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Month long French road trip.

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welshmagpie

welshmagpie

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Posted

It’s a long way off personally but it’s high up on the bucket list. I’d love to design it around watching rugby league in the south of France.

Could any of our French posters or those more in the know than I be able to recommend the best possible stops?

I’ve already pencilled in:

- Avignon

- Toulouse

- Cahors 

- Albi

(not fussed on Perpignan/Catalans as done it 3 times already)

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GUBRATS

GUBRATS

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

It’s a long way off personally but it’s high up on the bucket list. I’d love to design it around watching rugby league in the south of France.

Could any of our French posters or those more in the know than I be able to recommend the best possible stops?

I’ve already pencilled in:

- Avignon

- Toulouse

- Cahors 

- Albi

(not fussed on Perpignan/Catalans as done it 3 times already)

Ask Paul 

Atlantisman 

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Hull Kingston Bronco

Hull Kingston Bronco

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

It’s a long way off personally but it’s high up on the bucket list. I’d love to design it around watching rugby league in the south of France.

Could any of our French posters or those more in the know than I be able to recommend the best possible stops?

I’ve already pencilled in:

- Avignon

- Toulouse

- Cahors 

- Albi

(not fussed on Perpignan/Catalans as done it 3 times already)

Done something similar, great idea, so as well as the above > 

Tourist-wise for me I'd say Carcassonne would be the highlight so I'd build it into there, has an amazing old walled town on the edge of the modern one. Couple of hotels inside it too and a decent restaurant & bar collection. If you start in Toulouse it's an easy trip.

Lezignan's nearby, not that great in itself (nice enough), but there's some great stuff around it in terms of vineyards and pretty villages, and works as the next place on. Moving on towards the coast I don't think there's a team in Narbonne at the moment, but the ground's there to see and it's a great city to visit. 

Then finally I'd add Saint Gaudens is another one to visit, on the edge of the Pyrenees. I did it on the way "back" to Toulouse - you can make a circular route having come down the coast from Narbonne to Perpignan (well, not quite circular, but if you like driving through mountains etc it's worth the contrived detour via Ax-Les-Thermes). 

 

 

Edited by Hull Kingston Bronco
Typo
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Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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JonM

JonM

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I'd agree with Hull Kingston Broncos comments but would also definitely add Villefranche de Rouergue - lovely town with lots of nice places nearby. Also consider going to the camargue/ st. Martin de crau.

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Pen-Y-Bont Crusader

Pen-Y-Bont Crusader

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7 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Done something similar, great idea, so as well as the above > 

Tourist-wise for me I'd say Carcassonne would be the highlight so I'd build it into there, has an amazing old walled town on the edge of the modern one. Couple of hotels inside it too and a decent restaurant & bar collection. If you start in Toulouse it's an easy trip.

Lezignan's nearby, not that great in itself (nice enough), but there's some great stuff around it in terms of vineyards and pretty villages, and works as the next place on. Moving on towards the coast I don't think there's a team in Narbonne at the moment, but the ground's there to see and it's a great city to visit. 

Then finally I'd add Saint Gaudens is another one to visit, on the edge of the Pyrenees. I did it on the way "back" to Toulouse - you can make a circular route having come down the coast from Narbonne to Perpignan (well, not quite circular, but if you like driving through mountains etc it's worth the contrived detour via Ax-Les-Thermes). 

 

 

The mountain pass road from Mijanes is amazing - just dont stop your car anywhere near the ponies..... 

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RS

RS

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If you stay in Carcassonne then Limoux is easily doable. There is a 1 euro train or bus to Limoux. Friday is market day and the square is worth a visit and a stroll along the Aude. The stadium is a five minute walk from the centre and the club offices are at the ground and sells souvenirs.

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welshmagpie

welshmagpie

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7 hours ago, JonM said:

I'd agree with Hull Kingston Broncos comments but would also definitely add Villefranche de Rouergue - lovely town with lots of nice places nearby. Also consider going to the camargue/ st. Martin de crau.

What’s the deal with St Martin de Crau? Our Marseille way that isn’t it?

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Lowdesert

Lowdesert

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Posted
19 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

What’s the deal with St Martin de Crau? Our Marseille way that isn’t it?

Between Montpellier and Marseille.  Montpellier is a nice place though as is Marseille after a lot of work!  


TBF the area that Paul mentions would be a ‘must see’.  From Isle sur Tet you can visit les Orgues and also drive up to Villefranch du Conflent and take the Petit train Jaune up to the Spanish border.  Or drive and go to the outdoor baths at Thomas le Bains.  After that, on the same route, up to Font Romeu (used to play golf in comps sometimes up there).  Andorra ain’t too far away then!

North of I-sur-Tet, StPaul de Fenouillet drive to Gorges de Gallimus, visit Peyrepretreuse, Qeribus and Tautavel.  

