Will be traveling through southern France with family during the TdF and want to find a place to stay. I remember someone posted last year about taking his family to a small village where the tour came through and where his young daughters could comfortably walk around alone.

Anyone remember the post or where this was? I searched using all the key words I could think of with no success.

Thanks,

Southern France? The Cote d'Azur, Provence, or around the Pyrenees? None of the towns around the Pyrenees or Provence that I've been in or ridden through seemed threatening. I'm sure there might be some parts of the bigger towns could be a little dangerous but I've never really seen them. I guess you can never say for sure, but any place that I would have considered a "village" seemed very safe.

Hope someone knows the thread you are thinking about.

France is a quiet country with a vast majority of very peaceful people and no particularly dangerous if you are aware of the road traffic and look right, then left before crossing a street. Of course, tourists can be easy preys for bad intentionned people, but being very elementarily cautious is enough to have a nice and uneventful vacation.

Villard de Lans was a standout for me when I went to see the tour a few years back. It is near Grenoble and close to the Alp stages (Alpe D'huez etc). Not sure if it's on the tour route this year but it is very beautiful, the area around it is spetacular, and it felt very safe.

Will be traveling through southern France with family during the TdF and want to find a place to stay. I remember someone posted last year about taking his family to a small village where the tour came through and where his young daughters could comfortably walk around alone.

Anyone remember the post or where this was? I searched using all the key words I could think of with no success.

Thanks,

boltzmann, what are your travel dates? I have a small fixation on France and the tour so I bet I could name a few great places. If you don't have dates set then there are a few suggestions below. What makes it tough this time of year is that the exact roads and villages aren't included. In many cases though, based on knowledge of the area and past TdF's it's easy to know where they'll go as there is often only one road.

Loudenvielle is a prototypical small village in the Pyrenees. The stage there finishes on July 23rd and would be good for kids as there is lots of green space, a small lake, and such. With kids the mountain stages viewed ON the mountain it can be tricky. Depending on ages they may not fair well in the down times so you have to plan to take some cards or a small game. Take a picnic etc. Anyway, Loudenvielle isn't in the prototypical "south of France" as that is more of the Provence area but a good choice. Some pictures from my gallery are below of the stage that finished there in 2003.


http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/presentation/fr/profil-1500.html

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00224

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00225

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00226

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00230

Another stage would be going on July 15 (stage 8). The area on or around Cormet de Roseland


http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/presentation/fr/profil-800.html

http://www.grenoblecycling.com/Col-Roseland.htm

Or think about the stage to Briancon. There is a nice area on the Lautaret which is on the route, the riders will be coming down from the Galibier. The pics below are from that area

http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/presentation/fr/profil-900.html

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00179

http://velotainment.com/gallery/2003_tourdefrance/DSC00180

If you want the "Prototypical" south of France experience than you can aim for stage 10 on July 18. It will be heading through Provence. I can look at my maps later today and make recommendations if you'd like. This is one of those stages with no exact route just yet, but if I dig a little I can get you close.

Thanks teoteoteo. Lots of ideas to explore.
We have a window of two weeks starting July 16, so we could be in Briancon or Loudenvielle.
I will look into these two but would also appreciate any other info you have on places between Tallard to Marseille or Marseile to Montpellier. I agree it may be too early to lock in something because the exact routes haven't been posted yet.

Thanks teoteoteo. Lots of ideas to explore.
We have a window of two weeks starting July 16, so we could be in Briancon or Loudenvielle.
I will look into these two but would also appreciate any other info you have on places between Tallard to Marseille or Marseile to Montpellier. I agree it may be too early to lock in something because the exact routes haven't been posted yet.


I'd say the Tallard stage would the one to key on of you wanted a straightforward, family friendly vacation. A few reasons. In looking at the map the route should be passing close to some very nice villages in Provence. I have traveled there a fair bit and last year after the tour visited with my fiance, 11 year old daughter, and my mom. We were never at a shortage for things to do. I'd been cycling for month so I was happy playing tour guide.

What I like about the stage in terms of logistics is that it travels from north to south mainly. You should have a pic over some super villages to the west where you can stay. Then on race day drive east and enjoy the festivities surrounding the race. The reason this is nice is you'll be approaching the TdF route and won't have to worry the the road you need is part of the race route/subject road closure. This will afford you to have a more relaxed day. If you want the mountain stage experience it is great, but for the most part it is always a loooonnnnnng day.

For this stage some really great villages would be Gordes, Rousillon, Apt, Bonnieux, Menerbes, Lacoste. Many are hill top villages and the whole area is great. I have the most personal experience around Gordes but there are certainly many more. The hotel below is an above average 3-star hotal on a beautiful property. If you google Gordes France their will be no shortage of good info. On a second, more selfish note you wouldn't be too far from the mighty Ventoux, you can rent a road bike near the base in Bedoin I believe.

http://www.hotel-le-gordos.com/gordanglais/cadre.html

I picked the villages above based on what I THINK the route will be and the fact that I think they are safe choices to get you pretty close to the stage route while still preserving the vacation days before and after the stage. I've said it a hundred times to friends and advice seekers, if you can only go one place in France during the summer make it Provence. The food, the people, everything is pretty magical.

There are also some really great villages that look like they would be farther, but I'd be remiss not to mention them. Vaison-la-Romaine being one. I've mentioned this place a lot. Also close to Ventoux, closer than the others, but since it is a little more northwest and would require more driving time to get to tdf stage. The hotel below is probably the best value I've ever stumbled across. My summer work in France has had me stay in some really great places. This place is only rated a 3 star BUT its the damn nicest 3 star I've ever been in. Very charming, in the beautiful Haute Village, (high village) above Vaison la Romaine. The building is 16th century and the narrow cobble streets still look 16th century.

http://www.le-beffroi.com/anglais.htm

Lots of options. One thing to note is that if you want a place in the country with some charm you can rent a house of find a BB type of place with "suite" that will have more than one room. I stayed a BB 20 south of Avignon (biggest town in provence) that was amazing this year. It slept 3-4, had a small kitchen, for 120 a night. It had a sofa bed but the 11 year old and my mom slept there, and said it was great. The owner had very nice taste in furniture and it wasn't a cheap sofa bed. I can tell you that! The link below isn't the official site but it is in english. The breakfast was very good, pastries made fresh in house, she made hot chocolate every morning for the kiddo.

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/provence-bed-and-breakfast/mazet-de-la-dame/provence-bed-and-breakfast.htm

Off to bed for now. This is more than a start. I love to help so feel free to ask. I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of learning this stuff to keep it bottled up.