I don’t write many reviews in Booking.com, it’s too much work. Only for the places that really stand out. L’Hostalet is one of them.
This was one of the very best places we stayed in a four week driving tour in France. Mathieu texted instructions, we parked for free near the Mairie, a short walk from the BnB, and Mathieu transported our cases in his bagage triporteur. Mathieu was a great host, very friendly and helpful. The restaurant he recommended for dinner was one of the best too. Things we liked:
Convenient location in the centre of the town, large bedroom with tea/coffee making facilities and a fridge, air conditioning, comfortable bed, high quality bed linen, exhaust fan in the bathroom (surprisingly uncommon), silence (with the windows closed, but we could hear the life of the town around us with the windows open), better-than-average wifi. Nice details, including artisanal soap. Above all, the excellent breakfast, with freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit, a variety of local cheeses, breads and five varieties of home made jam, all served behind the hotel, adjacent to the Place de la Republique, as the weekly market unfolded around us.
At breakfast, we decided to stay a second night.
It turned out that Mathieu and John had tomorrow off in l’Hostalet; we could stay but there would be no breakfast. We’ll cope somehow. It seemed that we should visit Toulouse, as it is a major French city we hadn’t been to. Visiting a city requires at least two nights so you have time to sightsee, and have access to your room during the day, and use the parking provided, if any. I tried in Booking.com, for tonight and tomorrow and seemingly had a choice between a 19th century fleapit in the centre with the problem of parking the car at €2 per hour, or in the suburbs, in an industrial area with a 2km walk to the nearest train station. Even the fleapit became complet while I was looking. I had run out of options, so I tried for two nights one day later, and booked a basic BnB hotel on the Canal du Midi with free parking, near a station but only 1.5km from the centre anyway. Reading several reviews revealed no problems except the small room, so I booked it.
So, what do we do today? I had considered driving a few km to Banyuls sur Mer and Collioure then perhaps driving toward Foix and looking at a couple of the Cathar forts, or driving along the Canal du Midi from Bezieres toward Carcassonne, insofar as that is possible, but we had more or less done those last time, and stayed at Collioure. Then the idea occurred to us of staying right here. It’s only 250km to Toulouse tomorrow morning, mostly on the peage at 130km/h, so we’ll have much of the afternoon in Toulouse after we check in. It’s very pleasant here in Argeles.
We wandered around the market, which spread along most of the streets in the centre, and in Place Gambetta found the stop for the “little train” which runs between the town and the beach at irregular intervals in September. We’d just missed a run, next one at 14:20.
The breakfast area of l’Hostalet becomes a bar during the mornings, at least on market days. It was full, so we sat at the bar next door, still within range of the hotel wifi so I can write this. Perfect. Two hours later we took the afternoon little train down to the port, a km or so from the beach where we had walked yesterday.
We’d noticed that there are almost no insects so far in France. No flies, no mosquitoes.