Stay Smarter

A crucial tip for staying at Hotel de France et de Russie is to ask for a room either facing the garden or the inner courtyard. The hotel is located on the N21, which carries all that heavy truck and holiday traffic any time of day or night. It can get quite noisy in those front rooms, particularly during summer when one wants to leave the windows open for some air at night. The difference between sitting in a garden-side room and not being able to sleep because of noise is huge-it's peaceful, green, quiet-and yes, sleep does come.

Book a table at the restaurant, L’Escapade, when you book your room. It is one of the most sought–after dining places in this area and happens to be fully booked quite often by locals who come here to celebrate special occasions. The “Menu Terroir” provides the best value most of the time-a tasting tour through all the local classic dishes. Prepare yourself for a heavy meal; portions are generous and big, served with much duck fat-lunch should be light before!

If you are visiting in the winter months (November to February), check the dates for "Marche au Gras" (Fat Market) and truffle markets. These constitute the social calendar of the town. Hotels will be busy with traders and buyers during this period, a fact most often overlooked by tourists sniffing out the last real provincial French hotel experience. Also here, as in so many traditional French provincial hotels, reception might close for a couple of hours in the afternoon; if you're planning on arriving between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., call them beforehand to make sure you can get in.