Ned Boulting's alternative Tour de France

Broadcaster Ned Boulting has been following the Tour de France, which starts on Saturday, for almost a decade ? plenty of time to look beyond the race. Here he chooses some of his favourite hotels, restaurants and small towns on this year's routeThe Guardian's interactive guide to the 2011 Tour de FranceIt's a very French Tour de France this year, which isn't as daft as it might sound. In 2007 the race started in London, last year it all kicked off in Rotterdam, and the route happily takes in other neighbours such as Spain, Switzerland and Belgium from time to time. But this year, save for a little excursion across the Alps into Italy, it's gone all Franco-navel-gazing.That often means that it will touch some of the lesser-visited regions of France. In fact, it gets under way on the Passage-du-Gois (stage 1), a causeway which leads from the Vend�e mainland to the spit of low-lying salty land called Noirmoutier. At high tide the road disappears completely. It's a curiously beautiful place, buffeted by the winds whipping off the Bay of Biscay. The last time the Tour went there, I was presented with a small bag of salt from the local tourist board. It lasted years, and was an extraordinary delight. Sometimes I would lick a finger and just dip it into the bag to taste the stuff ? a heady perfumed hit of the ocean.From there, the route passes through Brittany (stages 4 and 5), very close to a campsite which I will be visiting as soon as the race is over for a two-week break with my family. We've been there three times. I'm almost reluctant to publicise it. Camping des Bruyeres (+33 2 98 79 71 76, from ?16 per night), near Le Clo�tre-Saint-Th�gonnec, Finistere, is gloriously isolated, utterly peaceful and exudes a kind of new-age feeling of well-being that makes you come over all Glastonbury without getting muddy. Judi, the Cornish lady who runs it, allows you to light huge wood fires every night (there's a touch of the pyromaniac about her), and every now and then loads up all the kids from the campsite into the back of her battered van to go scavenging at the local municipal dump. Heaven.Then we will be spending a few days knocking around in the Auvergne (stage 9). I once spent a week in a farmhouse near Pleaux. It was as close to the 19th century as I am ever likely to get without the aid of time travel. Our neighbour Madame Magne still lived in a house with a dirt floor and chickens and geese running around her living space. Her son taught me and my friend Josh to scythe. We spent a day trying to clear a yard of overgrown grasses. It took him about 20 minutes. This part of the world can be can be very damp and very green. But Figeac and Aurillac (which hosts the start of stage 10 this year) are among the prettiest towns I've ever visited.From there we head south to Pau (the start of stage 13). Maybe not a "hidden gem", but an interesting place to visit, with its views across the plain to the mountains of the Pyrenees. Invariably the Tour spends a day resting here ? it is the perfect launch pad for the mountains. It seems to be the nexus of all the drugs busts on the Tour. Rasmussen, Vinokourov, Contador ... even Bradley Wiggins' team was sent home from Pau. Stay in the outstanding Hotel Bristol (+33 5 59 27 72 98, hotelbristol-pau.com, doubles from ?81) on rue Gambetta in the middle of town; it's been beautifully refurbished and is run by the friendliest couple on earth. If you remember, over breakfast, ask them if they recall the British TV crew that spent a few chaotic nights there in July 2007. I bet they do.Bagn�res-de-Bigorre. A little spa town in the Pyrenees (near the start of stage 14) which is home to the Laurent Fignon Centre. The great French two-times champion who died last year ran a facility for cycling tourists, from which you can ride out over all the famous Tour climbs. Last time we went there, on last year's Tour we spent the night in the Villa Rose (+33 5 62 34 09 84, villarose65.com, doubles ?150 B&B first night and ?100 subsequent nignts), a boutique hotel so exquisite it made me want to weep with shame as I unpacked my stinking Tour suitcase in its fragrant rooms. A mother and daughter team run it, as well as a home furnishing and antiques shop next door. That's where the decor comes from. Amazing.Montpellier (which hosts stage 15, the team time trial) can be a bit of a mixed bag, and fills up a bit much for my liking. Try not to stay anywhere near the place de la Comedie. But there is one must: a dusty little wine-obsessed restaurant/cellar on rue Collot called the Caves Jean Jaur�s (+33 4 67 60 27 33, around ?30 without wine). Eat there, and drink their wine, with expert somellier service (their ex-somellier Richard has now sadly gone on to the swanky La Tour d'Argent in Paris, but his replacement seems just as competent). The wines are thick and mostly from the south-west. Don't bother looking at the menu ? just order the gazpacho and then the cassoulet. Nothing else matters.The Alps (stages 17, 18 and 19). Each Tour passes through them. But I'll leave the enthusiasm for others. I know they have their fans, but they are not for me. In the summer heat, and especially during the Tour, the mountains simply clog up with human navel fluff. And the food is no good. Cheese and oily meat. Rubbish. And wooden chalets.And so to Paris (stage 21). Plenty of local little tips, including a tiny meat-orientated bistro called La Coude a Coude (46 rue Saint-Honore, +33 1 40 28 15 64) and the anarchist (literally) Le Temps des Cerises (31 rue de la Cerisaie, +33 1 42 72 08 63), where I was once rugby tackled by a waiter. But this is my favourite tip: The Hotel Alison (+33 1 42 65 54 00, hotelalison.com, doubles ?122), where we have always stayed, is near the place de la Madeleine. It was expensively kitted out in the 1970s and has been beautifully maintained ever since. The carpets are deepest chocolate brown, a lot of the other fabrics tend towards orange. The whole thing looks like something out of Mrs Robinson's boudoir in the Graduate. Each bedroom has rubberized ceilings which wobble when you throw something up at them. I stole an ashtray last time I was there. Just as a souvenir. But it's really nice.? Read the Guardian review of How I Won The Yellow Jumper by Ned BoultingFranceCycling holidaysTour de France 2011Tour de FranceCyclingFitnessCyclingFood and drinkHotelsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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