suziem

June 4-16th-*First trip to France: Husband & wife ....looking for wine, art, culture, shopping and a relaxing time away from the teenagers! *We visited Paris as a day trip from London in March '05.

Mon 6/5- 7:14 pm Arrive St. Pierre-des-Corps
Rental car to: Amboise
Hotel: Chateau des Ormeaux

Tues 6/6- Visit Chateau Chenonceau
Then Amboise & Clos Luce-Da Vinci home
Wine tasting in Vouvray
Dinner: ?

Wed 6/7 6AM-9AM Hot-Air Balloon flight/
departs from Chenonceau
-Open the rest of the morning, maybe visit
Amboise now instead of previous day.

2:38PM train to Avignon
6:53 PM arrive AVG TGV/pickup rental car
Hotel: La Maison de Bournissac/ near St. Remy
Dinner: ? at La Maison or someplace in St. Remy

Thurs 6/8 Avignon or ???
Lunch?
Chateauneuf-du Pape/wine tasting @
La Cave du Verger-Reserve for what time??
Maybe Pont du Gard
St. Remy
Dinner: ?

Fri 6/9 Cassis
Boat trip to see the Calanques
Aix
Dinner: where, early in Aix or back to St. Remy?

Sat 6/10 Arles- Market, sightseeing
Les Baux
Dinner: ? Maybe Chez Bru or La Rigalido

Sun 6/11 Isle-Sur-La Sorgue- Market
Lunch: ? Maybe Le Jardin du Quai
Roussillon, and….
Dinner: ?

Mon 6/12 Morning open???
1:00 pm TGV train to Paris

PARIS NOTES: During our previous 'day trip', we visited: d’Orsay, Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and toured Ille St. Louis and the Marais area.

3:41 PM arrive Paris
Hotel: Millesime (in 6th, on rue Jacob, near Blvd
St. Germain)
-Sit in a café and enjoy just being in Paris.
Dinner: nothing set yet,
maybe L’Auberge de la Reine Blanche, then
Siene cruise and possibly drinks at Café Francis

Tues 6/13 10:00-12:00 Da Vinci Tour w/ Paris Walks.
Tour starts at the Ritz Hotel and finishes at
St. Suplice
Lunch ??
Visit St. Chapelle,, then Metro to Napoleon’s
Tomb or Rodin Museum
Dinner: Reserv @ Senderens

Wed 6/14 Louvre (a few hrs will be enough for this trip)
Picnic in the Tuileries Gardens
L’Orangerie (opens at 12:30) OR if the line is
very long Napoleons Tomb or Rodin, then
maybe back to l’Orangerie (closes @7pm)
Montparnasse Tower before dinner
Dinner: Reserv @ Le Coupe Chou

Thur 6/15 Wander the St. Germain area
Metro to Arc de Triomphe, walk Champs-Elysees,
Metro to Sacre’-Coeur
Before or after dinner: Walk along the Siene,
visit Shakespeare & Co. bookshop
Dinner: Reserv @ Le Caveau de L’lsle

Fri 6/16 Early flight home

*We are planning to buy a 2-day ParisMuseum Pass, so I'm trying to group the covered sites on Tues/Wed

suziem

Does anyone have any last minute advise, tips or opinions???

I have Stu's Provence info (thank you), lists of restaurants & cafes compiled from this forum, thumbed through too many guide books, bought my Michelin maps, stopped the mail AND even bought some local candy to bring along for gifts........anything I've forgotten???

HappyCheesehead

Hi Suziem:

We stayed at Chateau des Ormeaux a few weeks ago and just loved it (room Rameau) , so did everyone else we met while staying there. Animal lover me couldn't get enough of Olga and Misty Grey the cats, and Vick the dog - there was a little pug too. Vick will take you for a walk around the property and through the woods up to the vineyards if you give him the chance. The hosts at the chateaux will make a dinner ressie for you if you wish, you may want to ask them when you get there to make a recommendation based on your tastes. We were there during the long 5/1 hoiliday weekend and had trouble with resturants being complete.

This is my opinion only - take it for what it is worth - I was not impressed with Clos Luce and thought it was not a good use of limited time. The models were beat up and had little to no explanation. I felt the chateau itself had very little to offer.

RonZ

The rental agency in St Pierre des Corps may be closed for lunch when you return the car. Best to ask about this when you get it.

suziem

Hi HappyCheesehead-

Thank you for your thoughts on Clos Luce. A friend recommended it, but they had visited it as part of a day trip from Paris and with a private guide. We weren't planning on hiring a guide. I'd rather not waste what little time we have on a site that sounds rather disapointing. How's the town of Amboise? Any others close by worth visiting? How about Blois?

