If you have never driven a right hand drive car on the right before it isa little scary at first but you will soon get used to it. You just have to conecntrate more and get help from the passenger in front on over taking!
Motorways and N roads (route nationale) are nowhere near as busy as our roads which obviously helps!
Turning left at T junctions is the worst as you have to remember to stay on the right and roundabouts at first feel very odd.
If I managed it with three small children in the car then anyone can!
Buy a Rough Guide to France or Lonely Planet as they are excellent.
We drove through France last year (May) and just found things of interest on the way and ended up in all sorts of places we wouldn't have otherwise visited that were fantastic.
Never got to the far south so can't help you there but I'm sure someone will!
Have fun you'll love it.

Thanks Bella,
That's why I fancied driving; you end up visiting places you otherwise would have and the sites are lovely.
Thanks for the tips!

Head for Perpignan. The coast line south of the city is beautiful and mercifully free of Brits! You can then nip over the very close by Spanish border for slightly cheaper shopping. The Pyrenees are on your doorstep too.

Thanks Mags. Think I might have to make an itinery.

we;re going to perpignon on the 6th august will let you know what its like

Thanks Kev! Much appreciated. Have a great holiday.

i stayed in la grande motte a few years ago - its on the coast in the languedoc region. had a great beach holiday, not a resort popular with the british tourists - but lovely restaurants and wasn't overly busy (we stayed first two weeks in sept). some of the apartment complex's had private parking (we took the train). nearest big town is montpellier and there is a great (and cheap) bus service if you fancy a day out without the car!

we booked our accomodation through seligo - http://www.seligo.com
you can request an accomodation only brochure on their website but we managed to get one through thomas cook. in the brochure there was set arrival and departure days which didn't suit us so we managed to get contact details for the apartments we wanted to book and phoned them direct to get what suited us

Thanks Angel. Can't make up my mind where I prefer!

ok - to add to your confusion we have just returned from the Cote d'Azur, and found it to be an ideal base for lovely beaches and sightseeing - we had St Tropez and Port Grimaud to the West, Monaco, Villefranche, Eze, Grasse etc to the East. We stayed with Canvas holidays and had a mobile home with air conditioning, which I think is important at that time of year!

We didn't want the long drive down so flew Easyjet and picked up a hire car at Nice.

Gill

Sounds like a fab idea Gill. My hubby really wants me to drive (he can't!) down there in our car. In Spain you generally have to have your licence 2 years to hire a car, is this the same in France?

GQB - I don't think so, but would recommend hiring a car ex-UK (I recommend Holiday Autos) to sort out all the hassle before you leave.

Be aware that May is usually choc full of French Bank Holidays (not always on a Monday ... depends on the day they fall on!) May 1, May 8, Ascension Day (40 days after Easter (I don't yet know when that is!! always on a Thursday) and Whit Monday (different from the UK and also depends on when Easter is!!).

Also be advised that the French schools go on holiday at different times in different parts of the country, but I don't have these until the 'Rentree' in September, so you might like to take that into consideration.

Keep your thoughts flowing and I'm sure that we (HT members) can help and inform you as best we can!

Hi

You must try Port Grimaud it's lovely, my most favourite part of France. Stay clear of a place called Agde or Aged we stayed one night whilst driving through and it's awful. Also Old grimaud is really nice you can get there by taking the little train. One of our favourite places for drinks in the evening was the Long Bar at Praries de la mer campsite brilliant Happy hour there

Arl

Thanks all!

My wife and I flew to Paris early set. 2004 and stayed 3 nights. Hired a car from Avis (arranged in UK) and collected at a Paris rail station for drive to Nice. Purposely drove through Burgundy and the scenary is wonderful. Beaune was OK; not as many reasonable restaurants as I'd expected. We found one that served excellent food but was very pretentious with the wines (and very expensive). Stayed in a comfort hotel (the U.S chain) just on outskirts of Beaune. With it's outdoor pool and sunloungers it was pretty good.

We reverted to shopping in the local deli's for lunch with a bottle of very good quality Burgundy from a shop - good fun.

South of Burgundy I was disappointed by lack of accessible and appealing towns. We stayed in Nimes as a last resort as it was getting late and again had difficulty finding restaurants worth visiting.

Nice was eventual destination - there's wall to wall eating places.

I've been to france a few times, but in the south I would recommend Canet Plage on the coast near Perpignan.
Loads of places to rent depending on how much you want to spend.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g196601-Canet_en_Roussillon_Languedoc_Roussillon-Hotels.html

http://www.leguide.net/go/search/idx/4050100/mot/Canet/t/1/go.htm

and bit further over Le Lavendou
http://www.lelavandou.com/

http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/var/lavandou/lavandou.htm

http://www.holiday-rentals.com/France/Cote-dAzur-Provence/Var/Le-Lavandou-area/r660.htm

I was a nanny and stayed up the hill in Borme les Mimosa, very nice but very steep hill
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SweetHome-Green/8563/bormes.html
some pics of Borme
My French friend from Rouen owned a appartment in Le Lavendou

Thanks everyone

Chalk me up as another vote for Cote d'Azur

Stayed in Antibes, and really enjoyed travelling to lots of other local places.....and we didnt even have a car! Leave the car and jump on a train to Nice, Monaco, across into Italy, etc!

Oh yes Monaco, Nice, Antibes ( very posh) St Tropez all very nice

Yes indeed......i must have stuck out like a sore thumb then!!

The great thing about that area (we stayed at Camping du Pylone in Biot) is that it is REAL handy for the rail service......and it's an excellent rail service too!

So many places within easy reach by train!

Have to admit........seen so many good reviews of Canet Plage that i am seriously thinking about it for next year......and i might even take my new car (if i decide to buy it tomorrow!!!! )