Review of Tour de France Special Offer...

by a Participant

My boyfriend and I decided that our first big vacation together was going to include a destination where we could watch the Tour de France. Research on the options available ranged from expensive to ridiculous and lots of them included LOTS of riding. He would have loved to ride, but I wasn't sure I could hang.

We attempted to plan our own tour visit, but if you have never been before, you really don't know what to expect (what time do the roads close? What time do the riders come by? How do you get there? Where do you go? so many questions and no real way to find out if you don't speak French!) So when he came across the Villa Noue website, we knew we were in the right place! The package was right up our alley. Small bed and breakfast with a small group, visiting several of the tour stops during our stay.

"The tour was amazing..."

The tour was amazing, we went to several different Col's, getting there early enough to scout out a great location for viewing the cyclists. Sue even had pre-scouted the spots for us and all the locations we went to had a small bar where you could get beer or wine and coffee, I think there were usually snacks there too, but we had no need for that! We were always given a proper picnic lunch (and we aren't talking a cheese sandwich, chips and a coke) but amazing potato salad, tomato salad, etc... along with a bottle of wine, proper plates and silverware and even the checkered table cloth. I thought for a moment that Sue might pull a candelabra and a man with a violin out from the back of the car as well! There were always plenty of snacks to be had and a little cooler of drinks for a relaxing afternoon.

The house is just amazingly cute, the rooms are just what you would imagine in a home in the French Country side, quaint and comfy and always super clean. Sue is a machine that lives, eats and breathes the inn (just not sure when she SLEEPS!), and Cornelius is an amazing cook (and makes a mean Irish Coffee if you are lucky!). They were extremely gracious hosts and interesting to talk to and learn about their lives at the Inn and before they started the Villa Noue. Anything we needed, they would try to find it for us!

"This was a wonderful place to have a lovely meal with friends after a long day..."

We had a different type of trip then most might plan when coming to the Inn, but you were expected to be on time for meals and on time for the ride to the day's location. I don't think that is out of the ordinary for the Inn in general, so if you are looking for a place to laze about and show up for dinner whenever you feel like it, you might prefer something that has a large staff that can accommodate each guest's whims and desires. This was a wonderful place to have a lovely meal with friends after a long day and go to sleep early in anticipation of another early morning.

I wish we could make a trip to the Tour a yearly tradition, and if we could manage that, the Villa Noue is a great base camp for just such a trip.

Written by Sarah

Tour de France Special Holiday Offer

"We were always given a proper picnic lunch (and we aren't talking a cheese sandwich, chips and a coke) but amazing potato salad, tomato salad, etc... along with a bottle of wine, proper plates and silverware and even the checkered table cloth.

I thought for a moment that Sue might pull a candelabra and a man with a violin out from the back of the car as well!"