I'm glad to hear how much you liked the des Ormeaux. They've been very helpful so far. Even contacted Avis directly to help us get a car. We are arriving at the train station after the rental agencies close.

We too are animal lovers! Our cat is 16 yrs old and will be very sad while we are away.

moxie

Monday is a National Holiday.

I adore the Loire Valley and have visited many times;don't know much about the south and live in Paris.

Amboise castle is not one of my favorite castles. I'd suggest visiting Chambord on 7 June - it is lovely, with its famous double helix staircase, AND it ties into the da Vinci theme.

Paris:
You have a full schedule with sites far apart; the museum passes I saw on the ratp site are for 1 (18&euro or 3 (36&euro days or on the paris museum pass site 39€ and 99€ with transport - didn't see one for 2 days. I'd go with the cheaper RATP pass and if you think that you will use the metro more than 15 times buy a weekly pass (15.70&euro(bring a small photo) and ask for 'une carte orange hebdomodaire"

12th: Wander Champs d'Elyesses and have a drink then maybe you could have dinner on the seine?

The louvre and orangerie in one day is too much.

suziem

Thanks RonZ, I hadn't thought about that. Yes, we better check on that little detail. As it is they'll be closed when we arrive! Avis has arranged for us to pick up the keys from the station attendant. Sure hope this works out as planned.........We may come and go from that station and never deal with the actual rental agency, hmmm, this could be interesting.

suziem

Thanks Moxie, I'm confused now about the passes. I thought I read the 'new' ones were for 2,4 6 days vrs. old ones the were 1, 3, 5 days. We were planning more museums than we would normally due for just 3 full days, but with the pass I figured we could stop in to some places for just a brief visit. The Orangerie may be too busy right now to be worth the wait anyway.

We were planning to buy a carnet of metro tickets, hopefully that will be plenty. We'd like to walk as much as possible.

We arrive in Paris, Monday the 5th at 4:56 PM, on Eurostar at Gare du Nord. We have to catch our 6:10 PM connecting TGV to St. Pierre des-Corps at the Montparnasse station. Should we go by taxi? Will the traffic be heavy? I'm hesitant to take the metro because of our luggage. Not a huge amount but definietly more than carry-on. What do you think?

Intrepid1

I assume you are doing the balloon flight with FranceBalloons...be sure to call them the day before the flight and get to the Chenonceau parking lot on time or they will leave without you.

I can guarantee this will BE one of the absolute highlights of your entire trip...worth every penny you paid.

Travelnut

The new museum pass rolled out this spring - ratp is not up-to-date.

http://www.parismuseumpass.fr/flash/hp_fr.html

murphy89

I loved Amboise, thought that the pictures of Chateau D'Amboise didn't do it justice - very pretty.

As for Chenonceau - I recommend you go EARLY. Arrive right as it opens for your best chance of missing a) the bus from town which was running at 10:00am and b) those tour buses which will dump a crap load of people off all at once.

Have fun!

shedridt

No one has mentioned Avignon, which is my idea of a fairy tale city. Couldn't get the song out of my head all day, however (sur le pont, d'Avignon...). Go see the papal palace which is wonderful. And eat a peach - had the best peach of my life in Avignon...

moxie

Sorry about the wrong info about the museum passes (I swear I looked at 3 pages - obviously all old). I'll ask at the metro guichet tomorrow and see what they tell me Maybe it would be more fun then to cut down the number of museums and just pay -- but then you have the lines -- it would be hard for me to choose too.

Maybe a carnet (10 tickets) would be enough for you.

For your arrival, I don't have good advice: the metro - direct line 4 will be running on Sunday schedule so there will be less trains but also less people - normally a 25 minute journey BUT you need to consider the hallways for lugging bags (Montparnasse has many) and possible stairs. I hope someone else can comment, I have not been there in years. A cab may be a good choice if the extra money is not a problem; traffic is never 'predictable' but it should be less than normal that day at that time (people return from the long weekend around 8 pm).

I know you don't need any more suggestions for museums but one of my favourites which I visit with every guest is the Musée du moyen âge, 5th M° cluny - the unicorn tapestry is really great and the museum is small.

After the da vinci tour walk down St Sulpice towards the river, vere right on rue de l'ecole de medecins - on your left will be a Viennoise coffee shop which has reasonable salads and great coffee and sweets. It's always crowded so you may have to share your table; exit; continue in same direction, turn left on Bv St Michel, take the first right and look at the roman ruins , the Moyen age museum is on your left. Shops around here have nice pillow covers with unicorns etc for gifts. After the musuem you can walk on rue St Jaques to the river, see Shakespere and Co, cross the Bridge and visit St Chapelle.

