I would appreciate advice on getting a trip to France put together. I would like to know the best way to find a tour that is a good value. I want to spend some time in Paris and then see what is near by. I would like to travel the end of October or early November. I have had good luck with the Lonely Planet guide books. Does anyone have a better book to recommend?

I think the Access guides are great. I've used them for a number of cities, including Paris and they're excellent. Instead of being organized by category (hotels, dining, attractions, etc.), they're organized by neighborhood or area with maps that list by number the hotels, restaurants, attractions, parks, etc. in that area. I've found them to be incredibly accurate, especially in restaurant recommendations. <BR> <BR>Paris is wonderful and you will definitely want to spend at least 4-5 days there. The Loire Valley is only an hour away by high-speed train (TGV) and is beautiful. <BR> <BR>Have a great trip!

Buy the green Michelin books available in many languages. You can get them when you hit town, or try your local Borders or Barnes Noble. (I just found one on Amsterdam at Borders) These books have helped us many times how to prioritize sights to see, towns to visit etc. You may be able to order them direct. We have always done pretty well with self guided tours, using Michelin. Also, places like the Louvre and Versaille have self guided tours with tape players , etc. Fodors and Frommers guides are also helpful. Good Luck

My personal favorite guidebook is the Eyewitness series, as it has both beautiful color photos, maps, and details re: opening hrs, etc. A possibility for your trip is to plan your own flights/hotel to Paris, then check CityRama for tours - see www.cityrama.com under both 'outside Paris' and 'French Provinces'. You could bid on auction under www.skyauction.com for a flight/hotel package (did this for Amsterdam). Another that has been mentioned satisfactorily is the www.go-today.com package...My favorite web for Paris is www.paris.org...You do not need an organized tour to cover Paris, as it is best enjoyed with a map and good walking shoes, but a tour of outer regions would probably be more efficient way to take in sights. Lastly, I have taken a "Best of France" tour w/ Trafalgar Tours then added extra days in Paris at the end...

On your first full day in Paris you could take the L'Open Tour. This is a two-level open-top bus that goes around the city in several loup tours, get-on-get-off as you please, covering all the major tourist sites. Get off only for "quick" visits, like Notre Dame, not for the longer visits like the Musee D'Orsay, where you will want to spend several hours enjoying the amazing sculptures and the Impressionists. <BR> <BR>L'Open Tour is rather expensive if you consider it transportation, but not bad if you think of it as a TOUR. They also have a two-day pass that costs only a little more than the one-day pass. It is pleasant to be on the upper level, though it was hot in the sun (We were there in early June) and open to the rain. Most of the time it was fine. Of course, you also have to be willing to "look like a tourist"!

Oops, forgot this: You can buy L'Open Tour tickets right on the bus, at any stop, and they even take credit cards. That slows down the buses when 6-8 new people are buying tickets at one stop, but that only happened a couple of times in the two-day tour that we took.