheese board. Pâte de fruits (ie grown-up Fruit Pastilles). Lobster dinner, the eating of which amused fellow diners. Sunshine. Wild storm. Butterfly, dragonfly and grasshopper meadow. Wild flowers. The stench of a pack of chateau hounds’ poo. Tin Tin’s chateau. Cobbles. Crusty sugar pizza. Pretty harbour. Wide sandy beach. Champagne chateaux/maison. Emergency car stops for pretty towns. Water mills. Medieval bridges. Tree-lined roads. Red geraniums. Vineyards. Pretty rural villages. Road diversions. Six home-made jams for breakfast. Baguettes. Moules frites. Long drop toilets. Massive flea market. Motorway toll stops. Rivers. Crossing La Seine, La Loire and Le Rhône. Turrets. Flowers. Food markets. Cakes. Pastries. Trees. Friendly donkeys. Outdoor dining. Staying in a 300-year old manoir, decorated Oriental style. Cafés with pavement seats. Steps. Views. Trams. Charcuterie. Patisserie. Map confusion. Great holiday.
Practical Information
Epernay
Impressive chateaux and interesting Champagne anecdotes and information. But town did nothing for me and seemed expensive. There is Champagne in the air.
Arrived around 2pm and couldn’t find anywhere still serving food so just went to a boulangerie for lunch.
Langres
Pretty, low key Medieval town with a nice feel that I’d be happy to spend a day in.
Logis Jum’Hotel, Saints Geosmes – on the edge of an industrial estate, room service (not that we had it) is ready meals heated in room steamer, fine for the price, a short drive in to Langres and outdoor pool and parking.
Le Kerimen (creperie), Rue Jean Roussat – fairly cheap, good quality food, great galettes, friendly staff. Would go again.
Patisserie Henry, 6 Rue Diderot – good croissants and pain au chocolate for breakfast, salon de thé with plenty of indoor seating. Pleasant.
Dijon
Bustling, interesting town/city with good trams and looked like quite a few non-touristy places to eat. Nice but don’t feel a need to go again to see more.
Le Sauvage (restaurant and hotel), 64 Rue Monge – had a fairly expensive but excellent lunch here (17.90 euros for two courses). Bit snooty, off tourist trail in a quiet cobbled courtyard. Would go again and the hotel would probably be nice and quiet so a pleasant city centre stay.
Mâcon
Pleasant town with some lovely, Medieval buildings. Guide book had said the riverside was bustling with restaurants and bars but riverside area was disappointing in terms of places to eat.
There is a 15th-16th century house, the wooden house, in Place aux Herbes. It is amazing and the wooden carvings are delightfully unexpectedly rude. The Old Saint-Vincent is also worth a visit. It seemed a nice town rather than a destination town. We had a nice wander but I’d have been a bit disappointed if we’d stayed there all day. A good place to stop en route elsewhere as it’s very close to the motorway between Dijon and Lyon.
Pérouges
Cobbled, Medieval, hilltop town, gorgeous but full of tourists and (in our case) weddings, famed for Galette de Pérouges (tasty, caramelised sugar-topped pizza, basically). Doesn’t need a long visit but is well worth walking around for an hour or two. A few restaurants but all seemed touristy.
Lyon
Largely walked around old town, Vieux-Lyon, which is charming, bustling and interesting. City has a lovely feel and I would enjoy exploring more. Could easily spend at least a few days here. Lots of interesting restaurants, shops and architecture.
Le Refuge (restaurant), 52 Rue Tramassac – lovely cheese and charcuterie-laden menu. Large portions of tartiflette and gratins. Service slow but food decent. Would eat there again if I wanted a cheese and meat stodge fest.
Clermont-Ferrand
We arrived on a Monday and it took a while to find somewhere open, though the streets around the square with the tourist information office, Place de la Victoire, have a lot of pavement restaurants, open on Mondays. It’s not one of the prettiest towns we visited but there were a lot of quirky looking shops, plenty of “antique” shops and some interesting-looking cafes, restaurants and bars. On that basis, I would be happy to stay there en route elsewhere or as a town base to visit the surrounding area, particularly the volcano region and Volvic.
La Grignoterie, 29 Rue des Chaussetiers – a low-key, reasonably priced, decent crèperie, on a quiet street. Not destination food but decent. Their flambéed crêpes were very alcoholic.
Volvic
An impromptu stop and one I’m really glad we made. The town is small and old but not stunning. It’s quite high up so there are some decent views. Lovely walk from the town up to the Volvic water source through woodland. Probably not quite a mile to walk but there is ample parking there. The Volvic centre is free, surprisingly. You can taste all the Volvic waters and the small exhibition is simple and interesting. I’ve been once and don’t feel a need to go again but I am really glad we went as I enjoyed it, particularly with the woodland walk.
Le Compas
This is a hamlet with two delightful donkeys in a field. I could see no reason to stop unless going to the hotel/restaurant/bar/tabac.
