Arriving CDG March 19, 4 days to fill
 

We arrive from Rome FCO around 14h on the Wednesday before Easter. We have a Paris apartment (Bastille area) starting Easter Sunday.

We generally prefer country holidays but would try anything once. Remember, though, this is March...and likely to drizzle.

If it were you, would you hop on a TGV and have a 4-day city break? Rent a car and roam the countryside?

(Car rental is complicated by the fact that many Paris drop-off locations are closed Sunday. OTOH, we might have problems getting a PREM train fare on Easter Sunday.}

Money is not a particular constraint but I do tend to obsess over "rapport qualite-prix".

Any suggestions of how to fill this gap in our schedule?

ttt

Probably the most important information would be how long you intend to stay in Paris -- as well as lots of other things such as where one has been before, etc.

I'd just stay in Paris if the entire time in Paris wasn't that long, and stay in a cheap hotel for a few days first. I might use that opportunity to stay in a part of Paris very different from where the apartment was, for example, for a change.

I would not rent a car to roam the countryside for a few days myself, but I don't find March that scinitillating, weather-wise. YOu do have the problems with the return on Sunday, also, so you might be paying for an extra day. Four day car rentals aren't cheap, anyway.

I would not make plans based on whether I could get a cheap PREM fare on that date -- back in the old days, we made plans based on regular fares and what we really wanted to do, after all (at least, I did).

Hi T,

How long will you be in Paris?

If a week or more, you could go directly to Dijon on the 16:13,

You could make the 17:12 from Paris Est to Nancy or the 17:24 to Strasbourg.

((I))

We will be in Paris March 23-30. I am not totally averse to spending the extra 4 days in Paris... but would likely prefer to go somewhere else. We were in Paris for a week in March 2007, thus are not Paris-starved.

We thought: Bordeaux? Montpellier? Lyon?

Strasbourg is an intriguing option. I've seen it only once -- I think it was 38 yrs ago, when I was a teenager! Any specific suggestions re hotels?

And I wondered what Normandy would be like in that season -- too grim? We travelled there one September in the '80s but saw all too little. I want to see it again but query whether this is the right season.

ttt -- hoping for your sage advice

Hi again. In the same circumstance, I'd take a train to a city big enough to occupy me with four days of exploring. Lyon definitely fits the bill, but you've been there, haven't you? Montpellier, without hesitation, similarly Strasbourg. Marseille? I haven't been, but I'd certainly try a four day stay.

All of those spots are within a quick TGV trip, although, as you point out, PREMs may be hard to come by for Easter.

Anselm