We are staying in Paris for a week in early April (8-15) and then train/driving south to Burgundy and Provence for a fortnight. Anyone have any weather advice as we are trying to pack lightly as possible?

I am going to Paris around the same time and was in Paris in April two years ago. We came from Prague and it was quite cool (not freezing) in Prague. We needed coats and gloves there. When we got to Paris we had mild and wonderful weather but it was still cool. I wore a quilt coat and layered. I would advise a warm jacket and a sweater for layering or wearing separate and things you can layer. At night it was cool. The wonderful thing was that it stays very light in Paris. Do bring an umbrella, too. This year I am going to check the weather right before we go so I can pack accordingly.

Many thanks risab. We're on the other side of the world here, just coming out of summer and have to adjust our heads to expect a cool (in our terms) Spring in France.

I was in Paris two aprils ago and froze! It was raining most days and very very cold. I ended up buying a scarf and gloves and was still cold. That said, it could be too warm also! If you goal is to pack light, then I'd bring the minimum, but be prepared to buy warm clothing if necessary.

have a great trip!

margy

Just to put some figures on this: the average nighttime low in April is 6.7° C (44° F). The average daily high is a very comfortable 14.5° C (58° F). The overall daily average temperature is 10.6° C (51° F).

On a yearly basis, it rains measurably in Paris roughly every other day. In practice, this means a few days of drizzling rain, followed by a few days of clear weather, followed by a few days of rain, etc. Rain tends to be light or misty much of the time; overcast days are more common than rain days. Cloudless days are very rare, but many days are sunny with fluffy clouds.

The typical "April in Paris" day is sunny and cool, with a bright blue sky dotted with a small number of fat, fluffy clouds. In reality, quite a few days in spring match this ideal, which is why April in Paris is famous. There are many similar days in March, May, and June, and again in the fall. Summer days are sunny, too, but they become very hot.

Many thanks margy and anthony. Seems like a great excuse for my wife to go shopping! I'm sure we'll have fun whatever happens to the weather. Thanks for your input.

Hi Blackjack, last year in Burgundy we had a wonderful April (at least from mid april) People were having drinks on café terraces, almost too hot for the season but very very nice
about 70% of my pictures below were taken in April and May.
http://www.kodakgallery.fr/BrowsePho...id=43499444733

Have a great trip!

Thanks coco, guess we'll be heading into your part of the world around 17 April. Looking forward to it very much.

P.S Thanks for the photo gallery.

I'm sure you have all the info you need but here are a few links that could help.
http://82.235.93.13/jacquin/useful_l...ore_videos.htm

Thanks coco. The links look useful. And I guess that's the great thing about sharing information. There's always one more little bit around the next corner. I'll follow them up tomorrow as its nearly 0030 here and about time to quit.

Hi

just worth saying you could have 0C at night in Paris up to 30C in the afternoons in Provence.

I'm not that far from Provence and the highest April temp over the last 30 years was 33C.

Doesn't help !

Prepare for every possibility with multi layers !

Peter