ArlVaMom

First, let me offer my thanks for all the information already on these forums. I studied in France a million years ago (I can read French but am no longer very comfortable speaking it), but I haven't been to Europe since the early 1990s, and travel planning has changed SO much. I've read and am trying to apply everyone's great advice about credits cards, train tickets, etc. Thanks!

So ... we're attempting our first family vacation overseas. I am travelling with my husband, mom, and 3 kids to France at the height of tourist season (July 8-20), arriving in Paris July9. On Saturday 14 July we are taking the TGV to Avignon (supposedly arriving at 3:15pm), picking up a rental car, and driving to a rental home in St-Remy-de-Provence. It's Saturday, and it's Bastille Day, and I'm assuming most stores will be closed and most restaurants will already be booked. Likewise for Sunday and possibly Monday, I imagine. We'd like to eat at home a lot -- we've already spent so much money on airfare and lodging, and it can be a drag sitting around a restaurant with the kids. If this were an American destination, I'd plan to grab takeout food Saturday night and do a big shopping run at a supermarket on Sunday morning.

So... what can we eat Saturday night? I cannot imagine that a grocery would be open on July 14 ... true? Does anyone know how to make dinner reservations online in St-Remy? Any recommendations for decent takeout? Do we need to shop in Paris on Friday and bring groceries with us on the train (we will have an apartment @ Bastille Place so we will have a frig there)? I'm picturing bringing along an extra rolling suitcase just for food ... seems bizarre ...

And then it's Sunday ... is there anywhere to shop for groceries? I see from discussions on these boards that in "tourist" areas of France, supermarkets are now allowed to be open on Sunday. Anyone have experience actually shopping in/around St-Remy on Sunday and Monday?

I'm also curious about driving from Avignon-TGV to St.-Remy. The house is a little west of the village. The agency says to take the A7, but somebody on one of these boards said that's bad advice. The agency also allowed a lot of time for us to get to the house ... will there be horrific traffic? Will Avis take hours and hours to give us our car?

One other question -- on Friday July 20 we have an Air France flight departing CDG at 4:30pm. We bought tickets from Avignon-TGV to Gare de Lyon instead of CDG because it was much cheaper. This has us arriving Gare de Lyon at 12:53pm. Is it going to be quick and easy to transfer to CDG or is this a stupid plan? We plan to have minimal luggage in order to be capable of using metro or whatever is easiest.

All advice welcome. Thanks very much in advance.

StuDudley

>>So... what can we eat Saturday night? I cannot imagine that a grocery would be open on July 14 ... true?<<

I imagine that there will be plenty of restaurants open Sat Night. The larger grocery in St Remy may be open Sat night Bastille Day - but I would not count on it. If you want to "eat in" - just get a pizza from one of the many pizza places in St Remy & have it at your rental.

>>Does anyone know how to make dinner reservations online in St-Remy?<<

www.viamichelin.com will have many restaurants listed for the area. They also have the restaurant's e-mail. Just E-mail them in English. We do that all the time - just yesterday in fact. make sure that you ask them to confirm the reservation with a reply e-mail. We just say:

June 20
2 people
20:00
please confirm

regards
Stuart Dudley

>>Any recommendations for decent takeout?<<

Pizza !!!!!

>>Do we need to shop in Paris on Friday and bring groceries with us on the train <<

Nope

>>And then it's Sunday ... is there anywhere to shop for groceries?<<

A few Mom & Pops will be open in the AM. If you plan to go to the market in l'Isle sur la Sorgue on Sunday, there is a very nice grocery open Sunday mornings on the road from l'Isle sur la Sorgue to Pernes. It is on the west side of the road at an intersection.


>>I see from discussions on these boards that in "tourist" areas of France, supermarkets are now allowed to be open on Sunday. Anyone have experience actually shopping in/around St-Remy on Sunday and Monday?<<

Most shops in St Remy will be open on Sunday (fewer open on Monday), but I'm pretty sure that the groceries will be closed. The groceries will be open on Monday.

We have spent the last 8 years staying in a Gite near Bedoin. There is a grocery in town that was closed on Sundays the first 3 times we stayed there. But the last time in '10, it was open on Sundays in summer months (this was June).

>>I'm also curious about driving from Avignon-TGV to St.-Remy. The house is a little west of the village. The agency says to take the A7,<<

Usually agencies assume that you are driving from Paris. The A7 from the Avignon TGV station is bad advice. Take the N570 from the TGV station, to just west of St Remy. We stayed in a gite for 2 weeks in St Etienne du Gres.

>>The agency also allowed a lot of time for us to get to the house ... will there be horrific traffic? Will Avis take hours and hours to give us our car?<<

This is hard to answer. If you were arriving on a Mon-Thurs, it would take no more than 45 mins from when you arrive to pick up the car, and drive to your apt. Unfortunately, you are arriving on a Sat on perhaps the most traveled Sat of the year. We picked up some friends at the TGV station on a Sat in late June a couple of years ago. The train from Paris was full. There was a HUGE line at the Avis counter, but strangely, a minimal line (like 4 people) at the Europcar rental office. I don't know why this was the case. The drive to the apt should not be to crowded with cars.

>>One other question -- on Friday July 20 we have an Air France flight departing CDG at 4:30pm. We bought tickets from Avignon-TGV to Gare de Lyon instead of CDG because it was much cheaper. This has us arriving Gare de Lyon at 12:53pm. Is it going to be quick and easy to transfer to CDG or is this a stupid plan? <<

You have 3 1/2 hrs to transver & catch the flight. Budget 45 mins to drive to the airport - no time to make a mistake or a delay. I would take a taxi to CDG - about 55-60E. Others might advise an Air France or another shuttle - but I would be nervous about waiting & delays. Make sure that you know which terminal your airline departs from - on several occasions our taxi driver did not know.

