Bon Vivants Love the Catskills’ Gallic Getaways : French innkeepers have established an enclave in Upstate New York. The dining is good, but don’t expect a floor show.

It might have been a country inn near the Pyrenees or in Bordeaux. The guest room met most of the requirements: a worn armoire, a bed covered with a fresh, white chenille spread and sufficient clearance--just enough--for a person to pass between the pieces of furniture.

Near the window was a small porcelain sink, and a 40-watt bulb wrapped in a delicate pink shade dangled over the bed. The thin carpet held the stale, faintly sweet odor of strong tobacco. Inside a small chest of drawers--no Bible, no phone book, just two matchbooks; tres Gallic.

From the window, an autumn view of blazing color, the fiery foliage of a lush hillside.

And from the kitchen downstairs, morning aromas: French roast coffee and steamed milk, the bite of a Gitane, a baguette heating in the oven.

But this is the scene about 2 1/2 hours’ drive north of the George Washington Bridge. In the Catskill Mountains. Of New York. United States of America.

And it’s not just in autumn that the area comes alive. There are activities for visitors throughout the summer, including hiking the mountain trails, bicycling, fishing, antiquing, wine-tasting and inner-tubing down the Esopus Creek.

There’s nothing formal about the French Catskills. The state of New York officially recognizes the villages of Shandaken and Mt. Tremper and Big Indian--what a name for a hometown: Big Indian. But the French Catskills exist mainly in the traveler’s lexicon, as do the Jewish Catskills and the German Catskills and the Italian Catskills.

Geographically, this region of Catskill Park, about 30 miles west of Kingston and the New York Thruway, is an hour’s drive from the Borscht Belt, from the giant resorts like the Concord and Kutcher’s and the Nevele.

In terms of attitude, though, the gap is as wide as the difference between steak tartare and brisket well-done.

Take La Duchesse Anne. It’s a creaky country house tucked in a leafy glen in the village of Mt. Tremper that’s just a right, a left and a right off New York 28, the main highway hereabouts. Nearby flows a rocky stream, and horses prance out in the back.

The gracious Martine Gaudet and her husband, Bruce Baum, run the inn with a low-key continental warmth that reflects Gaudet’s Brittany heritage. Most of La Duchesse Anne’s 18 rooms are small, cozy and inexpensive ($40-$50 a night) to rent.

The tables in the low-ceilinged, old-fashioned dining room are clothed in white under hanging plants and ceiling fans. But it’s what goes on the table that’s most impressive. I dined late one evening last fall on a glass of blanc de blanc, Martine’s Salad Esmeralda (a gorgeous ensemble of radicchio, bibb lettuce and chunks of fresh goat cheese) and a fillet of sole brushed with butter and blanketed with slivers of almonds.

“My mother and grandmother were innkeepers,” said Gaudet, resting for a moment between her trips to the kitchen to consult with chef Frederic Puichard. “We try to be a country home here. People who come feel like they are in their own living rooms.”

That’s the attitude among most of the expatriate Frenchmen who own and/or operate the half-dozen inns and restaurants snuggled here in the heart of the Catskills. There’s nothing very French-sounding about Shandaken and Big Indian, though parts of the landscape might pass for Savoy. But this part of the world has been attracting les Francais --and plenty of “foreigners” as well--for almost four decades.

One of the pioneers of this French connection was Edouard LaBeille, affectionately known as Dadou, a French fisherman who came to the States after the war. He worked for a time as a waiter at Le Pavillon, one of Manhattan’s grandest French restaurants, and vacationed in the Catskills.

In 1952, LaBeille bought an 1870 hunting lodge in Shandaken, added a restaurant and invited his pals from New York--chefs, waiters, maitre d’s, trout fishermen, foodies and food critics--to cook, gather chanterelles in the woods, and generally chill out in the home he named L’Auberge des Quatre Saisons (Inn of the Four Seasons).

Other downstate French people soon followed; Shandaken and surroundings became a kind of French colony. “We had a weekend place here some time ago,” said Marguerite Bertrand, who with her husband, Serge, now runs the immaculate kitchen at Val d’Isere, a restaurant chalet in Big Indian. “When this place was for sale, we thought it was a shame to be empty.”

