travel/lodging

I highly recommend "Camping and Caravaning in France" as it gives most of the camp sites with locations, amenities, rates and directions to get there. You can probably order it online from Amazon.com or Borders.com or some other online book source. It is worth every penny!

You can get info on Hostels by clicking on the blue and red France.com at the top of this page. On the home page, look on the right side of your screen and click on Hostels.

Very reasonable but a bit classier than hostels are the Logis de France small hotel chain. They are in every town and village in France and have rates ranging from super cheap so pretty expensive. There are photos and usually the hotel web sites under each listing. We use these all the time and usually book through the Logis de France web site. http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/

Another good source for inexpensive rooms is http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/ the Gites de France. These usually have to be booked for a week, but not always, especially the B&B ones.

If you haven't already bought the rail ticket, consider leasing a car since you are staying for a month. Both Peugeot and Renault have lease programs for stays of more than 17 days. You are allowed to drive into both Spain and Italy. No matter whether lease or rental, book before you leave the US as it is much less expensive.

Have a great trip.

rgalaviz: If you are from the USA, reserve the car while in the USA. It will be considerably cheaper. Pay for things with a debit card if possible. Second choice would be credit card. These give you the best exchange rate. I'm not sure where the T de F goes in the Pyrenees this year. I don't think they are going over the Col d'Tourmaillet (sp?). In any event it is a gorgeous area and it will definately be crowded as they are passionate about the TdF. Wine is amazingly good and inexpensive (relatively) in the region. You can never overplan and I can't think of many hazards. The people are great, the food is great, the signage is great, the roads are great. I really can't think of too many downsides other than the weak dollar. Donerail