Nice places to go/see in the west coast??

[Yodagoat]

Where would you all recomend visiting in the west coast of France? We are planning on coming down the alps along the med, up over the Milau bridge then heading west and up the coast to calais.
Any gid ideas?

 

[AndyT]

My advice would be to stick inland. From memory there is little to see on the West coast and it is so flat and boring. If you just head north from Milau there is far more and some hills on the way.

AndyT

 

[Yodagoat]

what about all the WW2 sites and stuff like that?

 

[AndyT]

what about all the WW2 sites and stuff like that?

Are they not all up at the top end of France?? The one that is worth a visit (woul like to go myself) is the one where the village inhabitants of Oradour-Sur-Glane were massacred and it remains the same today as it was after the massacre. I think it is near Limoges which again is away from the coast.

AndyT

 

[Taff]

You may find the former German U-Boat pens interesting.

I think there are complexes at Lorient, St Nazaire and La Rochelle, but need to check it out. Steptoe's mentioned them before but I wasn't paying attention at the time. From what I've read the French currently use the Lorient site as a base for their nuclear submarines, and some are privately owned so you won't be able to just have a snoop around

 

[Yodagoat]

What about the Loire Valley? should I head up that way instead? I'm currently trawling the French tourist Board pages looking up info - a pure joy.

Does anyone know if Menton is the closest place you can camp to Monaco? Is there any other good places to sling up a tent on the med coast?

 

[spot]

Theres a few pleasant parts to the west coast :- try the cote sauvage north of royan ' theres a 10 km long nudist beach thereand plenty of camping or ile de re.

 

[shuck raider]

The U-boat bases are worth a look if you're into WW2 stuff - Lorient is still virtually intact, although the site's a kind of industrial estate but you can still wander around. There's a museum too. Doenitz's chateau/HQ is impressive. Lots of pics and info on the chateau here

Brest had the sh1t knocked out of it by the RAF, as did the city of Lorient, so not much to see in either. Some nice coastal fishing villages in Brittany, would recommend Le Conquet, west of Brest

 

[Gaulois]

Apart from sandy beaches the W coast is pretty dull until you get north of the Loire. The only real towns of interest (IMHO) are Biarritz, Bordeaux and La Rochelle. My preference would be to head north from Millau to play in the Massif Central and then if you really want to head for the coast you could follow the Loire (roughly) to Brittany.

If you are after submarine pens you can see them at St Nazaire where there are also various museums and a submarine you can visit. If you speak French you can go on a tour of the dock yard. I was really lucky, there was marine architect on my tour and between him and the guide it was really informative. The Queen Mary 2 was almost finished when I was there.

The pens at Lorient are still used as a submarine base and for building minesweepers. I'm not sure that nuclear subs would fit. When I visited (in the late 70's) you had to show a French ID to go on the tour. Don't know what the situation is now but of the 2 I found Lorient more impressive inside. You get a better outside view at St Nazaire.

Hope this helps.