I landed in CDG (Paris) and drove straight to the Best Western Hotel D'Angleterre in Bourges. This is a pleasant old building in the middle of the original town thus ideal for those who want to walk and explore. The staff, in particular the manager, were first class and bent over backwards to help. I did not have a highly rated room, it was a small double, but it was comfortable enough with all services required. There is no restaurant however the breakfast was good.
The nearby Jacques Coeur restaurant was closed as it was a Sunday night and the manager summoned a taxi which took me to the Au Senate Restaurant where I enjoyed a solid meal. Initially I was worried about the service as a tour group was in but that blip soon ended and the service was fully up to standard. The food was surprisingly modern with a good starter of black pudding with apple off a very acceptable menu.
The next day I moved on driving to Bezier. The drive included crossing the Millau bridge which is as impressive as all those photos. It really stood out as I saw it from the road a few miles back.
In Beziers I had booked into the Mercure for want of a better option that rang my bell. As I am partially disabled so I want to be near the action such as it is. The Mercure was close enough to the central area but I am not sure exactly why but it did not quite meet my expectations. Over the years I have often stayed in Mercures and I found this one a little disappointing. I thought the rooms were very small and the receptionists not exactly full of the joys of spring. But as ever it provided an acceptable room and there was parking. I think I met the manager when a mouse stole my key card - how else do you lose a key card in the room? He at least was pleasant enough and joined in the joke.
I left the hotel and had a beer in the bar next door: a typical local’s bar before walking up to the main drag. The Octopus, which seems to be the main Beziers restaurant, was closed, as it was a Monday night, so I sought refuge in a Brasserie called Domini. It was a basic busy tourist oriented operation with a menu to match and my meal was exactly that. The outstanding part of the meal was the waitress who on her own served over a hundred meals - she had about 60 places but they turned quickly. She was aided by a PDA ordering system and bus boys who bought the food from the kitchen as well as the odd help from another waiter: but she did most of the order taking, serving, clearing, bill presentation and payment. As I have worked in the business I know how good she was, and how inevitable slow some of the customers were. After food I caterpillered up the road for a few meters to the Wall Street: described as a bar and bourse. It was comfortable place to sit on a warm evening: even if it is a trendy late night bar and as to the bourse well.... - it is planed
I met my sister at Beziers airport, and after all those international terminals Beziers is a positive joy. It has about five flights a day - in the high season - so car park to tiny terminal is only a few steps. Initially we went and looked at the locks on the Canal du Midi but as saw no place to eat headed for Margon where we were staying. We found the Auberge du Chateau, a place we presumed was hotel, but it performed more like a B&B and was closed to 5.30. So we found a really pleasant local restaurant a long putt away. It was called the Belle Lurette and provide a very acceptable lunch in friendly surroundings. We then headed for Pezenas to see if we could find a hotel that was actually open, but on the way we detoured to see friends who rang the Auberge who agreed to open their doors at 4 pm.
Once in the Auberge we found the rooms were basic with no frills and just about clean. Some of the staff were good but the management barely seemed to care.
Meal in the evening was good enough nothing exceptional but little to criticize.
It is Located is in this pleasant village and my sister and I thought with some decent TLC could be a decent country hotel.
For one lunch we visited La Palourdiere in Meze which was is an idealyc location overlooking the oyster beds of the inland basin and Sete is just across the water but I have to say the food was very average.
After two days in Margon we moved on heading for Alsace. We stayed one night en route at Les Caudalies in Arbois which is the main town of the Jura region. It is a fascinating little town almost in the Alps although I have to say le vin jaune which is the regional speciality did not exactly inspire me- it was horrible reminiscent of those nasty oxidised wine that the Communist era Hungarians paraded as drinkable - in many ways it was like a dry sherry without the finish. However Les Caudalies was finished to perfection. This is the kind of hotel I want to find every time. It was a pleasant old building, well refurbished and with a garden running down to the river. The car park was by the rooms. The food was excellent after we had persuaded the staff that vin jaune was one treat we could miss out on! We had a decent dinner in the smart dining room looking down to the river. My kidneys did not exactly inspire as I thought the saucing slightly insipid and not thick enough but Hester’s Chicken in that dreaded vin was excellent. The desert I had was a mille-feuille of raspberrys with the pastry replaced flat by brandy snaps. The summary is simple: great location, great hotel, great staff, good food - 5 stars all round.
