I understand that some people like to see as much as possible, and others like to pick a couple of places and unpack for 3 or 4 nights. Either method is perfectly find. That said, I'm still going to advocate for something a little less ambitious. Maybe pick the Loire Valley and one other area, so you can stay in just two places and take a few day trips.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I stayed in St. Remy de Provence and Carcassone, and really liked seeing that part of France, particularly the Languedoc region and the fabulous ruined castles.

You are trying to do much too much. I would suggest that you pick - at most - two locations to visit by car - after Paris. If you are interested in the Loire Valley, then Normandy or Brittany would be good choices. I have been to almost all of the places that you want to see and will tell you that your itinerary is overwhelming - especially with children.

These are all interesting places to see, but it seems to me that you will be trying to cover far too much in 7 days. You will be rushed, and spend much of your time on busy highways.

Why not confine your trip to the Loire Valley and Dordogne? You will find that there is more than enough there to meet your expectations. Slow down, and save the rest for another trip.

I would do Paris and only one other destination, such as Loire Valley or Normandy. We did Paris for 8 days, then Loire Valley and Normandy with a total of 15 trip days a few years ago, and we still need to return again.

Here's another response saying you're trying to do far, far too much. Spending each night in a different place can get tiring for anybody, especially kids.

And your locations are pretty far apart - you'll be spending a huge percentage of your time driving. I would suggest that you start with a map of France, figure out distances, and then pick one or two other areas. We visited the Dordogne several years ago, without kids, but it looks like a great area to visit with kids. There are many castles, beautiful landscape and magnificent food (as well as being able to take boat trips on the rivers).

More specifically, St. Emilion is more interesting for adults than kids, and even for adults, there's not that much to do unless you're interested in wine. I would suggest more time in the Domme/Sarlat area.

Either way you go, you mention staying at Chenenceauu... may I suggest

http://roseraie.portland.co.uk/main-en.html

Not only do you, IMO, have way too much packed into this short timeframe, but your route doesn't make much sense. Let me see if I can suggest some "edits" to it:

Day 1. Paris to the Loire Valley is fine. To save some time and hassle, you might want to catch an early morning TGV to Tours and pick up a car there instead of driving out of Paris. If you drive, unless you get out of town very early, I'll doubt you'll achieve your goal of seeing three châteaux that day. Three château in a full day would be more than enough.

Day 2: Any particular reason you want to see Limoges? It certainly wouldn't be on a 7-day itinerary of mine. Boring town, and the porceleine's cheaper in the USA. Same for Brive - is there a particular B&B you're just dying to stay at? If not, skip Brive and drive to a nice B&B near Sarlat. That will take you the better part of the day, and it's not an inspirational drive.

Day 3: Visit Sarlat, Domme, La Rocque-Gageac, and Beynac.

Day 4: Take a canoe ride down the Dordogne and visit a couple of prehistoric sites like Font-de-Gaume and La Roque St-Christophe.

Day 5: Get up early and do a long day's touring of Collonges-la-Rouge, Martel, Rocamadour, and the Gouffre de Padirac.

Day 6: Drive to St-Emilion, stopping on the way at Monbazillac and Bergerac and enjoying the wine country.

Day 7: Drive to Bordeaux, drop the car, and take the TVG back to Paris.

Way, way, way too much - - spoken by someone who knows the difference and "did it wrong" anyway, just last month (for some right reasons, and some wrong reasons).

See my trip report - - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34640631 - - and start by focusing on Part 3 (day two)...

It starts like this:

"Part 3 - - Too much driving. From Oiron to Limeuil at the confluence of the Vezere and Dordogne rivers.

I won’t try to sugar coat it. I blatantly defied my own customary advice: “See where you are more. Move around less.” Others advised against an itinerary this strenuous. This day came close to proving them right."

Your kids will find little of interest in the Bordeaux region, and Carcassonne, Avignon, Montpellier and Marseilles are all too far. Day 1 will be exhausting (or ridiculously superficial); day 4 and day 5 are virtually impossible. And day 7 is an exercise in letting your children see the back of your head from their seats in the car.

I'd love to give you my blessings for a strenuous itinerary - - but not this one.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thank you all, cannot be a more unanimous suggestion to the size of my itinerary. I will take your suggestions and limit myself to 2 areas.

I am not hung up on the Loire valley. Any suggestion on what the 2 areas could be. Kindly remember that we are with with kids we want a mix of history, culture and sightseeing (landscapes and architecture).

My advice is take the TGV from Paris down to Avignon and pick up your rental car there. That saves you 5 hours in the car. Stay in Avignon for 3 days touring the Provence region, then drive to 1 other home base, stay there for 3 days, and then take the TGV back to Paris. The train ride is great and then you aren't being so nomadic.

St. Cirq's suggested itinerary sounds ideal to me. Go with it.

En route from the Loire to Dordogne, you might want to stop to visit Oradour sur Glane, the village destroyed by the SS in 1944. It's been left as it was as a powerful memorial.

