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Menerbes [Luberon] to Cognac.Your thoughts on places to see and stay?

Aussie Greg

10+ Posts
In late May, my wife and I are continuing our holiday , Driving from Domaine Faverot, near Menerbes to La Cascade de Saintonge near Cognac.Taking 3 nights and 4 days to get there.
My plans at the moment take me to Le Pont de Montvert first night, Figeac second night, and Pauillac third night, each day about 3.5 hours driving [according to Google] .
We would dearly love to hear from anyone who has been anywhere along that route in terms of accommodation and sights to see.
Regards AG
 
Hi Greg,

It's good to see you here! Maybe we will see each other in May... our groups have a lunch at Domaine Faverot. Wonderful place to stay! (Depending on your schedule, maybe you could join us?)

Your route will take you through the Cevennes, a beautiful and quite isolated area. Our family did a 165-mile hike through this area, on the Robert Louis Stevenson path, back in 2008. We stayed one night in Le Pont de Montvert... seems there was a hotel right in the village. It's very very small. The larger village of Florac is very near... have you considered staying overnight there? We stayed at the Hotel des Gorges du Tarn, which is a Logis de France hotel and a very good restaurant.

Our best overnight stay during our two-week walk was in the tiny village of Cheylard-l'Eveque. We stayed at the Refuge du Moure, where most of the overnight guests were walkers (French) on the Stevenson trail. They served a big table d'hotes dinner, family style... a fantastic experience for us.

I'd also recommend the village of Pradelles (also in the Lozere), very beautiful and interesting... we walked through but didn't stay overnight there. We really enjoyed our time in this area.

I don't know Figeac or Pauillac, but I love the Lot and we know the Dordogne extremely well. Which route are you planning to take? (If you head up toward Brive, the village of Turenne is well worth a stop, but there are so many beautiful villages in that area.)
 
Hello Kathy
Thanks so much for your reply.
We have not previously been to Dom. Faverot, but have been around Menerbes, Coustellet. Lacoste, Bonnieux etc quite a bit. We are booked in to D.F. May 20 to 29, so if those dates coincide with your lunch, would you contact me directly please with details.
I'm not sure how to do that...would be in 'Settings' somewhere...will have to look into it.
One of the things I am most anxious to do is photograph a field of red poppies...do you have any experience in that regard?
[Has anyone else found a beautiful field of poppies [I realise it may not be as good this year, but may be a starting point] and photographed it with a camera with GPS built in. If so would you post it and I can use software to extract the GPS location.]
Thank you for all the other info...we are currently trying to book Auberges des Cevennes and have also started looking at Florac, on your advice.
Will post more as planning proceeds.
Regards Greg
 
Hi Greg,

We will just miss you! We'll be at Domaine Faverot for lunch on May 5, 12 and 19. We've been going there for years and it's a very special place. The original owners (the Faverots) retired and sold the estate a few years ago, but the people who manage it now are really welcoming. If you can have a meal there, we highly recommend it!

My husband and I live part-time in Bonnieux and have been there for most of the month of May every year since 2007. The poppies do bloom in May, but the exact timing really depends on the weather. And the fields aren't in the same place every year.... usually there are some in the area between Bonnieux and Lacoste, but not always. I would start looking as soon as you arrive, as I feel there are usually more in the early part of the month. I will post here at the end of the week before you arrive and let you know if I've got a good spot for you. You might enjoy this: http://slowtraveltours.com/blog/poppies-in-provence/

We'll still be in Bonnieux until the morning of May 22. If you happen to be nearby on Sunday, we could meet up for coffee or a glass of wine.
 
Hi Kathy
Wow, you and Charley have a very busy life!
We are due to arrive at DF late Sat afternoon, after a leisurely drive from somewhere around Dijon [haven't booked anything there yet] so how about coffee [or wine] Sunday Morning, somewhere in the lower part [not necessarily] of Bonnieux...you decide.....looking at Google Street View, there seems to be a more cafes and eateries than when we were last there 4 years ago!
We should have a phone number by then....which is going to be another Post of mine....

The link to poppies is wonderful and I must admit has been in my bookmarks for quite some time....was the driving force behind wanting to photograph them. True!
Do you remember roughly where that photo of you in a field [last photo] was taken? [It seems to be the same field as the first Photo, and I think that is Mont Ventoux and possibly Roussillon in the background]

Anyway, it is so nice of you to take the time to reply. We look forward to meeting you, and hope all your May adventures are successful.
 
Hi Greg,

I sent you a private message... hope you received it... so we can make plans for meeting up in Bonnieux on that Sunday.

So several of those poppy photos were taken in the big plain between Bonnieux and Lacoste and the main road, the D900... there's a network of little farm roads down there where it's easy to pull over for photos. But the fields of poppies are almost never in the same place every year. Farmers grow them when a field is idle, or resting between crops. So you honestly never know. We drive around every year to find a good place to take our groups in May if the timing is right.

A few years ago there were lovely poppy fields along the main road up to Bonnieux. This was a terrible place to pull over... more cars, a big ditch to jump over to get close... really quite dangerous. But those fields (owned by Pierre Cardin) have now been planted with lavender. They'll be lovely, but also extremely dangerous as people pull over to take photos.

Kathy
 
If you're heading to Saintonge, last year in the first week of June were huge fields of poppies in the fields in the area. I believe the first photo was taken on one of the small roads near Blanzac.

Oh, and watch out for stinging nettles if you venture off the roadway.

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Hello Amy, thanks for the reply.
We'll be up around the area of Blanzac, because one of the towns I want to visit is Confolens...it has some unusual architecture which I'm interested to see.
So will be on the lookout for poppies [and nettles!]
Regards AG
 

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