We drove on to Colmar - a town I have visited several times and enjoy - where we stayed at the four star Le Marechal which is in the area known as petite Venice. The receptionist was first class when we walked into this clearly upmarket establishment. It is an old building which backs onto the river and is one of those places that is truly picturesque. Considering the age of the building they have done well to manage to squeeze in rooms and a lift that works. We had two small doubles which were perfectly adequate as singles and I suppose OK as doubles if you are small, or very friendly. That night we dined in their gastronomic restaurant called A l’Echevin: it provided slightly pretentious service: the food was correct as one would expect in such an establishment: but I would have liked to see more flair and inventiveness.
The next day we moved the short distance to Keyserberg but on the way stop for lunch at Aux armes de France which I have been to before and always enjoy. It is the archetypical Alsace restaurant - a classic building, long ownership in the same family, with elegance and good food. We lunched well and drove onto Kayserberg where we were booked into The Constantin Hotel which is well located bang in the centre of this classic town. I have to say this has been in same hands for many years and showed but it filled the bill although the rooms were small, and some aspects almost comical - access from the bottom of the lift to the street was through the laundry room. The garage worked well for us - but it can only hold about 8 cars and needs booking. I could not get the wifi to work and when I told the ancient receptionist I think I would have got the same reaction if I had said “The dinosaurs they have gone:” - she looked confused. I even asked, without satisfaction, the harassed looking son in law who seemed to do everything including run the nearby Restaurant du Château owned by the family and offering good winestub/pub style food and service. We ate there once and it was fine. On the Sunday lunchtime we visited the upmarket Hotel Chambard and lunched in their Restaurant Gastronomique. It was an experience and the food and in particular the attention to detail of the whole experience - of the highest order. The mille fois that went with the coffee were extraordinary in their range and standard. And that was after a meal that started with an extraordinary amuse bouclé of what I can only describe as runny egg yolk inside a choux pastry bun. To do that took great inventiveness, and determination as well as getting detail spot on. Everything was slightly different for instance my Terrine de foie gras d’oie was less sweet than usual and was served with very fine cinnamon flavoured biscuits. The venison was great, the cheese board extensive then all those little ‘thank yous.’ I do not normal comment on bills but I will say le Chambard is not for those without a credit card.
Heading home we opted to stay one night in Rheims and I had booked into the Hotel de l'univers. I have to say I had some reservation about booking here because I had seen the hotel in the past but the website persuaded me that it was not what I thought: silly me. My reason for staying here was it is very convenient to the slightly naff walking and entertainment street of Place Drouet d'Erlon, but to me the attraction was the excellent Brassiere Flo a few steps down from Univers. I had specifically requested car parking and found there was none on site as requested but was in a public car park down the road - which involved a considerable drive to get to. I was tempted to go elsewhere but had paid a deposit. My sisters pointed out to the receptionist the rooms were unclean: her answer was renovations are due: as if that explained away bad cleaning! It was one of those old fashioned hotels that may have once been 3 star but should now be one star and the receptionists seemed to know it as they both seemed apologetic in their attitudes. We arrived back at about 10 pm and asked for a drink in the bar and were rudely told by a harridan, who I assumed was the manager, that the bar was closed.
The last night before blighty was spent in St Omar: a place I have stayed in many times over the years as it is less than an hour to Calais and darn site more civilised. We stayed at the Ibis which is ideally located in the centre of town and has a car park. As ever everything was what one expected small but functional rooms. At least with the Accor hotels you know what you are going to get - I mainly use Mercure but when I stay in an Ibis I often wonder why I pay the extra for more upmarket hotel.
We dined that night just round the corner in Le St Charles and it turned out to be a very pleasant eatery serving simple food acceptable presented. And that does solve one of the problems of St Omer - I fear too many Brits stop here and as a result there is a dearth of decent restaurants as my countryman appear to accept standards no Frenchman would!
After food I caterpillered up the road for a few meters to the Wall Street: described as a bar and bourse. It was comfortable place to sit on a warm evening: even if it is a trendy late night bar and as to the bourse well.... - it is planed 
However Les Caudalies was finished to perfection. This is the kind of hotel I want to find every time. It was a pleasant old building, well refurbished and with a garden running down to the river. The car park was by the rooms. The food was excellent after we had persuaded the staff that vin jaune was one treat we could miss out on! We had a decent dinner in the smart dining room looking down to the river. My kidneys did not exactly inspire as I thought the saucing slightly insipid and not thick enough but Hester’s Chicken in that dreaded vin was excellent. The desert I had was a mille-feuille of raspberrys with the pastry replaced flat by brandy snaps. The summary is simple: great location, great hotel, great staff, good food - 5 stars all round.
On the Sunday lunchtime we visited the upmarket 