I seem to like StCirq's itinerary.

Can I request for some suggestions on places to stay as per this itinerary. As suggested by most of the postings earlier, staying at 2 ( or at most 3 places) is what I would like to do. Also I am thinking of finding B&Bs to stay at, that way we get the culture of France - What do you thnk?

Itin:
Day 1. Paris to the Loire Valley is fine. To save some time and hassle, you might want to catch an early morning TGV to Tours and pick up a car there instead of driving out of Paris. If you drive, unless you get out of town very early, I'll doubt you'll achieve your goal of seeing three châteaux that day. Three château in a full day would be more than enough.

Day 2: Any particular reason you want to see Limoges? It certainly wouldn't be on a 7-day itinerary of mine. Boring town, and the porceleine's cheaper in the USA. Same for Brive - is there a particular B&B you're just dying to stay at? If not, skip Brive and drive to a nice B&B near Sarlat. That will take you the better part of the day, and it's not an inspirational drive.

Day 3: Visit Sarlat, Domme, La Rocque-Gageac, and Beynac.

Day 4: Take a canoe ride down the Dordogne and visit a couple of prehistoric sites like Font-de-Gaume and La Roque St-Christophe.

Day 5: Get up early and do a long day's touring of Collonges-la-Rouge, Martel, Rocamadour, and the Gouffre de Padirac.

Day 6: Drive to St-Emilion, stopping on the way at Monbazillac and Bergerac and enjoying the wine country.

Day 7: Drive to Bordeaux, drop the car, and take the TVG back to Paris.

Hi, Aj:

I'm happy to recommend some B&Bs along the route, but it would be helpful to know 1) your ideal budget and 2) whether you prefer to be in a town/village or in the countryside.

Thx Cirq,

I was thinking of spending between Euro 65-85 for a night at the B&B.

I am not sure on whether to chose a town/village or country side. I have never been to France and do not know what to expect in either. The reason I am looking at B&B is to grasp the Culture. My son (14yrs) studies French in school and is enamoured with the French culture (that is why this trip to Fr)

thx

Aj: Is that 65-85€ per night for all four of you? That might be pretty difficult.

I don't really know of any B&Bs in the Loire Valley - I'm sure someone else here can make a recommendation on that - but here are a few from Allistair Sawday's book that seem central for touring. You could google them and see if they have websites:

Le Moutier (owners Martine and Jean-Lou Coursaget), 13 rue de la République in Mareuil-sur-Cher. Price listed as 53.36€ for two.

La Mardelle (owner Mme Choquet), 68 ru de la Mardelle in Noyers. Price listed as 39.64€ for two

Ferme de la Quintanière (owners Annie and Daniel Doyer), 41400 Vallières-les-Grands. Price listed as 42.69€ for two.

Le Chêne Vert (owner Marie-France Tohier), 41120 Monthou-sur-Bièvre. Price listed as 57.93-83.85€ for two)

Ferme des Saules (Anita and Didier Merlin), 41700 Cheverny. Price listed as 43.45-48.78€ for two.

Breffini Cottage (owners Mary Ellen and Patrick Crehan), 16 rue du 11 novembre in Neung-sur-Brevon.

Near Sarlat in La Roque-Gageac, you might want to stay at the Plume d'Oie:

http://hotels-restau-dordogne.org/live/hotel-1.asp?lg=2&Id=15

Or Le Branchat in Belvès:

http://www.best-of-perigord.tm.fr/heberge/manoirs/branchat/hotes.html
(that site is good for other searches for B&Bs in the Dordogne, too)

or Le Moulin Neuf in Paunat (a bit out of the way, but a lovely place):

http://www.the-moulin-neuf.com/

I can't think of a B&B I know in St-Emilion, but there is a darling little wine château cum B&B in Ruch, near Ste-Foy-la-Grande that's not far away. It's a sweet, inexpensive place set in the midst of vineyards, and the owners love to show off their wines and the hard work that goes into making them:

http://www.chateaulardier.com/

Cirq,

thx. I have found a good site www.gites-de-france.fr, that has a good selection of B&B.

Can you recommend in your suggested itinerary, around which locations you suggest we stay and for how many days at each. I can find B&B's around that place.

Aj:

The Gîtes de France properties are VERY popular. I'm not sure you'll find anything there that's still available for end of July, which is smack in the middle of high season - but it's certainly worth a try.

I think the itinerary's pretty clear, assuming you're planning to follow it pretty closely: Night 1 in the Loire Valley, Nights 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the Sarlat area, Night 5 near St-Emilion.

Oh, and I wanted to second someone's suggestion to stop at Oradour-sur-Glane outside Limoges on your way south.

thanks, I am going to follow this and post a log at the end of this trip for all to see.

I got back from my trip to France. It was great. Your suggestions were very useful. I have pictures that I have loaded at a website and am trying to figure out how to share them ( without knowing your e-mail addresses). I also kept a diary and would try and put out a blog (if I can get my head out of the work schedule)

Hi aj,

To share your pix, just post the web address.

