My husband and I will be visiting France for two weeks in early April. We are planning on spending 3-4 days in Paris, but beyond that we are undecided. I know this is not the best time weather-wise to visit France, but are there any areas that would be recommeneded in April? We are from Wisconsin, so a bit of chilly weather is not a problem. Some of the areas we have been looking at are the Loire Valley and Burgundy.

Have you been to Paris before? If not, I'd up the number of days there to 6 or 7, one of which might include a half-day trip to Giverny and/or Chartres. For the rest of the time you could begin with a few days in the Loire Valley and then finish up in lovely Burgundy.

Hi S,

I also suggest a week in Paris, if you have not been there before.

For the second week, you might want to head South to Provence.

Try entering "Provence" in the "search this forum" box. It's not working well, nut you will get some ideas.

The Dordogne is absolutely beautiful in April, when the wildflowers and fruit trees start to bloom. It can be quite warm, at least during the day, with brief showers, and it cools down enough at night that a cosy fire is usually welcome. There aren't lots of tourists, the restaurants are all open after Easter, and all in all it's one of my favorite times to visit.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. These are all areas I have been reading about. They all sound awesome...it will be tough to narrow it down.

We are traveling just before Easter, we fly home on Good Friday. Will we have problems with things being open outside of Paris?

Glad to see that your first post ever here has been useful to you, stephanie...

Please don't take this as "scolding", but perhaps a hint to other new registrants reading this. Posts really ought to mention the destination in the message header.

It's what Fodors recommends in its FAQs (a webpage that is not readily found by new registrants - - see "HELP" in tiny little red letters, upper lefthand corner).

A common point of confusion has to do with "selecting a country" when you make your initial post... it might seem like you are "signaling" all other readers here that your post is about France - - but in reality, a large majority of forum visitors (or so it seems) simply view it all as "one big europe forum" - - and there is no way to know what country you were asking about... other than have to open it up and read it.

Welcome to the forum.

Best wishes,

Rex