Advice and assistance on Paris/Loire itinerary, please
 

Many of you have already assisted me on my plans for our first European vacation. We have decided on mid-May next year. I have been reading and *think* we have decided to remain in France for the entire week (instead of splitting the trip between Paris and Switzerland).

So, here is my rough plan...

Sat- Paris (arrival day), maybe Eiffel tower and dinner cruise on Seine?
Sun - Paris
Mon - Paris
Tues - morning trip to Giverny, evening in Paris
Wed - morning travel to Amboise, Loire Valley
Thur - Loire Valley
Fri - Loire Valley, evening travel back to Paris
Sat - flight back to US

So, I have a few questions, I understand we will be tired and feeling goofy on our arrival day, so does Eiffel Tower and dinner sound about right?

After we visit Giverny could we then travel direct to Amboise, or should we spend the night in Paris and head out in the morning? Without a car where could leave our luggage while touring Giverny (if we were to continue on to Amboise that afternoon)?

Can we tour Loire Valley without a car? My husband is not very keen on driving in France. I would like to visit at least Chambord and Chateau d'Usse.

As for accommodations, I absolutely love the Manoir Les Minimes for our stay in Amboise. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I have no idea on where to stay in Paris, 3* would be perfect, not modern, but traditional French preferred. Any recommendations greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much for your time and advice. Have a wonderful weekend!

As I'm not sure where Giverny is I can't give any advice on whether to come back to Paris or not before heading off to the Loire valley. It is simpler to get around the Loire by car. It is not terribly well set up in terms of public transportation. I wouldn't want to push you towards a car but it not scary driving in France. When I was there last year I drove everywhere and, for me, it was the wrong side of the road and it was the first time I had driven a manual in many, many years (manuals are much cheaper) I had no real problems at all. Must say that the Loire was full of "deviations", road works everywhere but that just made things interesting as you tried to get to the village you really wanted. If it is the idea of driving in Paris that is scary (with which I agree) I took a train to Chartres and picked up car there. You could no doubt do the same from Giverny. For Chateau suggestions my personal favourites are Chennoceaux, Cheverny for the absolutely fantastic formal gardens and Chateau Azay-le Rideau. Chambord is specactular to look at from the outside but not a lot to look at inside. You can just drive through the Chambord park/estate and walk right up to it without having to pay to go inside if you wish. Can't recall noticing any sort of public transport to Chambord. There is a good Michelin green guide titled Chateaux of the Loire. If you do drive you do need to pick up some detailed road maps of the area. Easy to get when you are there - newsagents, supermarkets etc. If you are into staying at B & B type places we stayed at Chateau le Gerfaut which is near Azay le Rideau (about 5 mins). It was the hunting lodge for Villandy Chateau and was built for Napoleon Bonaparte's finance minister. It has been in the same family for the past 200 years. You are not staying in some 5 star hotel by any means but the history and surroundings make up for it and is very reasonably priced. Don't know if it has a website listing at all. We simply came across it by chance - stopping when we saw the sign on the roadside.

I like your itinerary. You've put some thought into it and give time to some fabulous places.

Where are you arriving from? Most US flight land at 7 am-ish leaving an entire day to the city. I personally would not be able to last for a dinner cruise unless some serious napping went on. If your hotel won't check you in until 2, the Eiffel Tower - as good as it is - doesn't take that long to see and experience.

I'm not sure how the cruises deal with the dinner hour but we found restaurants were not open as early as US places for dinner. BRasseries had food which could take up the slack. Personally, I would try to find a dinner place on ground and just cruise or take some wine and cheese.

Driving in France is very easy even if you don't know the language. And for outside of Paris there is not the hassle of big city driving. You could pick up the car in Amboise I think. We see fewer and fewer avilable luggage holds than we did when we first started to travel 10 years ago.

