Summer in Provence?

November 29, 2006 3:39 PM

Any personal experiences with or advice regarding gites/vacation villages in France?

My friend and I will, we hope, be traveling to France for his bar trip next August. (Hi Pak!) We'll probably want to spend most of our time in or near Paris, but I'd like to see some of the rest of the country if possible. I'm especially intrigued by gites and vacation villages -- both for the slow-travel aspect and also for the money-saving, as neither of us will have much money to spare.
A few complicating factors -- I have very poor heat tolerance, so I need to stay in places that have air conditioning or that don't get too hot in August. He doesn't much like the beach, but I would like to enjoy the French coast, so if anybody has advice about where we could be near beaches and other, less sandy pastimes, that would be much appreciated. Finally, neither of us really like people that much. I mean, speaking only for myself, I enjoy meeting locals, but I hate crowds and too many tourists. I'm leery (or wary...but not weary) of B&Bs because I'm not sure I want that kind of every-day contact with strangers whose language I don't really speak. I've checked the official gites de France website and the self-catereds look like a level of contact I'd be comfortable with, but I'd like to hear some actual experiences, if anyone's got 'em.

posted by katemonster to travel & transportation (3 answers total)

My first bit of advice would be to avoid France in August. Speaking of my own experiences, I hardly ever found anything with AC, Paris is pretty much closed except for tourist things and anywhere near the beach is full of other people on vacation. If you can, try to go in September, you will enjoy it much more.

That aside, my wife and I have rented gites twice now and both times enjoyed the experience. Highly recommend it. The ability to have a nice large fridge full of wonderful farm fresh food is amazing. The entire transaction took place via the web and fax. If you are in a more rural area, probably the only time you will see the gite owner is when you pick up the key and when you drop it off.

Both times we arrangged to meet the owner via email. The places were all fairly clean and comfortable. Nice and quiet in out of the way places.

The only thing to watchout about is the contract. Though there is an English interface to the website, the contract is in French. Even with my wife's fairly good command of French, we almost lost our deposit and the booking because we thought we were authorizing to bill our credit card for the deposit AND the rest of the bill (payable in advance), but in actual fact it was just for the deposit. Other than that little hiccup it went fine and I highly recommend it.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 4:08 PM on November 29, 2006

I'm not a fussy traveller, but I have had several great holidays in France (and Italy) staying in Gites/holiday cottages.
On a couple of trips my parents (in their 60s) also came, and they perhaps share some of your concerns. On both occasions, they had a good time, if a little challenged by language barriers at the local shops etc.
In most cases, holiday cottages are in smaller towns, which means there is less of the tourist infrastructure available in a place like Paris. This means you probably need to make an effort to speak French, as there will be fewer english speakers around.
With your concerns, perhaps Brittany would be a better destination? It is somewhat less crowded, doesn't get as hot and has plenty of scenic and historic tourist sttractions apart from its Atlantic surf beaches.
As for air conditioning, you might have to look hard to find this feature, it is much less common in France (or the rest of Europe) than the US. That said, most gites are designed to be cool in summer - think stone walls etc.
One firm we used was http://www.cheznous.com/
but a google search for france holiday cottages gives many hits.
posted by bystander at 4:13 PM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

A fair few of the gîtes in France are run by expats. Friends of mine have one in the Aude region. They are typically British in their willingness to let you be. I stayed there (that's how we made friends) and it was comfy. Another, run by a local, was a little less pretty but still excellent value.

August in France has three Fits: the flight onto the freeways (there are special freeway reports for the depart and arrival weekends and they're pretty bleak), the quiet, and the sudden return. Lots of thngs are closed. During July, August and September you should be ready for heat of nearly 100F (37C) but also for cooler weather.

Provence is expensive, and crowded in the summer. Brittany or the Languedoc might be more fun for you.
posted by jet_silver at 8:44 PM on November 29, 2006