FrenchMystiqueTours

Thanks Whathello.

phillyboy

B-burglar and SC - Thanks for the additional information on the Loire. Probably won't be looking at large cities this trip, so Bordeaux would have to wait for another time. And we were in the Dordogne and Basque (Saint-Jean-de-Luz and San Sebastian) just a couple of years ago.

Belinda - even though we wouldn't want to stay in Lyon, a day trip there from a nearby small town that we could base in would be interesting. I had been thinking that driving back to Paris to catch a flight home would be too long, but didn't think about dumping the car in the Lyon area and taking the train back (duh on my part). I might think about that a bit, thanks.

jamikins

We really enjoyed our stay in Loches. Nice restaurants, not too touristy, good market...it was also easy to do day trips.

You can see our photos here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57637219497403

We split our 10 days with Champagne. It was a nice mix.

StuDudley

If you want to stay in a small town - try the Beaujolais area. We stayed there for 2 weeks in about '07 and really enjoyed the region. Lots of chateaux to visit - very different from those in the Loire. There is a TGV station in Macon where you can probably return the car & get back to Paris in 1 3/4 hrs. Kemwel does not show a rental office - but if you google "macon car rental" you'll find the usual suspects. There are many villages in the region that have trains to Lyon from Belleville, Le Creusot, etc.

We stayed at a Gite that was also a B&B and a winery. The place is surrounded by vineyards.
http://en.vatre.com/
If you want to stay in a small village (pop560) with a few restaurants instead of the B&B, consider St Amour-Bellevue and stay here:
www.aubergeduparadis.fr . Elegant but simple with a Michelin 1 star restaurant. My wife loved the whimsical decor of the restaurant. There is another 1 star restaurant in this small village also.

If you have any interest - post back here & I'll share more info about restaurants, scenic drives, etc.

Stu Dudley

tuscanlifeedit

phillyboy

You have much greater experts than I chiming in, but our next trip to France, if we are so lucky, will be to the Loire and Brittany.

phillyboy

You guys are all starting to irritate me ;-)- now I want to go to all of these places, only I'm not independently rich, and have to go back to work eventually.

So now, I'm thinking Loire, and then either Rhone area (thanks for additional suggestions Stu) or Brittany (thanks jamikins, SC, et all) ... probably.

I could make it easier on myself and do what my parents did every year for 50 years - just go to the Jersey shore!

StuDudley

I still think you should go to Brittany. I just threw in Beaujolais because somehow Lyon came into the picture.

Stu Dudley

bilboburgler

Well Guernsey is only a ferry ride away.

Whathello

'We really enjoyed our stay in Loches.'

Only if you go in pairs. Les paires de loches sont à ne pas manquer. Jamais.

In Brittany (south) we like Trinité sur Mer (have a friend there) - easy to go to Quiberon from there and lovely in this small bay with l'ile au moines, l'ile d'Arz, plusCarnac with their megalyths (alignements de Carnac and a lot of other menhirs and dolmens).

Vannes is a bigger town, nice with a sealife zoo (http://aquariumdevannes.fr/) (I think they have a crocodile there who comes from the sewers of Paris).

In the north I'd base in St Malo, visit the coast from Cancale to cap Erquy, fantastic.
Dinard, Dinan, even Rennes are nice.

Plus you eat well and differently : crêpes are great and cidre makes a change.

phillyboy

Leaning heavily toward Brittany, sounds great. Thanks all.