Just a couple points --

1. The more you drive the less you see.

2. France is about the same size as Texas.

Hi ira,

thanks, it helped me figure out. I have the photos at 2 websites ( ran out of space on 1) as follows :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajgupta/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajgupta1/

Ajay

Re&Bs (chambres d'hôtes) near Chenonceaux, Marie007 posted this message about Les Mariniers B&B in Mareuil-sur-Cher in another thread on this forum:

Author: Marie007
Date: 06/25/2006, 07:06 am

Bonjour,

A friend and I spent a wonderful holiday in the Loire Valley last "vacances de Pâques"/Easter holiday (in April 06). We chose a very pleasant "chambre d'hôte" at a very "sympathique"/nice person's house called "Les Mariniers" in Mareuil-sur-Cher, a nice and very quiet village close to the lovely little town of Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher and its beautiful castle, Romane/"Romanesque" "Collégiale"/collegiate church and streets with old timbered-houses.

Mareuil is not far from Blois, and very close to Chambord, Chenonceau châteaux, plus plenty of other big or intimate châteaux (Montpoupon, Montrésor castles,Chémery, among others...), sweet villages, and the beautiful zoo of "Beauval", etc. Lots of little or more famous restaurants and good wineries can be found in the area (among which the great dry and "moelleux"/mellow Vouvray !)

www.lesmariniers.com

Our host, Viviane Vincent is "délicieuse" and very helpful, her house is superb, the breakfasts in the big kitchen the walls of which are decorated with lovely "barbotines", is gorgeous : lots of croissants and a homemade different cake EVERY MORNING, good tea and coffee, etc. Your host chats with you if you feel like it when she serves you and gives you hints and leaflets to help you find the "château" you want to visit, etc. The house and bedrooms are beautiful (nice furniture, lovely curtains, etc., brand new bathrooms, soft and thick towels) and you'll see Viviane's paintings on the walls. You'll sleep like "a loir" (French expression : "dormir comme un loir" = "sleep like a log") and only the birds's songs will wake you up in the morning...

We paid 56€ per night for the "Maena" bedroom, the brand new bedroom called "Jade" (each bedroom is given the first name of one of Viviane's "petites-filles/granddaughters) which was not finished in April is now ready and costs 64€ since you can enjoy its nice private terrace... Voilà ! The American friends who joined us and slept in the beautiful yellow room can give you their opinion when they have the time to do it !

The Loire Valley is a wonderful place and it gives you "un sentiment de plénitude"/a blissful feeling because everything is so quiet and harmonious in the countryside... Cordialement ! Marie (Normandy, France)

Although there is no reason to be suspicious of an ulterior motive, I wonder why this post was added to this year old thread?

To Rex,

Bonjour !

I'm a good friend of Ken's and he is the person I visited last April in Touraine, hence my post telling you about my good "expérience" of V. Vincent's "chambre d'hôte" in Mareuil-sur-Cher in the other thread... Since my English is far from perfect, Ken must have thought my post would be more helpful in this thread, "voilà tout !"/that's all !

But Ken will himself explain things much better than I... I wish I had been born Anglo-Saxon to speak English as well as all of you, sniff !!!

Nothing to be suspicious about. I didn't notice the 2005 date on the thread I responded to. I guess I don't come to the Fodor's forum often enough to keep up. Be assured I have no commercial interest in any B&B anywhere...

Rex,

Why do you care if the thread has been resurrected ?

It often happens when someone doesn't notice the date the original was posted.
I know it's happened to me.

Thanks, Patricia

Alors, Ken, on ressuscite les rubriques "mortes" ?!!! Bises. Marie (Normandy, France)

I'm kind of glad this thread was resurrected. It's a textbook example of how a trip planner was saved from committing dire rookie mistakes by the sage advice of some of our most valued regulars.

Excellent advice was given...and accepted...in the most gracious manner possible. Kudos to all!

<< Why do you care if the thread has been resurrected ? >>

My point is that one doesn't just "stumble across" a year-old thread by going back "next 50, next 50, etc..."

Presumably, ckenb was searching for something, and typically, one might (or I'll clarify... I might) be aware that one is digging through old archives...

... and then, if there is a thread worth commenting on - - even though the conversation has long since gone cold, it would feel natural, to explain... "I just found this... and FWIW, it relates to some more recent observation I have to add..." That's all...

It just looks and feels a bit weird to pick up on a discussion a year later, as if time stood still...

No offense intended.

Some threads DO get resurrected when someone has something to promote, and goes "digging" to old threads to attach their message to...

This didn't (and still doesn't) seem like a case of that...

I searched for the name of a village called Mareuil because I heard from a friend that there was an active thread mentioning that village. I didn't even notice that the search engine had given me a thread dated 2005. Jeez, what a federal case this has become!