A wander on a market street is also fun, the closest to you would be rue mouffetard.

suziem

Thanks everyone for the helpful info. I'm just getting to my computer for this first time today! So many loose ends to tie up before the trip and a teenager in the midst of high school finals too!

Intrepid1- Yes, we did book w/Franceballoons. They informed us to call the day before. I hope the weather cooperates. We're so excited. We've never done a balloon flight before. My husband is actually afraid of heights so I was rather surprised he went along with the idea.

Travelnut- I thought I'd read here about the 'new' pass and R. Steves describes it in his 2006 Paris guide book as well.

Murphy- Thanks for the tip for early arrival at Chenonceau. Looks like a pretty short drive from our hotel/Chateau. Definitely want to stay ahead of the bus crowds.

shedridt-Avignon sounds very nice. I do love a good peach or any fruit in season. How about driving into town and parking? Should we eat lunch in Avignon then go on to Chateaunuef-du Pape for wine tasting? Or head straight to C. du-P and find a place to eat there?

Moxie- Wow, thanks so much for the detailed walking directions. That sounds like a very nice plan after the Da Vinci tour. I'm leaning towards buying the pass anyway, at least for the convenience. If we're close to breaking even, I'll be fine with that.

With Monday as a holiday, a taxi might be the best choice. It would have been my first choice had it not be a Friday near 5pm. I've read trip reviews of people having problems getting their luggage through the ticket machines entering the metro.

Thanks you all very much. I promise to write a trip report when we return

Anyone have thoughts on the Provence portion, do the daily itineraries look ok?

lhill

We did a similar itinerary for our honeymoon four years ago. you are going to have a fabulous time!

I echo the recommendation on Chambord! It is fabulous!

We stayed outside of St Remy - very cute town. La Baux is beautiful and the view is amazing. We ate at Oustau de Baumaniere in La Baux - it is pricey but worth it!

We got a ticket on one of those tour buses that goes all around town. The ticket was good for 2 days and we used that as our transportation while we were there. It was a great way to see everything and get the lay of the land. I know you have been before but still might be a good thing to do to get oriented.

Have a wonderful time!

suziem

lhill- thank you for the suggestions. Are the Paris bus tours similar to the hop-on-hop-off Big Bus tour buses in London? They had a fixed route, you get on and off at specific stops all day. When we were in London last time we did one of those bus tours for one day but the weather was so cold we ended up using the metro the rest of the time to get around. True, it would be better for sightseeing if you're 'above ground' though. Hopefully weather won't be an issue on this trip. I guess you can never be sure about Paris.

We were planning to do at least one splurge meal in Provence and Paris. I've read good reviews on Oustau de Baumaniere in La Baux. Others I've been thinking of are: La Rigalido and Chez Bru. Trying to find a place near St. Remy for dinner. Don't want a long drive at night after a meal that would surely include drinking plenty of good wine.

Intrepid1

Re the balloons...when you get to the parking lot in the morning they will arrive and send up a small "test balloon" and I DO hope you get good weather. When we flew with them last July they had had many days on which they could not go up at all so we felt very fortunate.

You will have the opportunity to help with the roll-out of the two balloons which occurs in a field a couple miles upwind of Chenonceau...bring your camera!

After the balloons are inflated you are into the baskets which have rather high sides so that feeling of scariness in terms of heights is somewhat lessened.

You end up drifting with the current for about an hour and it is totally silent up at that level. Enjoy it!!!

suziem

Intrepid1- Quest. re the Loire weather. In order for the balloon to go up, what kind of weather do they require? Sunny and clear or just no rain or high winds? I've been watching on weather.com, as of today the forecast is for partly cloudy w/ 0% chance of rain.........I know how unpredictable the weather is, but it looks promising. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

cigalechanta

All your dining choses in Provence are very good . We ate at all and we slept three visits at the Rigalido(the daughter has a charming boutique on the premises)

suziem

cigalechanta- Thank you. From your posts I gather you live in Provence, correct? Do you have an opinion on our day to Cassis and Aix? We really want to make it to the coast so I thought it best if we head straight there, then stop in Aix on the way back. However, we could skip Aix if it will be too much for one day or go someplace smaller instead on our way back to St. Remy.

I was thinking of making reserv's at Chez Bru and La Rigalido. Then leave the other 3 nights open and decide after we are in Provence.

I have to attend a mtg, but will be back on the computer in a few hrs. Thanks for the feedback!