Au P’tit Creusois (hotel, restaurant, bar) – only stayed here as we were sent down this road on a long detour and it was getting late and we wanted food and board. Room was lovely, bathroom large, host friendly, an unexpected gem (very recently refurbished). But the dinner, a mere 13 euros, was destination food. No menu, just got what we were given: vegetable soup; soft, tasty veal stew/broth; seven largely local cheeses on a help yourself board (my ideal cheese course); plum tart and a jug of (tolerable) red wine and a jug of water. Only negative is that there was no sound proofing in and between the rooms. The 7 euro breakfast wasn’t really worth it but the hotel is on a road side in a hamlet so we’d have needed to drive a fair way otherwise.
Sermur
Only stopped here as it is very close to Le Compas and ruins were marked on the map and locals at Le Compas said it was worth a visit. If you head for the church in Sermur, you can park. A magical little village with a clowder of cats, peaceful woodland, a ruined fort (?) atop a hill and a tranquil, idyllic hillside meadow swarming with grasshoppers, butterflies and dragonflies.
Probably only worth going if it’s not raining as there are far-reaching views from the fort and woodland walks. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area. The ultimate sleepy hamlet below a delightful ruin.
Bellegarde-en-Marche
A passing stop but it’s an old village with no tourist trappings. We stopped to go to an interesting-looking brocante shop that turned out to have no obvious entrance and which also seemed closed. Not worth stopping unless the brocante shop is open and you enjoy rummaging.
La Feuille de Limousin (Goat cheese farm)
Situated just off the main road, D941, eastish of Limoges somewhere between Aubusson and Bourganeuf, less than 1km south of the D941, signposted goat cheese farm, or similar. An idyllic farm part way down a valley surrounded by trees. Closed between c12.30 and 3. Friendly farmers, you can walk around (it’s tiny) and stroke the very friendly goats and, to buy cheese, you get taken into two separate fridge rooms.
Very cheap but a mystery if you know nothing about what goat cheese you like as it ranges from same-day fresh (soft, mildly fragrant and utterly delicious) to covered in grey fur (also lovely but a lot more goaty than the fresher cheeses), which cost 4 euros for both. Well worth a visit, but only really a 15-minute visit at most. I would stop again to pet the goats and buy cheese.
Bourganeuf
A lunch stop based on it sounding like a pretty Medieval town. Not a great choice of restaurants and not a particularly inspiring Medieval town compared to most others we saw.
Pizzeria La Strada, 1 Rue des Fossés du Billadour – a pizzeria, which was reasonably priced, matching the reasonable food (most pizzas and my truffade, c9.50 euros). Not worth stopping in Bourganeuf for though.
St Leonard de Noblat
A small town we stopped at because it looked so pretty as we passed. Charming, pretty, Medieval, loads of boulangeries and patisseries. Well worth a stop and it would be a pleasant place to spend an evening. Wished we’d driven past Bourganeuf and had lunch here instead.
Limoges
A fairly busy town, full of Medieval houses and buildings and a pretty Medieval bridge.
Rue de la Boucherie, Cour du Temple, Rue Haute Cité, Place/Cathédrale Saint-Etienne, botanical gardens, Rue du Rajat and Pont Saint-Etienne are all worth a visit.
Limoges is famous for its ceramics and there are a lot of ceramic shops, but it’s expensive. Restaurants around Rue de la Boucherie are fairly expensive and nice-looking, Rue Charles Michels has cheaper restaurants with outdoor seating. We spent a few hours happily wandering around and concluded we didn’t feel a need to stay longer. I suspect some of the Rue de la Boucherie restaurants would make an evening stop worthwhile though.
La Timbale (restaurant), 18 Rue Charles Michels – reasonably priced but food not memorable. Wouldn’t recommend it particularly, though pleasant.
Ibis Limoges Centre, 6 Boulevard Victor Hugo – great location, an easy walk into the historic area. Our 99 euro twin room was very small and felt overpriced so I felt a bit disappointed. Didn’t have breakfast. Fine but perhaps only worth it if you can get a special rate, not 99 euros.
Au Coin des Halles (salon de thé), 1 Rue d’Aguesseau – as the name suggests, it’s right opposite one corner of the indoor market. Pleasant, modern interior, proper tea leaves and nice presentation. Not great for merely a quick drink as the tea takes a while, brewed properly, and service is friendly but slow (I say this because we had a time constraint and didn’t have time to appreciate the sit down and big pot of tea each). Opposite a lovely-looking macaroon bakery.
Chauvigny
A lunch stop which we extended to have a walk around the Medieval town area above the slightly more “modern” centre. Pleasant, plenty of brasseries and eat-in boulangeries in the central square, so a good stop. Also, restaurants in the old town by the ruin, though probably more expensive up there as that’s the touristy area. Pleasant but probably only worth a stop if you either are passing or could easily detour to pass through.
