Jump to content
Complete France Forum

Places in France to see before you die


letrangere

Recommended Posts

Taken from a fascinating book, "1,000 places to see before you die", one that I'm sure would inspire wanderlust in even the most die hard stay-at-home.  What interests me is that the French list goes beyond the normal popular mass tourist destinations.  Here are a few, actually quite a few:-

Biarritz

The Dordogne and the Cave of Lascaux

Eugenie les Bains, Aquitaine (anyone know this?)

St Emilion (absolutely)

Musee d'Unterlinden and the wine road of Alsace

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg

Vezelay and l'Esperance (Burgundy)

Giverny

Mont-Saint-Michel

Normandy's D Day Beaches

Paris (of course)

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres

Chateau de Versailles

The Carmague

Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Albi (a surprising inclusion IMHO)

The Walls of Carcassonne

Place Stanislas, Nancy

Lourdes

Loire Valley

Ile de Re (that's on my particular "must see" list)

Aix en Provence

Antibes

Amphitheatre at Arles

Avignon

Eze

Les Baux de Provence

Mougins

Vieux Nice

St Tropez

Vence

Annecy and Talloires (absolutely)

Chamonix

Courcheval

Vieux Lyons

Megeve

 

M

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can someone tell me what is special about the Ile de Re?  Don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting it should not be on the list.  I would like to see as many of the islands off the French coast as possible so I'm just wondering why this one has been singled out. Should it be next on my list ?

 

Liz (29)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought this would prompt an interesting dialogue.  I couldn't understand inclusion of Courcheval and Chamonix.  Been yonks since I was last in either but even then they were both over developed and hardly the picturesque little Alpine villages with big mountain views that you can still find (just) in Switzerland and Austria.  

Checking in the Blue Guide, Eugenie-les-Bains is in the Landes just south of Aire s Ardour.  Established in 1861, "a green oasis on edge of the desert of the Landes."  As someone else explained, Empress Eugenie sheltered there during a storm in 1859.  Famous as both premier village minceur de France AND a centre of gastronomy!  Spa waters treat obesity whilst Michel Guerard of cuisine minceur fame has some restaurants there.  Ah, that's possibly why it was included.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I could do a list of places to visit in the Loire valley before you die. (not exactly cheery, is it?)

I'd put in Tours, Chinon, Amboise and Richelieu. And for the castles, Chenonceau, Azay le Rideau and Chambord. Have I missed anything out? I think the best time to visit is now, beautiful blue skies, the light reflecting off the white stone, no elbowing your way through hoards of tourists...

I too am mystified at the inclusion of French ski resorts, best seen at a distance!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just editing a guide to Aquitaine, originally published in French by highly reputable Hachette - and Eugenie-les-Bains gets barely a mention!

I agree that the Loire Valley is a bit of a cheat, though everyone has their favourites of the chateaux and towns so it would be hard to choose, say, Azay over Chenonceaux.

I would hope that in with Vence would be St-Paul-de-Vence and especially the Maeght Museum just outside it. And Nancy generally, not just place Stanislas, because of the wonderful Art Nouveau architecture all around the town.

Megeve? I'm disappointed in it every time I go (pretty much once a year, on that too-tired-to-ski midweek afternoon) - a few pretty streets but hardly a 'must see', and too many shops catering to the 'gold moon boot' brigade.

I would add Arbois in the Jura; the le Corbusier chapel at Ronchamp; the Hotel Dieu in Beaune and, I know it's not exacly a place but, the view of Mont Blanc on a sunny January afternoon from beside the refuge hut at marker 13 on the La Croix run at Combloux, just down the road from Megeve. Sheer heaven.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ile de Ré is full of Parisians and STARS apparantly.  Very expensive.  Isn't it the island where the poor population are all on super tax because of their land?  Even though they live on tuppence a month they have enormous tax bills.

You will be able to spot Lionel Jospin on his bike or Princess Caroline of Monace queing for a bagette....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And what about the Pont du Gard?   That is just soooooo special!

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/tourism/pont-du-gard/

The list is clearly a very personal one, and perhaps a little bit pretentious.  Pretty though the Alsace wine route is, I wouldn't put it in my top 1000 things to see.   And - don't tell anyone round here that I said this, but - the Camargue really isn't all that interesting, except to wetlands biologists, and manade owners who make money from it.   I feel that I should like it more than I do, if you see what I mean!  The flamingoes are cute, but if you really want to see flamingoes, you go somewhere like this:

http://www.etravelphotos.com/kenya/2004ke-0919-033d.html 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the Hotel Dieu in Beaune

Yes, odd that wasn't included and SB's Pont de Gard.  In fact, especially the latter as it's within striking distance of the included Avignon.  Glad other people agree with me about French ski resorts, forgot to mention Megeve.  ARE there any that survive free of sprawling apartment blocks?  I would remove Lourdes too, and I say that as a croyante.

Vence is described as "unpretentious" and we're told we must go and see the Matisse Chapel.  (I dented the bumper of a hire car attempting to park outside this wretched place so was in no mood to enjoy the stain glass window when I eventually got inside!)  Neither the wonderful Maeght collection nor St Paul gets a mention, which is strange.  Personally, I like SPdV, though I'd only visit out of season.

the bay of Dournazez (sp) in Brittany

Gay, Douarnenez, my parents honeymooned here and we went back a couple of times for family holidays.  Stunningly beautiful.

The book is a US publication, reading the forward I see it took the editor 7 years to compile.  (What a fabulous job!)  It is quite a personal and sometimes quirky collection, but she's really done her homework.  Recommends the old town of Jeddah, for example, and a very remote village in Yemen, way off even the most intrepid tourist's path. We were talking about Robert Louis Stevenson's travels with his donkey through the Cevennes recently.  Well, did you know he lived for a time on the island of Apia in Western Samoa and that we can visit his house today?  Yet another of the 1000 places to see.  Makes you realise life is way too short...

M

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]It was my dream to go to the Camargue and we went there on holiday (back in 1976!) and were very disappointed. So what must it be like now? Kenya is a little further away... M[/quote]

Yes, Why the Camargue?  What is there to see, pink flamingoes and wild? horses up to their fetlocks in mud in muddy fields....  Oh and loads of Gypsys with sprays of Lavender

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...