Hey All!
We are traveling to France for our honeymoon during late May 2013. We will be flying in to and out of Paris. We will be staying for 21 days and would like to tour France with short stops in Switzerland, Belgium and maybe a bordering city in Italy (we have both been to central and southern regions) and/or Spain. We are in our 30s and appreciate visiting places that are off the beaten path.
In Paris, we will more than likely only visit one of the big museums (Orsay) and leave the rest of the time for walking tours, experiencing culture and street art. After we leave there, we will be using the train and will be renting a car to drive through the country. We are also open to kayaking and cycling (about 20 miles max). So far we want to see places such as Corisca, Etreat, Dordogne River, The Gorges of the Ardèche and Alsace. We are interested in activities such as wine tasting, cycling in Languedoc and going on an Art Nouveau walking tour in Paris. We prefer Chinque terre over the Riveria. So in short, we would like to hit a few of the must see tourist spots while experiencing a lot of culture and landscape views.
We like food, wine, street art, architecture, interior design, landscapes and music.
I'd love to hear any advice on things to do in Paris etc based on our likes, must see towns/overnight stays in the country and if you have any suggestions on our itinerary.
Thank you, I'll appreciate any help. Let me know if I need to be more specific on anything!
Honeymoon 3 Weeks in France - Off the Beaten Path
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Forgot to mention that we travel around quickly, so a 3-4 day stay in Paris will probably be good with us.
okay, I know Paris fairly well. For an Art Nouveau walking tour, you need to go over to the 16th arrondisement, south of the Passy metro basically. That is where Guimard lived and there are a lot of buildings in that area designed by him (including where he lived). Sure, there are some others, but that would be the best concentrated area for a walking tour. You can probably find something online to describe such a route. If not, I know they have some walking tour books for sale in the Musee d'Orsay bookshop as I bought one in there on this exact topic ( the title is Promenades d'Architecture de Paris). I did find one route online, also. This is a page with lots of info on Art Nouveau buildings in Paris and their location http://artnouveau.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/villes/paris/bestof.htm
Not sure what you mean about street art, actually. There are some sculptures in various parks, such as some by Maillol in the Tuileries gardens, eg http://www.petit-patrimoine.com/fiche-petit-patrimoine.php?id_pp=75101_6
There is a fairly new architecture museum in Paris over in the Trocadero area which I suggest you see. It is pretty good and that's a good area to view the Eiffel Tower, anyway (and the Marine museum over there is interesting, also). This is their website http://www.citechaillot.fr/en/
There is good food all over Paris, so you won't have any trouble finding that.
I'm not clear on how you are fitting Switzerland into your trip, but you might consider the Lausanne-Vevey-Montreux area. They are actually fairly easy to get to by fast train from France. I think I took the TGV from Lausanne to Strasbourg or Dijon, don't remember exactly, either is possible. Of course if you do want to do some wine thing (not sure what that consists of that you want), you could take the TGV from Paris to Dijon/Beaune, then on to Lausanne/Vevey or Montreux.
If you want a guided walking tour in English, I believe Paris Walks has some that are Art Nouveau, they are pretty cheap, you can see what they have to offer. http://www.paris-walks.com/
So let's say you spend 5 days in Paris. That leaves you with 15 days (+1 final one in Paris) to see "places such as" Belgium, Switzerland, Corsica, Cinque Terre, Alsace, the Languedoc, the Dordogne, Etretat, and the Ardèche Gorges...places that are literally all over the map. You're going to need to narrow down that list and select a more concentrated group of places to visit. Any one of those places could be considered a "must see," depending on a person's interest, and few of them, especially if you're just passing through, are "off the beaten path." If you really want to get off the beaten path, you'll need to pick one or two of those destinations and get way out on the back roads.
Look up the many photo essays by Kerouac, connected through this board (you can find him through the advanced search mechanism at the top right of this page.) He has a keen eye for both society and history.
For your remaining 15 days take the TGV to Bordeaux, pick up a car and do a tour of southwestern France, with maybe a dip into Basque country on the Spanish side of the border. It would give you a taste of the Altantic coast, the Pyrenees, and you could end your trip by spending a few days in the Dordogne and then taking the train from Brive-la-Gaillarde back to Paris. You might be interested in my June 2011 trip report that starts in Bordeaux; click on my name to find it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157627163616289/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157623717915043/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157623164797649/show/
Leaving out Etratat (far north of any other location) and Corsica (far our in the water from anywhere else) and without even sideswiping Italy or Swizterland - you have about 22 hours required to drive the following route (after taking the train to Brive - la - Gaillarde to start your driving in the Dordogne;
Brive-la-Gaillarde - Sarlat - Ardeche - Strasbourg - Brugge - Paris
You can sideswipe Luxembourg with this routing but you need to decide if you want to drive 22 hours to cover even a limited version of your original wish list.
As for recommended must sees/stops along the route - I named them in the routing (except Ardeche).
If you want to add in Italy and Switzerland, you could veer east and hit Aosta and Chamonix for about 26 hours driving, or Turin and Lake Como and Lucerne to make it 27 hours driving.
That would mean an average of about 2.5 hours driving in your 10-11 non Paris days. If you stay 3 days in each stop, then you would be looking at some 7 hour plus driving days.
If you want to cut it down, let us know and we can narrow down the advice.