travelin_sam

My wife and I are considering a trip to France this summer, and I was hoping I could get some suggestions. We will probably have about 8 or 9 days + 2 for flying in and out. We don't want to spend too much time in Paris, maybe a day and a half. We'd rather see some other parts of France, specifically in Southern France. My wife would like to sip wine and relax in cafes, soaking up the scene, I would enjoy seeing a little history (medieval, WWII etc) but the focus of our trip will be soaking up some atmosphere and trying some local cuisine/wine. Here are a few ideas we've come up with. I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions. We are thinking about renting a car as well and would like to keep things as inexpensive as possible. I'm open to other ideas.

Paris (2 days?)
Burgundy - Beaune (2days?) to see vineyards
Dordogne (2 days?) La Roque, Gageac, or Beynac?
Bordeaux (2 days?)

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Is it advisable to fly out of Bordeaux?

Gretchen

'way too much. Why don't you want to see Paris? For pete's sake, it IS FRANCE. Do you not think PARIS has a certain, I don't know what (je ne c'est quoi). Go to two places--maybe, but Paris should be ONE. And no, it is advisable to fly in and out of PARIS as it is a major gateway. Chances are it will be cheaper, served more, and easier to get to wherever else by some sort of transport. Eleven days is not a lot. Think about maximizing your experience rather than seeing a lot of "stuff".

StCirq

Even if you don't want to devote more time to Paris, 2 days in three places each is hardly the way to "soak up the scene." I would rent a small place in the Dordogne (it's never worth going there for just 2 days) and settle in. Spend the last night in Bordeaux if you want another city/wine experience, and take the TGV back to Paris.

nytraveler

Agree that hopping around like a ping pong ball isn;t the way to get to know anyplace - or relax in cafes or soak up the scene.

I would do half in Paris ( which has a plethora of cafe, wine and various scenes to soak up) and one other place - so you don;t spend half your time in traveling from one place to another and checking in an out of hotels.

We have found interesting wines in every part of France we've visited - and plenty of cafes to relax in.

Often, less IS more.

mamcalice

Have you been to France before? If not, spend 4 days in Paris and perhaps 4-5 in Normandy. You indicate you want to see WWII history and Normandy also provides all of your other ideas.

If you have been previously and are tired of Paris (!), do as StCirq suggests and spend a week in the Dordogne.

Gretchen

Meant to say, not advisable to fly in and out of Bordeaux.

travelin_sam

Thanks so much, everyone. I've been to Paris, and while it's a lovely city, we want to see more of the country. Right now I'm thinking Dordogne and Bordeaux. Any other suggestions for either area?

michele_d

Spend a few days in Paris and then rent a gite in the Dordogne. It is a beautiful location and there is tons to do. So many lovely little villages to roam around, castles, gardens, market days, prehistoric caves, canoeing, gabarre trips on the river. I fell in love with this area. You could be there for weeks and barely scratch the surface.

Doh

You could also do a trip on the canal de bourgogne-- visit wineries and towns along the way.

carlycat

We are flying from Montreal to Bordeaux for a 17 day trip, spending the first day in Bordeaux/St Emillion, a week in the Dordogne, then 4 days in Languedoc area before heading to Barcelona for the last 5 days and flying back from there. Prefer flying open jaw like this, I dislike having to "back track" back to a city to fly back home. You could fly in or out of Paris, stay a couple of days, then head to Dordogne area and fly back from there? Or spend the entire time in the Dordogne.

Michael

<i>You could also do a trip on the canal de bourgogne-- visit wineries and towns along the way.</i>

We saw no directly accessible wineries between St. Florentin and Monbard (the route we took), and south of Monbard there are some serious lock issues because the canal has to cross from the Seine watershed to the Saône-Rhône watershed.

MarySteveChicago

Just so you know, we are flying into CDG and departing from Lyon on our upcoming trip at no greater cost than had we flown round trip CDG.