France Special: Q&A

The Independent Parent: Your questions answered

Q We have rented a house near St Rémy-de-Provence for two weeks in July. We are taking our car on the Eurostar to Calais but, rather than do the long journey all in one go, we thought we would take a few days to show our two daughters a bit more of France. What we would like are some suggestions for accommodation en route. We would like to stay in a château for a night as a special treat.

S Wheeler, Kent

A You don't give an indication of what route you are taking, but I assume you might go via Reims and Dijon on your journey to Provence.

As a starting point, I would suggest you take a look at the website of Logis de France (00 33 1 45 84 83 84; www.logisdefrance.com), an association of over 3,581 hotels-restaurants all over the country. This has a convenient tool for theming your search according to your requirements, such as natural settings, distinctive properties, location and, conveniently in your case, family rooms. For instance, a search for family-friendly hotels in the Marne department of Champagne and Ardennes uncovered La Source du Py (00 33 3 26 68 21 64), a small, pretty hotel situated in the village of Sommepy, 35km from Reims. A family room sleeping four costs €82.30 (£52) per night, including breakfast.

To find a château, I suggest you take a look at another website: www.chateauxhotels.com. Again, this is a collection of hotels and B&Bs, dotted throughout the French countryside – except in this case, they are all located in châteaux. Many of the properties are happy to accept children and more often than not, there's the opportunity for adults to indulge in some serious gastronomy and wine tasting. You can search using an interactive map, or by inputting your criteria according to an array of symbols. One property that caught my eye, was the Château de Saulon in the village of Saulon-la-Ru in the heart of Burgundy, 25km from Dijon. I'm sure your daughters would be only too happy to play princesses for the night in this 17th-century castle, with its very own pool. Family rooms sleeping four cost €95 (£60) per night, including breakfast.

Finally, if you would prefer to adopt a more old-fashioned search method, I suggest you buy one of Alastair Sawday's excellent guides, French Hotels, Inns & Other Places (£11.99) or French Bed & Breakfast (£14.99) from Sawday Publishing (01275 464891; www.sawdays.co.uk) and get thumbing.