Day 146 – 148 : Calanque, Cassis, Nimes, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Toulouse, Foix

The southern part of France is not easily accessible by public transport. 

Wanting to explore the area better and still targeting to reach Barcelona in 5 days, I decided to rent a car from Marseille. 

With just 3 days of car rental, I must say I did very well with the routes, covering a total of almost 770km – from Marseille to the Calanques and Cassis, to Nimes and Montpellier, Toulouse, Foix and finally ending in Perpignan.  All on just 35 Litres of Diesel!

Details of the routes are summarised below, which is somewhat on the rush side.  I could certainly had spread them out for a 5 day instead of a 3 day trip, to better experience and explore a few more sights. 

The below post will outline how much time is recommended to spend in each town.

For tips about renting a car and driving around France, visit my other post here.

• Driving Day 1 Route : Marseille – Calanque Sormiou – Cassis – Arles – Nimes (200km)
• Driving Day 2 Route : Nimes – Montpellier – Carcassone (230km)
• Driving Day 3 Route : Carcassone – Toulouse – Foix – Perpignan (321km)

Calanque Sormiou

The Calanques are strongly recommended to visit.  Most of the Calanques are not accessible by road, and requires at least a long 1 hr trek.  Calanque Sormiou is the exception, where you can get very close by a vehicle. 

However the road is mostly closed off during summer (due to the heavier traffic to the area), unless you have a reservation at one of the 2 restaurants at Sormiou. 

Restaurants are only open during the summer season, so if going off season, you may want to pack your own food. 

Strongly recommend about 3 hrs in total, which includes travel time to and fro the place.  Even more if planning to take a dip in the water, during the summer. More about Calanque Sormiou here.

Cassis

A small attractive French Riviera town located next to Marseille (separated by the Calanques).  Very laid back, with a small port docked with numerous small fishing boats. 

There is also a fort like structure in the nearby hills, which I didn’t have time to explore.  There is also a very small beach near the port.

Only stopped through Cassis for a late lunch at one of the numerous restaurants located around the port.  Being by the sea, I fancied having another pot of Mussels, before I venture inland. 

Cassis can be easily explored on a half day trip and a meal stop, or to take a boat trip out to better explore the Calanques. 

Arles

It was drizzling when I arrived in Arles. Arles is a very small town located along the Rhine River. 

Even though I arrived before 5pm, everything seemed closed and Arles was like a dead town – not sure if it was because of the time or the weather. 

The only main attraction in Arles was the Roman Stadium, which was also closed by the time I arrived. 

 

Nimes

I had a booking made at Parc Arena in Nimes and even though I arrived before 6pm, the reception had already closed!  I didn’t realize that the reception closes at 4.15pm and there was no way for me to get in touch with someone to make arrangements for me to get into my booked room. 

I didn’t get charged, as the credit card details that I had submitted for the reservation wasn’t completed in detail.  However, it was still a hassle to look for a place within budget at short notice, and in a new town on a rainy evening. 

Lesson learnt : Always check the check-in hours of a hotel especially in smaller towns.

Thankfully I managed to find an available room on Agoda at Hotel Majestic, a 3-storey walk-up hotel with basic rooms. 

It was slightly more pricey, but a lot closer to the city centre than Parc Arena, and free parking on the side streets in the night until 9am the next day. 

It was again another dead looking town with hardly anyone on the streets at 7pm with little restaurants opened, and settled for a quick bite at McDonald’s before calling it a night.

Nimes looked a lot better during the day though.  It is a much bigger town than Arles, and with a strong Roman influence within the old city centre, having also its own Roman Amphitheatre, Roman Theatre, Baths of Constantine, and some other medieval monuments scattered across the city. 

Initially wanting to visit the Roman Amphitheatre, I changed my mind after seeing the cost of entrance priced at Euro 10!