There are some very good ideas above. We have taken a very similar trip and it worked extremely well. It would be easier to take a day trip to Giverny and return to Paris. Giverny is very accessible by train.
The idea of the train to Chartres to pick up a car is excellent - I wish we had done that (we drove from Paris). Driving in the Loire is very easy, mid-May is a perfect time and should not be too crowded. The roads and small towns are charming and I highly recommend a car as you can see so much more than if travelling by train. Amboise and the Manoir les Minimes are perfect choices to stay.
In fact, I think your trip sounds well planned and delightful except for the dinner cruise - food is expensive and not great. We recommend a late afternoon cruise on the Seine, followed by a light dinner and early to bed on the first day. If you are really tired, you might wait for a day or so to take the Seine cruise.
Finally, you inquired about a three* hotel in Paris. We stay at the Hotel des Saints-Peres in Ste. Germaine. It is traditional French, in a wonderful location and very welcoming. You can view the hotel and even make reservations at www.esprit-de-france.com. Enjoy planning and enjoy France.

Driving in the Loire Valley is not a problem, even if you don't know French. You will be able to see a lot more. I would recommend taking the TGV (fast train) to Tours (actually to St Pierre des Corps which is just before you get to Tours) and renting a car there. There is an Avis place right by the train station. Then you could visit any Chateaux you want. Going back you could take the TGV directly the CDG airport if you want.
If your husband is absolutely set on using only trains, I know for sure you will be able to visit Amboise (don't miss Clos Luce as well which is Di Vinci's last home and is in Amboise), Chenonceau (my favorite chateau of them all), and Blois. You will miss Usse unless you take a taxi, but it is not one of the best--tour was only in French when we were there. I don't know about Chambord.
You will also miss Villandry which is one of my favorites--beautiful gardens.

Emily: You'll probably have time to do more than you think on that first day in Paris. As someone mentioned, you'll probably get into CDG early morning and be at your hotel by mid- to late morning.

Stay outside - the sunshine helps adjust your body clock. Select a nice walk and just take it easy, stopping at cafés to stoke up on caffeine. Maybe the Rodin museum, which has lots of outdoor sculpture, a pretty garden, and an outdoor café - something like that.

The Tour Eiffel is good, as is a boat cruise, but I wouldn't go on a dinner cruise. By the time they serve dinner, you'll be blotto from jetlag, and in general it's not great food compared to what you can get in a restaurant. Just go on the boat cruise and then have a nice dinner in some bistro near your hotel and go to bed early.

I agree that you'll want a car in the Loire valley. That's a really easy part of France to drive in, and it affords you so many more opportunities to see things. As someone mentioned, take the train to Tours and pick up a rental car there. Amboise makes a great base!

In Paris, my favorite 3* is the Hotel Duquesne-Eiffel, but there are lots of good options.

Good luck!

Visiting Monet's house at Giverny, with travel from Paris, will take only about half a day; so you could easily drive around Paris to the Loire Valley and begin your sightseeing there the same day. That would give you an extra morning in Paris.

Also, I think you might want to consider an extra day in Paris instead of in the Loire Valley--two days would give you adequate time there.

I took my mom to Paris for one week this spring, and we visited the Loire Valley. I will top my trip report for you to review. It seems like you plan to spend more time than we did in the LV. However, it may give you some different ideas about how to approach your trip. Hope this helps.

If you don't want to drive around the Loire Valley, there are 1/2 day and full day bus tours that visit a few towns and chateaus.

We instead rented bikes and went to Chenonceau from Amboise, as well as biked through small towns and did wine tasting. However, most people I spoke with wanted to see more of the local chateaus in which case a car or a tour is required.

I agree with a poster above who suggested a non-dinner boat ride on the Seine and dinner before or after. Les Vedettes du Pont-Neuf has non-dinner cruises with live guide, and the tour lasts about 1 hour and run 9 euro.

We find that after an overnight flight we're good for a 2-3 hour drive. I'd opt to get a car at CDG and do the Loire Valley first. That way you don't have that one night before leaving to change hotels yet again and, since I always tend to find some time to shop in Paris, you're not lugging gifts/etc. around with you.

