French person (Tom) help wanted!!

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 13 Mar 2007, 11:41

Hey,

Tom, I gather you live in Marseille... well this summer (money permitting) I'm probably going to be doing a little tour of south france and north east spain with my girlf.

We're planning on flying into Nice, going to Monaco, Marseille, Montpellier, Perpignan, then into Spain - Girona, Empuriabrava and Barcelona.

Not all of those destinations are final yet.

So first question - is there anywhere that you'd really recommend going to, either that's in that list or isn't? Are any of the places on the list not really worth checking out?

I've been looking for cheap hostel accomodation, found some hostels for Nice and Barcelona (about 40-50 Euro per night for a double room), but couldn't really find any for Marseille. On the hostel search sites Marseille just didn't seem to have any listed at all, which I find very surprising for what I assume is quite a big city.

So 2nd question - do you happen to know of any cheap places to stay that have a double room? And that goes for any of the other places as well as Marseille! Is 40-50 Euro expensive for backbacker style accom for a double room, know of anything/anywhere cheaper?

3rd question - Does Monaco have hostels? This is an ignorant brit type question, but from all the things I've seen of Monaco it is like the millionaire's paradise type place, so is everything there quite pricey or are there areas that could house cheap people?!

4th question (although it does link to Q1) - are there any activities that you'd recommend while in this area?

Cheers for any help you can give!!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 13 Mar 2007, 13:20

So first question - is there anywhere that you'd really recommend going to, either that's in that list or isn't? Are any of the places on the list not really worth checking out ?

Well... while Monaco is a nice place, I don't know why you'd be interested in Montpellier.
Sure it's got a nice cathedral and a huge aqueduct, but... that's all I can think of.

There are a few things worth seeing in Marseille, like the Nôtre Dame de la Guarde cathedral, the Vieux Port and the Parc Borély.

If you like the coast, you should visit the Calanques (between Marseille and Cassis):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ormiou.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... anques.jpg

You can go there by boat or by car.
I haven't been to the Calanques in twelve years, but I'm sure it's still worth a trip.

On the hostel search sites Marseille just didn't seem to have any listed at all, which I find very surprising for what I assume is quite a big city.

Second biggest city in France, yeah.

"Hostel", you say. That' a "Bed & Breakfast"-sort of thing, right ?
Let's see what I can find...

Is 40-50 Euro expensive for backbacker style accom for a double room, know of anything/anywhere cheaper?

I'm afraid it's hard to find anything below 60€ in this region.

Here:
http://www.gites-de-france.com/uk/bed_breakfasts/

I'm sure you'll find something nice and cheap(ish) in there.

Does Monaco have hostels?

I wish !

Every year I go to Monaco to watch the F1 grand prix and every year I have to sleep in the car OUTSIDE of Monaco and go to the track on a bicycle.

There's no such thing as cheap accomodations over there.

4th question (although it does link to Q1) - are there any activities that you'd recommend while in this area?

I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Apart from playing Pétanque (boules), I wouldn't know what else to do.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 13 Mar 2007, 14:51

Cheers for the help! Montpellier was only on the list because it was a name I recognised and on the map I was looking at when I got a rough draft for the proposed route it was in bold lettering along with all the other places I mentioned!

If there isn't much to see there, but lots to do elsewhere I'm sure we'll be happy spreading out the day or two we would have spent there to other places!

By hostel I mean the cheap backpacker style accomodation. Not bed and breakfast really. More the sort of place that has dorms and the like so that people can get a really cheap bed in a room, and it is only so cheap cause they have to share the room with several or lots of other people. A lot of hostels also offer double rooms, at a much higher price than a dorm bed, but usually cheaper than hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.

I figured Monaco would be expensive... guess we'll just make it a day trip there then! Is only like 20-30 mins on the train if the train ticket page that I went to is correct.

I'm not going to be going till early July, but the prelimenary plans are being made just now... so if I've got any more questions, or if anything pops into your head that could be useful, I'd much appreciate it if you could let me know!! Cheers!

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 15 Mar 2007, 22:57

Formule 1 hotel in Marseille (and lots of other regions in Europe) 35 euro plus tax for a double room!!!

How much is the tax that will be added on in France?

Cheers.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 16 Mar 2007, 16:37

If you're talking about TVA (french equivalent of VAT), it's 5,5% for hotels.

If you care about your health you'll stay away from Formule 1 hotels, though.
You'll only find psychopaths, drug dealers and prostitutes in those.