Although he kept his house in the Catskills, LaBeille sold L’Auberge in 1984 (he died last year). By then, the French community in the Esopus Valley--carved out by the creek of the same name--was fully established. The current manager of L’Auberge, Liliane Hasson, estimates that about 600 French families, living here part-time and year-round, now populate the enclave.

However, the majority of visitors who come for rest and relaxation--skiing at nearby Bellayre or Hunter mountains, taking an excursion to Woodstock, engaging in a game of cards or petanque on the wide lawn at the inn--aren’t French, says Hasson.

GUIDEBOOK

The French Catskills

Getting there: By car, Shandaken and surroundings in Catskill Park are about 130 miles from New York City. Figure about 2 1/2 hours to drive to the Catskills from New York City, close enough for weekend trips or even an overnight stay during the week.

What to do: In the French Catskills, it seems, the prime activities are eating and planning the next meal. Some of the inns and restaurants are tucked in glens or situated by expanses of maples, birches and willow trees. During the summer, there’s also plenty of hiking, bicycling, fishing and antiquing, plus dozens of wineries to visit, a scenic train ride and inner-tube rides down the Esopus Creek through September (rent a tube for $10 from the Town Tinker in Phoenicia, 914-688-5553).

In the fall, there are good foliage viewing possibilities along New York 28, and from a number of smaller two-lane roads off 28. And in winter, there’s skiing at nearby Bellayre and Hunter mountains.

The artists’ colony of Woodstock is a year-round attraction for hippie wanna-bes in search of tie-dyed T-shirts, handmade jewelry and tres cher women’s clothing.

Upcoming activities in the Catskills include:

* A miniature Oktoberfest opens on the weekends of Oct. 2 and 9 as part of the Hunter Mountain Autumn Showcase. Plenty of oompah music and beer will be on hand at the ski area’s base lodge. Other Autumn Showcase festivities include an antique auto show Sept. 12, a toy and hobby show Sept. 18-19, and a Celtic Fair Sept. 25-26. During the fall, the Hunter Mountain Skyride will operate a chairlift for sky-high views. For details, call (518) 263-3800.

* The Harvest Moon Festival near the Hudson River Maritime Museum on the Kingston waterfront. Music by folk singer Pete Seeger and several other bands, plus boat rides, maritime history displays, crafts and food booths, and games for the kids. Sept. 12, noon to 5 p.m.; (914) 338-0071.

The fall color in the Catskills usually peaks around the first two weeks of October, prime time in much of central New York state as well. The state Department of Economic Development is inaugurating its foliage color telephone reports on Sept. 16; telephone (800) CALL-NYS.

Where to stay: L’Auberge des Quatre Saisons on New York 42 in Shandaken is open daily through October, with chalet rooms and miniature accommodations in the inn. Rates are $40-$80, double occupancy. For a room including breakfast and dinner, rates start at $55 per person. Call (914) 688-2223.

The Val d’Isere, on New York 28 in Big Indian, has five guest rooms at $40 a night, including breakfast for two. After Labor Day, the inn is open for dinner daily except Monday and Tuesday. (914) 254-4646.

At La Duchesse Anne in Mt. Tremper, Martine Gaudet’s small but snug rooms, with shared bath, rent for $40-$60 a night, double. The splendid dining room is open daily except Wednesday for dinner. (914) 688-5260.

The fancy Shandaken Inn, just west of Shandaken on 28, is open weekends only year-round (except for the months of April and December). (914) 688-5100.

Where to eat: Yvonne’s, on 28 near Phoenicia, now celebrating its 21st year as a roadside bistro, is open weekends only in the fall; (914) 688-7340. Sweet Sue’s breakfast room in Phoenicia, open daily 7 a.m.-2:45 p.m., offers wonderful fluffy fruit pancakes and exotic French toast; (914) 688-7852.

For more information: Contact the New York state tourism office--Discover NY, Box 992, Latham, N.Y. 12110, (800) 225-5697 or (518) 474-4116.