Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1699 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Synopsis
The first of the "Special Places" series, this established guide is a bestseller. With its huge variety and range of good value places to stay, it's an indispensable guide for those travelling round France - it is as much about making good friends as staying in really beautiful homes. Fresh, informative write-ups are backed up by excellent maps and directions, symbols and quick reference indices. Our approach is unusual. There are no set rules, no interminable checklists and no hard-and-fast criteria for inclusion. We look for what we like, and celebrate the unusual, the beautiful and the individual.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous!
This Alastair Sawday book is absolutely fabulous. Mya husband and I never use anyone other than 'Sawdays'. You will never be disappointed and the accommodation you will never fault. It really is a super book and well worth a buy.

Stay WITH the French
This book allowed us to travel through France safe in the knowledge that a "friend" had recommended good places to stay.

We wanted to find places where we could travel for several hours and find a place for an overnight stay where we could also eat rather than jump in the car again and seek out a restaurant. We found some real gems and even came home with some now trusty recipe's (Mme Poope's chicken in cider is delicious!).

If the other guides are anything like this I will certainly ensure that I have one to hand when I travel through other countries.

Indispensable guide for Francophile
I strongly recommend you take this guide with you if you are planning to tour France.
We have enjoyed travelling in France for many years and have used different guides to find small privately owned and family managed hotels and auberges, often in out of the way places. Others we have chanced upon in our travels.
However, Alastair Sawday's French Bed & Breakfast has introduced us to some delightful bed and breakfast establishments, which of course are not to be found in any hotel guide. We were not aware that bed & breakfast is such an established part of French culture and it has been delightful to be effectively invited into French homes. In some dinner is also offered with the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed meal - almost as part of the family, and usually with wine!
I will mention only two of the entries, which we have liked so much that we visited them both twice in 2006 and which we plan to stay at again next year. They both have the further distinction of being attached to vineyards - another reason to return to them!
Entry number 67 is a delightful old house in the champagne area run by the English wife of the French champagne maker. The room we stayed in was very comfortable with a large comfortable bed, not always available in France, with armchairs and a large bathroom. It is then lovely to sit outside on the terrace enjoying an excellent dinner - with champagne and good Bordeaux wine!
Entry number 85 is also a delightful old house, but in Alsace run by the fluent English speaking wife of the French winemaker. It is in a beautiful old walled town with a good choice of restaurants within walking distance. As a nice welcome you are offered a glass of wine (or two!) on arrival! The rooms are a little old fashioned. but the owner has promised that over the winter she is planning to build new en suite shower/toilets - to enable her to remain in the Alastair Sawday guide! We will be back in 2007.
We plan to use the guide again next year in France, with trips planned to explore Alsace further and also to south west France, where Alastair Sawday lists a number of interesting looking overnight stops and bed & breakfast places to try!