Our favourite always wa and always will be down from St. Cyprien, Port Vendres, Paullilles, Banyuls, Cebere and Port Bou.  Paul would’ve sneaked across the border during Covid on that route or from Jonquera to Banyuls.  Swimming in Paullilles is like being in a fish tank.  Also it’s an old dynamite works which has been preserved.

If you go to Banyuls and like walking, you can take roughly the same route across to the Spanish border, psst the refuge and towards Jonquera.  This is the route Airey Neave took down on his escape journey from Colditz.

enough?

 

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ATLANTISMAN

ATLANTISMAN

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6 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

Between Montpellier and Marseille.  Montpellier is a nice place though as is Marseille after a lot of work!  


TBF the area that Paul mentions would be a ‘must see’.  From Isle sur Tet you can visit les Orgues and also drive up to Villefranch du Conflent and take the Petit train Jaune up to the Spanish border.  Or drive and go to the outdoor baths at Thomas le Bains.  After that, on the same route, up to Font Romeu (used to play golf in comps sometimes up there).  Andorra ain’t too far away then!

North of I-sur-Tet, StPaul de Fenouillet drive to Gorges de Gallimus, visit Peyrepretreuse, Qeribus and Tautavel.  

Our favourite always wa and always will be down from St. Cyprien, Port Vendres, Paullilles, Banyuls, Cebere and Port Bou.  Paul would’ve sneaked across the border during Covid on that route or from Jonquera to Banyuls.  Swimming in Paullilles is like being in a fish tank.  Also it’s an old dynamite works which has been preserved.

If you go to Banyuls and like walking, you can take roughly the same route across to the Spanish border, psst the refuge and towards Jonquera.  This is the route Airey Neave took down on his escape journey from Colditz.

enough?

 

Sneaked across the border 🙂

I actually had a cracking route back and forth to blighty a few times.

St Pancras to Paris Gare De Nord (Remenber the French border is at St Pancras) just used to show my Spanish NIE papers local maire residence passport and off i went.

Taxi to Gare de Lyon

Train to Perpignan

Overnight hotel by station 

Then old line in the morning to Cebera then Port Bou remember last trip was only 7 on the train myself and 6 Moroccans who were all arrested by the police national in Port Bou , i just waved my passport at them went for a coffee in a bar that was actually open full of guardia civil and took a taxi back to Perelada.

Paul

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JonM

JonM

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11 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

What’s the deal with St Martin de Crau? Our Marseille way that isn’t it?

Yes. The camargue national park is the rhone delta - lots of wild white horses, flamingos and other birds. St. Martin is where the RL team is, but it's basically on the edge of Arles which is the big tourism magnet. Definitely worth a visit.

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Lowdesert

Lowdesert

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4 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Sneaked across the border 🙂

I actually had a cracking route back and forth to blighty a few times.

St Pancras to Paris Gare De Nord (Remenber the French border is at St Pancras) just used to show my Spanish NIE papers local maire residence passport and off i went.

Taxi to Gare de Lyon

Train to Perpignan

Overnight hotel by station 

Then old line in the morning to Cebera then Port Bou remember last trip was only 7 on the train myself and 6 Moroccans who were all arrested by the police national in Port Bou , i just waved my passport at them went for a coffee in a bar that was actually open full of guardia civil and took a taxi back to Perelada.

Paul

Heaped in history that area.  

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Phil

Phil

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51 minutes ago, JonM said:

Yes. The camargue national park is the rhone delta - lots of wild white horses, flamingos and other birds. St. Martin is where the RL team is, but it's basically on the edge of Arles which is the big tourism magnet. Definitely worth a visit.

Where’s the best place to watch the course camarguaise? 

"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality" - Mikhail Bakunin

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BadlyOverdrawnBoy

BadlyOverdrawnBoy

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My other half and I are veterans of the extended French RL trip. In the early to late 2000s we had maybe 5 or 6 trips in our camper at the start of end of the season, generally 6 to 10 weeks, taking in as many clubs and games as we could. In those days there was also a published Route du Vin XIII, which was great fun!

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JonM

JonM

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5 hours ago, Phil said:

Where’s the best place to watch the course camarguaise? 

Wouldn't know, probably Arles or St. Martin tbh. As a keen runner who regularly has to go through fields with bulls in, it's not really my idea of entertainment 🙂

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Dunbar

Dunbar

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Great thread.  I am looking into a driving holiday over a couple of weeks down in the South of France next summer for food, relaxation and Rugby League.  Loads of great places listed here.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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Dunbar

Dunbar

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Great thread.  I am looking into a driving holiday over a couple of weeks down in the South of France next summer for food, relaxation and Rugby League.  Loads of great places listed here.

Oh, and wine and beer.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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