I’ve already had a very good tip for a place to stay in Paris from a doper, so I thought I’d try my luck a bit further with requests for any nice places to stay in the Auvergne as we drive down to our gite in Riberac in the S-W in early August. Prefer the countryside rather than the ‘big’ towns, unless Clermont Ferrand has a lot to offer. Please educate me.
Also, if anyone knows nice places to stay (and things to do) south of Paris -heading to the Auvergne…Chablis and Pouilly are on my list of possible places to break the journey. Any vineyards specially worth visiitng?
(We have a 9 year old in tow, so anything for kids is welcomed. Not interested in Eurodisney - get our own version in September.)
I think you’re just showing off that you have a nice holiday coming up. Sorry, don’t know that area. And do you really think that HK Disney will be able to duplicate the snootiness that is EuroDisney?
Please eat some good food and drink some good wine on my behalf. Have a great trip.
Roger
We were briefly in the Auvergne last summer.
Our older kid spent junior year (college) in Clermont-Ferrand.
Because the bulk of our trip was in the south, we drove to CF from Paris in one day (crazy, I know–tempers did flare, but the highway was fast.)
CF is not all that exciting but we enjoyed our stay because there was a music festival going on at the time (June), plus college towns always have a nice energy.
Our hotel was okay but not that great or worth recommending.
The countryside is absolutely beautiful with green extinct volcanoes; your 9 year old might enjoy hiking up the Puy-de-Dome (quite a view at the top).
Castles/Chateaux in the Auvergne
When our sons were your child’s age they loved castles; perhaps your child might enjoy a visit to one of these.
I don’t think a lwhole ot of wine is produced in the Auvergne, but some of the cheese is to die for. Try to taste some of the Bleu d’Auvergne, also Cantal.
Thanks, chaps. Re HK Disney, all I know is that it’ll be one of the cheapest to enter. Should be as the HK Govt basically gave the land to Disney to make sure they delayed building in China by for at least, say, 5 years.
Caprese, thanks for the advice. A walk would be just the ticket to break up our meandering journey. We’ll attempt to time our visits to castles to coincide with bizarre French siesta practice! Caught us out in 1995, I remember.