Angles-sur-L’Anglin
The wow factor as we came over a hill opening up to display the stunning river and ruins made us stop and spend about 45 minutes wandering around. It’s truly gorgeous. A small town that I would love to visit again. Seemed to be a fair few restaurants and I would expect some pretty, old bed and breakfast accommodation. We were drawn to a goat sign so followed it. There is a cave with old cave paintings that I would have enjoyed seeing had we had time (it’s a 45-minute tour at specified times).
A lot of the nearby villages were not blessed with Angles-sur-L’Anglin’s beauty. I would go again to spend a night there en route somewhere else (ie the surrounding area didn’t look inspiring enough to want to explore further)
Cheverny
Very touristy due to the chateau – actually, the village is peripheral to the chateau; the chateau is Cheverny. 14 euros to get in to see the chateau, garden and Tin Tin exhibition. The small garden is picturesque, the pack of chateau hounds stink, the Tin Tin exhibition is interesting, even for me who’s never read or seen Tin Tin, and it’s a pleasant place to spend time. Especially considering how many chateaux there are in this area alone, around the Loire, I wouldn’t go to this one again but it’s worth a visit.
Cour-Cheverny
A small town just up from Cheverny, not worth a particular stop but if you wanted to eat in the area, the few restaurants (three that are easy to spot) here are probably a better and cheaper option than Cheverny.
St Hubert (hotel and restaurant), 122 Rue Nationale – large, covered outdoor eating area, decent menu and good food. Very large starters. Not destination food but it’s ok. Hotel probably a good hotel option if you want to stay and visit Cheverny but I’d rather stay around Blois or along La Loire.
Tours
First impressions were a bit disappointing but it grew on me the more we saw. We only had a short time here and both of us felt it would be a pleasant place to stay longer, especially as there appear to be several old, small towns within Tours. More lively than some towns and it had a nice feel. The indoor market, Les Halles, was like a small Borough Market/Waitrose in terms of quality and presentation. I chose three delicious deli dishes for a picnic lunch later. Lots of fabulous cheese and bread shops as well as meat, veg, etc. Market definitely worth a visit, with generous sampling potential. Wonderful macaroons.
Had an undrinkable, foul, extortionately priced cappuccino from an extraordinarily rude bar man who was furious when I walked to the toilet across his freshly wiped floor and left dirty foot prints. That was in a particularly pretty, Medieval square. Beware tourist prices and restaurants.
Orbec
A lunch stop. Surprisingly pretty, quiet, unpretentious town with good lunch potential (boulangeries and brasseries) and a pleasant river and lake area slightly below the town. Would only stop again if it worked out as a journey break. Had a nice picnic by a small lake and a leisurely walk around old houses and shops.
Deauville
Busy, lively, touristy seaside town with wide sandy beach. Pleasant sandy beach but I would prefer to go to a less touristy seaside area. Plenty of places to eat, drink and spend money on parking. I love beaches so for that reason I’d go again but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go again or explore the town. Too touristy for me.
Honfleur
Delightfully pretty, old harbour town. Riddled with more than its fair share of beautiful buildings. Lot of potential to eat at touristy areas, overpriced and probably not great. Our gîte hosts said not to eat around the (stunning) old harbour, rather to head for the streets away from the harbour. Around the streets of Place Sainte Catherine there are some gorgeous streets and loads of restaurants, most of which have a fish/seafood theme, unsurprisingly. I don’t know where you’d go to eat at a non-touristy restaurant though. There is a beach area a bit out of town and views across to Le Havre and the Pont de Normandie. The roads are really busy around town.
Le Chat qui Pêche, 12 Place Arthur Boudin (restaurant) – we chose this because it was busy, we liked the name and the menu was interesting. We ordered from the luxury formule, 40 euros, and paid an extra 8 euros to have lobster. Service was very slow and tables outdoors are close together but it was a nice square to sit in (despite the mosquitoes which feasted on my feet and neck). Our lobster dish was so impressive a fellow table of diners clapped when it arrived. We also had a lot of giggles over the eating of the lobster, to the amusement and interaction of other diners. Had fun but wouldn’t go again and did end up feeling we’d picked a tourist trap restaurant.
L’Estuaire, 8 Place Hamelin – we had a 13.90 euro three-course formule lunch, which was fine. As with our choice of dinner restaurant, it did feel like a tourist restaurant.
Gîtes Manoir du Buquet, Avenue Jacques Cartier (beware the one-way streets up from Honfleur centre, no problem going down in to Honfleur) – a lovely place to stay though not sure if there’s anywhere to eat without having to drive in to town. Lovely hosts and elderly Jack Russell, beautifully done up c300-year old house with comfy rooms and bedding (we had a roll top bath, which was deep and relaxing). Great breakfast included, featuring six home-made jams, freshly squeezed fruit juice, meat, cheese, yoghurt, croissant, bread, tea and coffee. Would happily stay here again.