History & Medieval

Where would be the best area of France to visit for someone who likes history and medieval towns.

Is there an area with several medieval towns, like the Romantic Road in Germany?

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A huge portion of France dates to well before medieval times.

Close to Paris you have Provins, an entire city dating from the medieval era. The Loire Valley (Val de Loir) is dotted with chateaux built as party palaces -- with Blois, the oldest, dating to the reign of Francois I.

Provence has ruins dating to the Roman era -- and since then.

That%26#39;s just three off the top of my head...there is more than could ever be discussed in detail here.

Take a look at what you%26#39;d like to see...then we can help you further.

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There are loads of mediaeval villages sometimes perched on hilltops for defensive reasons in the Cote d%26#39;azur

Most of the famous towns actually on the Cote d%26#39;azur have mediaeval old towns - Nice has a huge one , also Antibes, cannes, Haut de cagnes, Villeneuve-Loubet Village, Grasse, etc

Plus Eze village, la Turbie, St Paul de Vence, Vence, la Colle sur Loup, Tourettes sur Loup, Villefranche-sur-mer, Tourettes-Levens, Levens, carros Village, Coaraze , Tende, la brigue, Sospel , Breil sur Roya, peille, Peillon, Aspremont, Gourdon, Valbonne, Biot, gattieres, Ste jeannet, Mougins, St martin vesubie, Entrevaux etc etc etc all easily reachable from Nice

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Almost every village, town, and city in France has a medieval core. You really need to read a good guide book to work out which areas are of interest to *you*.

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Thanks for the information.

Someone once told me that one of his favorite sections in Europe was near the Pyrenees, and had many medieval and colorful towns. Is this so, and what would be the towns, or the area to research?

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ALL of France has a lot of history - the oldest known cave paintings were found in France (Dordogne), and what we now call France has been continually inhabited for the last 20,000 years.

Lots and lots of history has taken place in France -- two world wars, the Napoleonic era, the French revolution, the families of kings, military might and global imperialism, Leonardo da Vinci, the chateaux, music, art, and food, Joan of Arc...the Gauls, the Romans, invasions from a number of different directions....and that%26#39;s just what pops up in the short time it takes to type this paragraph.

Get ahold of a good guide book (I like the DK Eyewitness series)...and a history book...and find where you would like to visit...the history oozes out of every stone you walk on, so find a place you%26#39;d like to see first...you can%26#39;t avoid history here.

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Traveljoy, I think the town you are thinking of is the one I%26#39;m in at the moment.

Carcassonne is a wonderfully preserved medieval town and is a UNESCO protected site. The medieval area is called La Cite and is beautiful.

Its in the Cathars area, an area steeped in history.

Carcassonne is in the South West of France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne