Paris & Cote d'Azur Trip report

Old Apr 24th, 2017, 10:51 AM
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hga
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Paris & Cote d'Azur Trip report

Hi all,

I have always benefited so much from this forum here on Fodors that I thought it would be helpful to submit a detailed report of my recent trip to France – hopefully other travelers can find some helpful pieces of information in here.…….

SUMMARY:
We spent 7 full days in France – 2 days in Paris, 2 days in Strasbourg and 3 days in Cote D’azur. It was a family of 4 - my husband and I with our 2 boys, aged 12 and 9. We flew from New York to Paris. And back from Nice to New York. We went in April 2017, and lucked out with the weather – it was mostly sunny and warm during the day, so we just needed light jackets in the morning/night.
I will give my opinion on places we saw in this report – in case any of that is useful to you. (Of course others may have different viewpoints

What you won’t find in this trip report is any information on museums (we decided to skip those completely this time). Or about restaurants (we are vegetarian and not into fine dining, so we stopped and ate wherever we happened to be). I will say this though, that the food in France is amazing – very fresh and flavorful. The small cafes worked out very well for us. In Nice, we had breakfast and dinner at our hotel every day, which was also fabulous.

We took public transportation in Paris – metros and cabs. (Uber didn’t work out well for us due to language issues in finding the uber driver in busy locations). In Cote d’Azur, we had rented a car. If you decide to drive there, keep a lot of change with you for the tolls (though they take credit cards also). And watch out for the crazy roundabouts – factor in extra travel time because you probably will screw up a bit when taking those!! And if you don’t already know, gas is much more expensive in France than in the US.

We mostly used google maps while on-the-go, to figure out which way to walk, or drive, or from where to take the metro to reach our destinations. We hadn’t pre-planned the routes before-hand, except maybe the starting point of each day.

PARIS (1.5 days = Monday/Tuesday)

MONDAY:
(Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees)

We reached Paris CDG at Noon on MONDAY. By the time we settled into our hotel (Novotel Tour Eiffel) and headed out sightseeing, it was 3:00pm. We went directly to the Eiffel Tower, and climbed the steps all the way to the 2nd level – 669 steps. It was surprisingly easy and quick. The whole thing from going up to coming down (including eating a snack at level 1, and taking lots of pictures at both levels) was 1 hour. I had to stop a couple of times briefly to rest, but my husband and kids were able to climb without stopping. Lots of kids/families were doing it - I would highly recommend this, rather than waiting in long lines to take the elevator. We did not go to the summit, but the 2nd level also had great views. You have to buy tickets directly over there if you want to climb the steps (you can’t do it in advance on their website), and that took us 45 mins to wait in line and buy the tickets. The stairwell is completely encased so you don’t feel nervous/scared at any point that you will fall off. Also, they are wide enough, with several landing areas along the way to stop and rest.

After the Eiffel Tower, we took a 10 min cab ride to Arc de Triomphe. Took a few pictures, and walked down Champs-Elysees all the way. I didn’t find anything special about that (although my best friend had highly recommended it). My personal recommendation would be that you just drive by the Arc and Champs-Elysse if you want to see it, or skip it altogether. Champs-Elysse is just a lot of stores & restaurants on either side of a very broad avenue/street. After that, we took a taxi back to our hotel.

(Side note on Batobus - We tried to use the Batobus to go to the Eiffel tower and sight-see from the river, but getting the tickets got complicated from our starting point near our hotel, which was the ‘Beaugrenelle station’. They kept sending us from the pier to the shopping mall to the pier again to buy tickets. Also, there can be 15-20 min wait for the boats to arrive. And it takes very long to go from point-to-point in the boat. Walking is much faster. They also stop running them at 7:00 pm at night. So I don’t think the Batobus would work well if you have a short time in Paris).

My cousin did the Seine river cruise at night during her trip, and she raved about that experience. But I did not have time to that personally.

TUESDAY:
(Catacombs, Luxembourg gardens, Notre Dame, Berthillon Ice cream, Le Marais, Louvre (outside only – it was closed) Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.)

We had reservations for the Catacombs at 10:00 am, which is when they open – bought the tickets directly on their website. We took the metro there, and reached at 9:50 am. There was a separate line for people with tickets. We got in very quickly. We had also ordered the audio-guide while buying the tickets – that was excellent, and very helpful to have. The tombs were a bit freaky initially to see all the skulls and bones, but then you get used to it. Not scary at all – just strange. The whole tour took us 1 hour – we were out by 11:00 am. My kids liked it, but weren’t blown away like some other people were. It is still a nice and different experience. There are lots of steps to go down and back up again. And the exit is in a different place than the entrance.

We walked from there to the Luxembourg Gardens, and that felt like a long walk for my kids. At the gardens, the kids rented the wooden sail boats that you push around the pond with a stick. They enjoyed doing that for a while. The gardens are beautiful and worth a quick visit if you have the time. We grabbed lunch right outside the gardens at a café. Then walked from there to Notre Dame. The line outside was very long but moved very quickly. There was a separate line to climb the dome, and we didn’t do that.

From there, we wandered to the other island (Ill de la Cite) and accidentally found ourselves right outside the famous Berthillon Ice cream shop. So we grabbed ice cream there – there wasn’t much of a line. I didn’t find the ice cream anything extra special, but then I am not an ice cream lover to begin with, so maybe I just couldn’t appreciate it.

We crossed over to see the neighborhood of Le Marais after that. Wandered through a few charming cobblestone streets. But the kids were too tired at this point so we didn’t spend much time there. We took a taxi to the Louvre and took some pictures outside. It was closed that day.

Then we took the metro to Sacre Coeur/Montmartre. There are a LOT of steps from the metro station (Abbesses) to come up to the street. But the Montmartre neighborhood is very charming. We took the funicular from there up to Sacre Coeur (the metro ticket works for the funicular). And that is a beautiful church with amazing views. My husband and older son also climbed up to the tomb (for an extra fee). If you had to choose to do any of the churches, I would recommend Sacre Coeur over Notre Dame.

STRASBOURG (Wednesday – Thursday afternoon)

We left on Wednesday morning for Strasbourg via Eurostar/ICE train. We went to visit friends there, and stayed at their home. I don’t have much to report here, except that Strasbourg is a lovely, charming city if you chose to visit it. I highly recommend the boat tour there, which gives a good overview of the city and has some very informative commentary to go with it. You also get to see the locks work in real time on the river, which is quite exciting!

COTE D’AZUR (Thursday PM – Monday AM)
Places covered: Nice, St Paul de Vence, Antibes, Cap d’Antibes, Monaco, Menton, Eze, Cannes & Canyon Forest

Thursday evening:
We flew to Nice airport and arrived there at 5:00 pm. Went to our hotel directly and stayed in for the rest of the evening. We stayed 4 nights at the Novotel Antibes-Sophia-Antipolis, located in Valbonne. It is 20 mins from Nice Airport and 20 mins from the town of Antibes as well. There isn’t anything else around the hotel, since it is mostly a business district there. But we chose it for the free parking. Also the hotel is in a beautiful, woodsy setting; the restaurant is lovely with an outside patio seating area; and the food is amazing. Rooms are standard and comfortable. If you have children, they have lots of activities for kids – outdoor pool, tennis court, ping-pong table, billiards table, small playground for little kids.

FRIDAY:
(Nice & St Paul de Vence)

After breakfast at the hotel, we went directly to Nice. We were lucky enough to find parking in Vieille Ville (Old town). Walked around Vieille Ville, explored the flower/fruit market there. Then crossed over to Promenade des Anglais. Then walked back through old town to the base of the Colline du Château (our car was also parked there). We climbed up from there – about a 15-20 min climb to the top. The waterfall is lovely as is the classic view of Nice that you see on all the postcards. Vieille Ville is very charming with lots of little shops and cafes. Promenade des Anglais is busy, but you have to stop by and see it once at least. There are plenty of bikes to rent and ride if you want. The beach is pebbly and narrow and didn’t look fun to me.

Around 3pm we left Nice and drove to St Paul de Vence. It is a very charming, very touristy hilltop medieval village. Lots of narrow, winding, cobblestone lanes to explore, with lots of art galleries and chachka shops. We spent a couple of hours there. We had parked near the bus parking area which also had a metered car parking area. We came back to the hotel from there.

SATURDAY:
(Canyon forest, Antibes, Cap d’Antibes)

We first went to the Canyon Forest (located in Villeneuve-Loubet), which was only 15 mins from our hotel. There are lots of fun adventure activities for kids to do there – ziplining, rock climbing, ropes over tree tops, walking on logs/tightropes etc. It is perfect for kids over 9+ years and adults as well. (For younger kids, you could also explore the Pitchoun forest or Le Village de Fous which is in the same area with fun activities). We chose to do the green course, which is the easiest. There are 4 levels you can choose from. I was terrified to do it, but really got into in after the first few obstacles. My boys absolutely LOVED it and this was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for them!! The older one also did a few more obstacles in the red course which is the next level up. If you are in the Nice/Antibes area with kids, I would highly recommend going to the Canyon/Pitchoun forest area. We were there
for 4 hours, from 11:30 am – 3:30 pm, although people can usually finish in 3 hours. Make reservations in advance if you are going during a busy period. Also, going in the morning is better than in the afternoon – it was getting really crowded by the time we finished.

After that, we drove to Antibes (20 mins south of Canyon forest). Had an early dinner at a café in the main town square. Walked around town and shopped at the Maxi Bazar (their local inexpensive store of household items). We had reached too late to see any of the sights in Antibes, so I can’t comment on that. Antibes felt like a nice medium-size town to me, although lot of the comments on fodors said it was very small. But there were plenty of shops and restaurants all over. Then we went to Cap d’Antibes and just drove around there. Cap d’Antibes was amazing with the mansions and beautiful homes. I would highly recommend going there to soak in the atmosphere. We also drove by the famous Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc where all the celebrities stay.

SUNDAY:
(Monaco, Menton, Eze)

Right after breakfast, we went to Monaco. Arrived there around 11:00 and parked in a garage, near the base of the Prince’s palace. Saw the Changing of the Guards ceremony, which occurs daily at 11:55 am. It was short and ok. My kids weren’t that impressed. But the walk up to the palace is beautiful with scenic views of Monaco. It is very built up but extremely well maintained – again a good city to drive around. Then it is a short walk from the palace to the Oceanographic aquarium/museum there. This was probably the biggest waste of time and money for me on this trip. If you already live near a nice aquarium, I would suggest you skip this entirely. The aquarium is small, and not at all impressive. The museum portion is a bit more interesting. But overall, the experience was a bit boring. We grabbed lunch in their café on the roof of the museum, which was the nicest thing there.

Then we drove to Menton and saw the old cemetery there. The drive by the beach/promenade is lovely in Menton with cafes lining it. Other than that, there isn’t much to see in the town. You can get a similar feel if you visit Cannes.

Then we drove back to Eze (which was on our way back to the hotel). It should have taken us only 30 minutes, but we missed some turns, and ended up taking over an hour to get there. Eze is very similar to St Paul de Vence. It is a small medieval hilltop village. It is bit less touristy and developed than St Paul de Vence. I would recommend you any of those villages, Eze or St Paul de Vence – and you can choose based on your location/proximity. I wouldn’t recommend doing both, since they are so similar in experience and feel. The Jardin Exotique in Eze does have an amazing variety of Cacti. They charge EUR 6 per adult to enter. The kids and I hung out at a café in Eze while my husband went to check out the church. Then we headed back to the hotel.

MONDAY:
(Cannes)

We had a flight back to New York in the afternoon, so we checked out of our hotel early and drove to Cannes. We had a typical French breakfast at the promenade, right next to the Carlton hotel. I loved the strip of promenade there – very chic. But again, the rest of the city of Cannes seemed just ok. And after that, we just went back to Nice airport and made it in time for our flight back to the US.

Thanks for reading, and hope you have a wonderful visit to France!!

Here are some resources I found helpful, especially if you are travelling with kids .
https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-free-th...131217443.html
http://ciaobambino.com/traveling-in-...ith-kids-tips/
https://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/e...the-cote-dazur
https://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/e...he-cote-d-azur
https://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/e...he-cote-d-azur
hga is offline  
Old Apr 24th, 2017, 11:10 AM
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Well your impressions mirror mines. Except that I like meat and like musée océanographique (muesum part) actually a lot.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 11:50 AM
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The Cours Saleya in Old Nice is a market for tourists. It is a fake market. Much of the produce, soap, olive oil, etc. is bought at a supermarket and resold to tourists at inflated prices.

A real fruit and vegetable market is just north of the black train trestle on Avenue Jean Medecin.

Did you stop by Maison Auer? A real treat.


Thin
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 07:54 AM
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hga
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Hi Pepper_Von_soot, no, we did not stop at the maison auer - did not know about it unfortunately. Thanks for the tip though, for other readers.

-HGA
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 08:13 AM
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A pity you didn't visit Valbonne, as you were staying so close. For a next trip then!
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Old Apr 29th, 2017, 05:19 PM
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Sounds like all you did was run from place to place and not focus on anything in particular. And I don't get the feeling that you really enjoyed much.
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