Pech Gris is the name of the property ("lieu-dit" in french). It is located in the village of
Salles in the Lot et Garonne
(postal code: 47150).
There are several "Salles" in France. If you use a GPS, make sure you enter
the right one.
The nearest airports serviced by the main international airlines (Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, etc.) are Toulouse and Bordeaux. At these airports, you can rent a car and drive two hours to Pech Gris. You can also continue your journey by train. See further for details about traveling by train.
The nearest airport to Pech Gris is Bergerac. It has a limited number of flights, most from the U.K. Ryanair has daily flights to Bergerac out of London Stansted. The fares are very low if you book ahead of time. Make sure you check the luggage allowance as going over the limit can cost you a lot of money on low fair airlines. You can rent a car at Bergerac airport. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Salles.
As prices vary from airline to airline and from time to time you will have to do some internet research to find the cheapest fares.
Also check out the options on this page under "Least expensive from the US".
When doing our own research to get Charlotte and Will to Pech Gris, we found some great fares on cheaptickets.com.
Consider the European airlines, they have very good fares and excellent service, some will say better than the US airlines...
Include Aer Lingus and Iberia in your search.
British Airways and
Air France have an
especially useful feature that lets you see what the ticket prices are for the days before and after the date you selected. It can save you a lot of money if you are flexible in travel dates...
Check the baggage allowances for each of the airlines you take. European low cost carriers such as Ryanair charge for the luggage and usually have the lowest allowance. However, the larger airlines, such as British Airways are implementing similar policies in 2007.
Going over the baggage allowances will cost you a lot of money!
Prices vary from airline to airline and from time to time. Here are some options to consider when looking for the least expensive way to get from the US to Pech Gris.
Option #1: Consider landing at Bergerac airport. To do so, you will have to fly to Heathrow Airport on a major airline, take a bus (very easy) to Stanstedt Airport in London, and take a Ryanair flight to Bergerac Airport. If booked long enough in advance, tickets on Ryanair are very inexpensive. These two flights will have to be booked separately. Rental cars are available at Bergerac airport, and it takes about 45 minutes to drive to Salles. Allow for plenty of time to get from Heathrow to Stanstedt. The travel time is about an hour, but varies a lot depending on traffic. You will have to buy a new ticket from Ryanair if you miss the plane. The bus fare is about $25 one-way. For details see National Express.
If you plan to spend a few days in London before or after visiting Pech Gris, this is definitely a good option.
Option #2: Iberia has very competitive fares from the US to Toulouse. You will fly over Madrid, but unlike flying through London, you will be spared the hassle of having to change airports or airlines. In Toulouse or Bordeaux, you can either rent a car and drive two hours to Pech Gris, or take a shuttle to the train station and take the train to Monsempron-Libos.
If you are traveling by TGV (high speed train) from Paris or another major European city, you should travel to Agen, which is the nearest TGV station. You can then rent a car near the train station and drive to Pech Gris in Salles. It takes about one hour. If you don't rent a car, you can transfer to a local train in Agen that will take you to Monsempron-Libos, which is about 10 minutes from Pech-Gris. This is very easy to do, as the platforms and trains are clearly marked (and the train that goes to Monsempron-Libos is marked "Monsempron-Libos"). Just make sure that you purchase your ticket at the ticket counter before boarding the train, and let us know when you'll be arriving so we can pick you up!
It takes about 6 hours to drive from Paris to Pech Gris in Salles. Follow the A10. In Orléans, merge onto the A71, in Vierzon, exit onto the A20 to Limoges. What you do after that depends on personal choices: the shortest, the fastest or the touristic route. We tried them all and our choice is to maximize the use of freeways. Generally this is the fastest way to get to Pech Gris. If this is what you want to do, check out these driving directions from Paris .
If you come from the South over Toulouse, then we recommend going over Moissac rather than over Agen as some GPSs or websites will tell you to do. See the driving directions from Toulouse.
We strongly suggest that you rent a car. The region around Pech Gris is rural and not well-connected by public transportation. You can rent a car at any of the airports in the region or near the train station in Agen.
Rental cars are available from major companies (such as Hertz, Avis, Europcar) in all major cities and at all airports. Please note that most cars in Europe are manual transmission (stick shift). If you are unfamiliar with driving stick shift, you will have to specifically request an automatic transmission car which may not be available at some rental car locations and will cost you more.
Car rental near the train station in Agen: Overview | AVIS | Europcar(*) | Hertz |
(*) Europcar is the only company that has an agency in Villeneuve sur Lot, which is 30 minutes from Pech Gris. The nearest agencies of the other companies are either in Agen (1 hour driving) or at Bergerac airport (45 minutes).
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