I want to thank everyone for your insightful comments. You have given me a lot more to consider. And more questions to ask. :)

We will be arriving in the morning, nonstop from Cincinnati at 9:05am. What about Champs-Elysees, finding lunch and Arc de Triomphe, then maybe a nap and dinner on arrival day? What else is in the same general area that we could possibly get to that day? Is Notre Dame way out of the way? I'm thinking of staying in the Latin Qtr, so is there anything in that general area that we could possibly get to that day?

I think maybe we could go to Giverny as a daytrip from Paris on Monday, since it seems many things are closed in Paris that day. Could we take the train after lunch and return before dinner? That would give us another morning in Paris, maybe to visit Musee d'Orsay?

What about Versailles? I guess that's another halfday trip from Paris?

We could spend Wed morning including lunch in Paris before taking a train out of the city and getting our car in LV. That will give us Wed afternoon and all day Thurs in LV. Then we can decide how to split the day Friday between LV and returning to Paris. Any suggestions for late afternoon/evening in Paris?

As for driving, my husband said, if it's so easy, then I can do the driving. So, I guess I'll drive through the Loire.

I haven't had a chance to look at the hotels recommended yet (I have a 1 yr old and a 4 yr old), but I greatly appreciate your time and advice. Thank you again!

Versailles is worth a whole day in my opinion--you can easily take the RER (light rail train that runs through Paris) to get there.
I've never been to Giverney so can't comment on that.
Musee d'Orsay is definitely one of our favorite not to be missed places to visit in Paris. In some ways better than the Lourve, more manageable as it is smaller.
If you are taking the kids, you need to be sure and allow for plenty of down time. There are lots of parks-the gardens at Versailles are wonderful for kids to run around in, and you will see lots of French families there.
Some of the chateaux are more kid friendly than others. Villandry is basically a big garden and outside, so it is good for kids. Clos Luce has a lot of outside stuff also. Chenon is another where kids would be welcome. You probably want to avoid chateaux that involve a lot of formal tours.
Also you will probably need to bring car seats for the kids--I'm not sure how available they would be at the rental agency.
Most rental cars have manual transmission, so practice up on that. No big deal for my husband, but I managed to stall the car every time I tried to drive.

We won't be travelling with our kids. I'll be leaving them in Cincinnati with my mom.

Is it difficult to reserve an automatic? Because neither of us have ever driven a manual. Thanks for the warning.

It can be difficult to get a car with automatic transmission; so reserve early. Airports tend to have more of them than rental agencies located elsewhere.

You should take into consideration late hours of some museums. I was there this past May (27-30th) and those extra hours were nice to extend a little more into a day. I found the hours in an updated tour book and verified on the website.

Also be aware that it will be lighter longer than you're used to in the OH/KY area. We went to the Eiffel Tower one evening and it wasn't dark until after 10. (Which by the way was the hour for that time period to turn on the 'sparklers' on the Tower. Delightful)

We stayed in the 7th (Rue Cler area) and liked the neighborhood feel. After going to Normandy, we spent our last night in the 5th or Latin Quarter on Rue Huchette (sp) which is one road over from the Seine. We had a noon flight and wanted to take the RER B line which is virtually out the door. It was the exact opposite of the other location. LOTS of people out as this is a tourist are jammed with hotels, restaurants and bars. Consider a room away from the street side.

If you stay in this area, there is ND, St Chappelle, the Deportation POint, Pont Neuf, the book sellers along the Seine, Ilse St Louis...a guide book will have a map and show the concentration of things in the area.

I've been to Paris 3 times and still have not managed to see Giverny. If gardens are your thing, I undertsnad the reason to go. But I imagine there will be gardens at the Chateaux in the LV to satisfy a basic need. 2 days in the city and the one day in Versailles are perfect. There is so much to do and see.