Stu Dudley

ArlVaMom

Thanks so very much!

MaineGG

Here's a link to the St.-Rémy Intermarché that gives its hours:

http://www.intermarche.com/magasin_i...px?itmid=12499

It is open on Saturdays until 7:30 p.m. but there is nothing specific about holiday closings. According to the driving directions, it's a 33 minute drive from the Avignon TGV station.

dugi_otok

ArlvaMom

The name of the holiday is Fete National.Please don't call it Bastille Day. This was pointed out to me on this form.

3 1/2 hrs to transfer from Gare de Lyon to CDG would cause me some anxiety. The good news is that taxi departure from Gare de Lyon is well organized with very helpful attendants. But there will be a line, and you would want a large taxi to carry your family of 6. Last year our family of 5 had to wait an extra 1/2 hr for a large taxi. In our case we were going to our hotel in Paris and not to CDG. Time was not an issue. You might be advised to take 2 taxis which will cause some stress in splitting up and would be an additional expense.

StCirq

It's France. You won't go hungry. Even if the supermarkets are closed, there will be smaller shops and cafés/restaurants open. Bringing groceries from Paris is completely unnecessary.

You might have a bit of a wait for the car, because of the busy travel day, but hours and hours? No. The traffic on the roads will be fine. French people don't go out driving because it's the Fête National, or if they do it's in the evening to get to a town for festivities.

I hope you already got your train tickets, as you're already 1 month into the 3 months out from date of travel for PREM fares.

Was it really that much cheaper to get tickets to the Gare de Lyon than to CDG for the return? I've never noticed much difference at all. And yes, I'd be concerned about making the flight. I make it a point to be at CDG about 3 hours before my flight home, and you definitely won't make that.

StuDudley

Forgot to mention:

We were in St Remy on Bastille day in '99. There was a "Grand Aioli" that night (Google it). There was a paella simmering & lots of other stuff to. This might be a dinner option for you if you're adventuresome & not too tired from travel.

A pizza place that does "carry-out" usually says "a'emporter". There are often trucks that offer pizza a'emporter.

In '99, Bastille day was on a Wednesday - which is the market day in St Remy. The market was cancelled because the night before, there was a traditional "running of the bulls" through town at night and the city wasn't able to clean up the "leftovers" on the streets before the market would be able to set up in the am. I don't know if they still have this running.

This is not relevant for you and I'm sure you already know this since you purchased TGV tickets, but dates in Europe are in the format DD/MM/YYYY. So if you e-mailed a restaurant for reservations and wanted to dine on 6/7, they would reserve for you on July 6.

Stu Dudley

ArlVaMom

Thanks again all. The reason the train tix are to Gare de Lyon is that PREMs were still available for them (only) when we were shopping. If instead we went straight to CDG we would have to buy new tickets for three of us and throw away those PREMs. Which would cost more than 2 taxis from Gare de Lyon to CDG. But which we would do if we were really worried about running out of time. I guess a key question is whether the TGV to Gare de Lyon is at all likely to be late -- anybody know?

dugi_otok

Don't know. But what I do know is our train left Avignon late and still arrived on time in Paris.

ArlVaMom

Okay so I chickened out because I found a press report that SNCF said 20% of TGVs were late a couple of years ago. Just exchanged/bought different train tix direct to CDG on the French SNCF site. For what it's worth, my Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (obtained for this trip) worked - a little screen came up and asked for the last four digits of the social security number and Chase approved the transaction with no fuss.

StCirq

How did you manage to exchange PREMs?

ArlVaMom

Sorry - I didn't exchange the PREMs - when I said I chickened out, I meant I just bought 3 new tickets for the 3 of us who had PREMs (the kids were on loisir reduit). I assume that there's no value whatsoever in the PREMs if not used as purchased.

StCirq

You're right; there isn't any value. You can't even sell them to someone else who might want to travel at that time, as they've got your names on them.

kevin_widrow

"The name of the holiday is Fete National.Please don't call it Bastille Day. This was pointed out to me on this form."

I have never heard anyone here refer to it as either of the above. The French will say "le 14 juillet" or simply "le 14".

- Kevin

ArlVaMom

I see from the town's webpage that on 14 july there will be a town party, including a Pegoulado (some sort of costumed parade?) and "encierro" and "bandido abrivado" (running/herding of bulls?). These things would be after the kids' bedtimes. A quick youtube search showed what looked like a bunch of drunk frat boys congratulating themselves for hanging out with bulls. If anyone knows if it would be fun for kids, please let me know. thanks.

kerouac

Buying food on holidays is never a problem in France. The options are reduced (particularly in the afternoon), but so many people shop for food every day (sometimes with the exception of Monday), that July 14 is not at all a problem.

StCirq

The bandido and encierro are the evening of the 13th - La Nuit Taurine. Typically, these are entertaining local events where young people gather to party. I've never been to one in St-Rémy, but in the villages near me in the Dordogne they are mildly entertaining but not exactly culturally gripping if you're not a local.

dugi_otok

Hi Kevin

"I have never heard anyone here refer to it as either of the above. The French will say "le 14 juillet" or simply "le 14"."

Tell that to the Dordognians StCirq and Carlux.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-dordogne.cfm

PS Kevin. We are the family that stayed at Le Mas Perreal last July. You may remember us as the family that took a day trip to Gap to see the Tour de France. Every time I see my daughter-in-law she says that the Le Mas was the highlight of her vacation.Thanks again.

Pvoyageuse

. "will there be horrific traffic?"

There will be traffic because it is the beginning of their holiday for many people (Saturday + end of 2nd week in July). Avoid A7, it will be full of cars coming down from Northern France