fishskis

I am going to Paris in early October. I am booked for 9 nights, and I would like to spend a total of 5 or 6 nights in Paris, and take about a 3 day trip somewhere else that is relatively easy to get to. (My ticket is in and out of Paris, and I cannot change this). I am a 41 year old male traveling alone; I tend to like cities, but I am open to anything. I love to drive, and open to driving, training or flying; though I am a little concerned about "burning" two days with flying (getting to the airport, delays, getting from the airport etc.)

Among the places I have not been that I am considering:
- Driving to the Loire Valley (is this too "coupley"?) and Mont St. Michel and maybe Normandy(?)/Brittany.
- Driving (or training) to Strasbourg.
- Flying to Krakow.

Any advice on the above, or other suggestions would be appreciated.

rex

Isn't everything "too coupley"?

Strasbourg seems like a good idea. Or Dijon? Or Avignon?

Best wishes,

Rex

fishskis

Well yes, Rex, most places are too "coupley" - but some places are "uber-coupley"; I have found cities to be a lot more condusive to my solo travels. For some reason, I just have a feeling that The Loire Valley will be this romantic weekend couples-only kind of place. I love architecture, and I would really like to see some of the chateaux, but will I be bored and out of place as a single man? Are the Loire cities (Le Mans, Angers, Tours) interesting/beautiful/fun? I am just completely unfamiliar with this part of France (and Brittany and Normandy as well).

I was supposed to go to Strasbourg earlier this year, but plans changed. It is a definite possibility.

Christina

I agree, I know exactly what fishskis means. Many places are not coupley at all, like cities. Whether couple-y or just something a solo person is not likely to get that excited about doing, I would put the Loire Valley into that camp, myself, probably. FOr two days, it's not bad, I'd say, though. But you have to really really like chateaux, I'd say. I'm not that crazy about just looking at many of them all day, that's not that interesting to me. Big old stone houses for rich people or royalty. A lot of them don't have that much to see, inside, either, although some are better preserved or have more original artifacts/furniture than others.

Anyway, I think you have to really know your interests. If you mark off the flying as taking up too much time (maybe not, I just flew from Krakow to Paris, and Krakow airport is small and there is a new airport bus that goes right from in from into the train station in town. Paris isn't, unfortunately, so that is the hassle there. The flight is less than two hours, as I recall, at least not more.

If I were you or in your shoes, I'd do the Strasbourg thing. I have been there and liked it, and it's just enough for a couple days and a nice contrast to Paris.

nytraveler

It really depends on your interests.

but I don;t see anything couply about the Loire - and if it were me that's what I would do - rent a car, book a central private chateau and just explore.

ira

Hi F,

A couple of nights in Dijon/Beaune might be nice.

wug

My vote goes for Normandy and the D-Day beaches. It is easy to get around, beautiful countryside, extremely interesting and moving history and really nice people. There are many museums to visit and sites to see. You could definitely fill a few days and it's definitely not too coupley.

We've done this as a day trip from Paris and also have spent four days in the area, renting a car and going at our own speed, staying in gites.

Gretchen

I'd choose a destination that has a direct TGV train back to CDG. Avignon and Provence would fill that--as well as others that I don't know about.