Thanks Guys,
Yeah, i've done the ferry and driving thing before, but both previous journeys were only as far as a site called les charmettes near La Rochelle. That journey was managable, so i'm hoping that we would be close to Bordeaux (although busier on a friday and arriving at 10:30am) at around 6 or 7pm. Dont know how reasonable this would be. Our destination is near Carcasonne(La Carabasse) and we need to be there around 3pm the next day. Nantes wouldn't be far enough on the first day. The ring road hotels near the airport sounds like a good place to start looking..