Advice: first trip to France
 

My husband and I are travelling with his parents mid August to France - week 1 will be in Paris, next 3 days in Normany,(my father in law is a huge history buff) and then 1 week at a country cottage between Bordeaux and Bergerac. I would love some advice on the best way to travel between the cities. We were told to take the train from Normandy to Bordeaux and have a rental car waiting there. Does this sound appropriate? Also, we are travelling from Canada - would you know where I can find out how much wine we are able to bring back?
Thanks in advance.

Hi CD,

>1 week at a country cottage between Bordeaux and Bergerac

Can you be more precise?

>We were told to take the train from Normandy to Bordeaux

Where in Normandy?

>...how much wine we are able to bring back?

More than likely 2 L pp without any duty. If Canada is like the US, just declare how much wine you have and it is unlikely that they will charge you.

((I))

Ira, below is the location description I've copied and pasted from the gite's site. Also, we are staying in Bayeux, Normandy. Thanks.

Town : Velines
Nearest large town : Ste Foy la Grande (10 km E)
Other towns nearby : St Emilion (25 km W)
Bergerac (35 km E)
Eymet (30 km S)
Département : Dordogne (24)

CdnJen, I thought you were Canadian as soon as I saw your name!!

Each adult traveller can bring back a total of 1.5 litres of wine after an absence of 48 hours or longer. Here's a link to relevant page on the Canadian Border Services web site: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/...tml#P203_25788

A tiny word of advice: do be sure to declare all food products that you might be bringing back, even if you believe that they are unrestricted. If you do declare food products, the customs examiner will most likely ask you what they are and then tell you whether there's a problem or not.

Have a great trip.

Anselm

Hi, DdnJen:

It's easy enough to take the train from Paris to Bayeux (from the Gare St-Lazare, it takes a little over two hours0< but to get from Bayeux to Bordeaux (or Bergerac), you have to go back through Paris.

So you'll either need to do that or pick up your car in Bayeux and drive to Velines from there. Or play with the SNCF site (www.scnf.com) and see if there are alternate routes. I tried it several different ways, though, and it always routed me back through Paris.

Hi CD,

You will either have to go back through Paris or drive from Bayeux.

You might want to consider changing the itinerary to:

4 days Paris,
train to Libourne,
car in Acquitaine,
train to Paris,
3 days in Paris,
train or car for Normandy,
return to Paris to fly home.

My suggestion is to take the TGV from Gare Montparnasse to Libourne.

The rentacar people are next to the train station, and it will save you 0:30 hr vs getting the car in Bordeaux.

((I))

Will save you more than :30 as driving out of Bordeaux at some times of day can take forever - Lilbourne a small town from which you in the Dordogne countryside in a few minutes. A no-brainer - rent at Lilbourne.

You are all so helpful thank you. I am unable to change the trip at this point as we're renting an apartment from parisperfect for the first week. So, I will work with what we have and use the advice you've given me. Paris to Libourne and renting there sounds like it might be the best for us. Can't wait to report - Thanks again!!!