Also, due to a need to start making my way towards the next town, I quickly took the time to explore the city sights, including the Roman Temple with its majestic columned entrance, and the infamous Gardens of Nimes.  Certainly could had spent more time in Nimes (half to a full day)

Montpellier

The route from Nimes to Montpellier via the countryside was absolutely scenic and picturesque, passing by numerous vineyards and wineries (which of course was bare due to the cold weather). 

At one point, I even drove through an area which was like a reserve, and saw pink flamingos and wild horses!

Unfortunately there wasn't any easy place to stop on the road, unless I completely detoured, which I would had done if I was with company. But as I was rushing for time, I decided to continue on my way.

Montpellier was meant as a quick stop for lunch and also to experience in person the city centre.  Parking was a hassle in the city, as the only option closest to the city centre were located in basement carparks located within fancy buildings. 

I personally liked Montpellier.  It felt like a very vibrant city (even on a slightly wet day), made up of very neo European style buildings in the centre of the square. 

Again, because of time constraints, I barely spent more than 1.5 hour in the city, inclusive of a quick lunch break, which meant I had to skip visiting some sections of the city.  It did however look like it would had been worth staying in Montpellier for 1-2 days, or over a long weekend.

Carcassonne

Besides Calanque Sormiou, visiting Carcassonne had been a highlight of the trip.

Famed for its historic fortress (also featured in the movie Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves), the view from afar is a sight to behold, especially when it is lighted up in the evenings. 

I was more pleasantly surprised when I walked within the fortress walls, wandering through the narrow cobbled street of the medieval village, that the village was very prestigiously kept, and with numerous quaint little shops.

I had a room booked at Hotel Premiere Classe Carcassone, which comes with free on site carpark.  A small basic room with a small attached toilet, the ones that looked like those you see in a train.  The staff were extremely helpful though. 

I was extremely keen on having foie gras (a speciality in the region) and duck confit for dinner, and the staff at the hotel made the effort to call a few restaurants on my behalf to check the menu and made a reservation for me at Restaurant “Le Clos Occitan”. 

Turned out that a reservation was not at all needed, as I was the only guest in the restaurant when I was there.  Food was superb, and decently priced (Euro 37 for a 3 course dinner + 1 glass of wine). 

I later found out that “Le Clos Occitan” is listed in the Michelin Guide 2017, and that the restaurant was formerly a garage which was subsequently converted into a restaurant.

 

Toulouse

Toulouse, made famous for being the headquarters of Airbus, looked like an industrial city, mainly because of the colours of the building (reddish brick).

Cathedrals seems to be the focus in the town, as there were many of them, with the other famous spot being the Capitol Plaza.

I wasn’t too impressed with Toulouse and quickly made my way after viewing most of the key sights. 

Half a day in Toulouse is sufficient, although if you are planning to visit Airbus (yes, they do have tours), you will need to make a reservation way in advance.

Foix

The driving towards Foix, is filled with snow covered Pyrenees mountains in the distance. Very pretty!

Foix Castle is nice, but not as grand as Carcassonne, and much smaller in size.  Views from the Foix Castle were mesmerising.

I was surprised that the almost all the shops leading towards the Foix Castle were closed, even at 3.30pm. 

I didn’t see anything else worth doing in Foix, so spending a couple hours in Foix is more than sufficient.

Perpignan

While the drive from Toulouse to Foix is filled with views of snow capped mountain, the drive from Foix to Perpignan went through mountains and was filled with gorgeous gorges. 

Perpignan is rather dead at night even on a Friday! Similar to other towns that I had been through, the historic Centre seems very dead, sometimes even during the day.  I wonder if it’s because of the season (mid February).

I checked into Hotel Du Berry, a small hotel located steps away from the main train station.  Primarily chosen, because the car rental return office is just around the corner, and it would be easier to make my way towards Barcelona where public transport is easily accessible.

The hotel owner only speaks French, so it took a lot of hand signs and body language to understand each other.  At least he was very patient and nice and very helpful. 

Even allowing me to have a very flexible checkout time the next day!