Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Bad timing for Paris?

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Bad timing for Paris?

For months now I have been planning a group trip to France for next June, with the following schedule: 4 nights Paris June 3-6 1 week in Provence June 7-13 3 nights Dordogne area June 14-16 3 nights Loire Valley June 17-19 1 night at CDG June 20 prior to return flight on June 21 The problem: I have just discovered that the French Open is May 26-June 8 and the Paris Air Show is June 15-22. I first realized that there might be a problem because some hotels at CDG are showing little or no availability or sky-high "special event" rates for the night of June 20. We will need 4-5 rooms. I'm wondering if the French Open will affect rates or availability in downtown Paris (hoping to stay at the Grandes Ecoles in the 5th) for June 3-6. Do you think I should back my trip up a week to make it May 27 - June 13 (we would still be in Paris at the beginning of the FO) or delay it a week to June 10 - 27? Any effect on airfare either way? Or am I making too much of this? We may not even need to stay at the airport if our flight doesn't leave too early. What would you do in my shoes? All comments welcome, but I would especially like to hear from anyone who has been in Paris during either of these events. Thanks in advance.

It's never a bad time for Paris.

Ordinarily, Parislover, I would agree with you, but given the particular cicumstances, I'd rather avoid difficulties if possible. Anyone else?

Betty, I hesitated to post on this thread - - lightning rod that I am, especially on any thread that involves putting together a small group trip - - but I wonder what concerns you have? Is it just the rates of hotels on those dates in Paris? Thee are plenty of work arounds for the night of the 20th. Is the departing flight ridiculously early in the morning? We made it to the airport no problem (for a 2 pm departure), leaving from Etretat last month. I have left from Chartres and (near) Giverny before also. What ARE the rates for the first 4 nights in Paris? You say that you wonder, but it is easily determined, no? Have you led other group trips before?If this is about "first-time" jitters leading a group, then I have some thoughts for you on that, if you prefer to write to me, off the board. Or we can discuss it further here. Others can probably contribute to that as well. Nineteen nights is a big trip to plan, whatever your level of experience. wish you all the best - - and just the "right amount" of the unexpected. Best wishes, Rex

From what I've seen of viewing Parisian hotel rates, the most likely problem during the French Open is just that there will be limited room availability and you will have to book early. I've only seen a very few hotels in Paris that raise rates during "salons", trade fairs or special events (that will be high season rates, of course, just not higher than usual high season for those specific days). However, you may not be aware of the fact that you are also interacting with two French holidays and I think the 6/6-6/9 period is going to be bad in Paris and possibly in Provence with people on holiday. Ascension is May 29th, Pentecost is Sunday June 8th and Whit Monday, 6/9, is also a national holiday. Lots of people will no doubt be on that long holiday weekend in Paris (espec if the French Open is the same time) and there will be lots in Provence also that weekend, I'll bet. As for CDG, I have seen a lot more hotels out that way that do raise rates during salons and special events such as the Air Show. Again, you will have to book very early. One reason they raise rates a lot is that many of the salons take place near CDG at the Parc des Expositions and the Air Show is also very near there, so this is a big source of revenue for them and they are easily booked up. Also, the Air Show doesn't take place every year, so I think a lot of people plan way ahead for that and book very early. I doubt if air fare is going to be affected by your alternatives as all of those times are high season recently, I think. It used to be air fare didn't go up until June and you could maybe save a little by leaving in May, but that's something you can check with your intended carrier. If it were me, I would probably want to avoid all those holidays and delay until 6/10-6/27. June is still a very popular time in Paris outside these special events, so you should still book a hotel early.

Rex: Thanks for your comments and especially your offer of advice on leading a group. I may well want to take advantage of that by e-mail a bit later. I have done similar trips before but with friends/family who had experience traveling and took care of some of their arrangements. This is the first time I will be responsible for all the arrangements and the group will be entirely dependant on me. It is a little daunting. I have traveled enough to know that careful planning and anticipating possible problems can help to avoid potential "disasters." My main concern here is in giving the trip participants a reasonably accurate budget for the trip. I don't want to give them a price based on published rates and then have to go back later and ask for more money because rates have suddenly increased due to some "special event." Also, many decisions are interrelated: for example, where we drop off the cars will depend on where we are spending the last night. I know there will probably be some things that won't go exactly as planned, but I'd like to avoid as many unpleasant surprises as possible. Christina: Thank you for your comments as well, especially the "heads up" about the holidays. Believe me, I do plan to make reservations as early as I can. The GE, however, will not take reservations for June before mid-February. It occurs to me, though, that people who can afford several hundred dollars for a single ticket to the FO, would probably be staying somewhere fancier than a modest 3-star in the Latin Quarter! And, since we will be leaving Paris on the morning of the 7th, we should miss any big influx of tourists there due to the Pentecost/Whitmonday holiday. I will be making our Paris-Avignon TGV reservations as soon as possible with the SNCF. Do you think we might find that some sights (or shops or restaurants)in Provence are closed that weekend? Since we have a week there we could probably work around any closings but it would be nice to know what to expect in advance. I guess I'm leaning toward not changing our plans, but I will discuss all this with my group and see what they think. I suspect that some will not want to change to a later date. Thanks again to both of you for your suggestions/advice.

My husband and I have been to Paris the last two Junes during the French Open, and did not have any difficulties with hotel reservations, dinner reservations, etc. because of the tournament. We did enjoy watching a few moments of it live on French TV each day! Perhaps hotels near Roland Garros are booked quickly but in the 7th, where we stayed, it didn't seem to have much of an impact at all.

Betty: I've been in Paris on a number of occasions during both the French Open and Paris Air Show and never had a problem booking a room, usually just a few weeks in advance. Of course, it was just two rooms, not four or five, so I would imagine early booking is essential for you. We also stay in the 7me. I have never experienced inflated room prices at that time of year, either, although perhaps that is the norm at airport hotels. My hunch, then, is that you will not encounter a problem if you book early. Best of luck with the tour.

Our flights home from Paris are always at the crack of dawn, but we have never stayed at an airport hotel. We just grin and bear it. We arrange an appropriately early pickup (most recently on a shuttle, but cabs are fine), set our alarm and arrange a wakeup call with the hotel. It's not fun, but it's better than moving to another hotel and probably paying considerably more than at our Paris hotel.

Thanks, Beth, St. Cirq and Giovanna. Your comments are very helpful.

If you go to Paris during the French Open, be sure to book your hotel as soon as you can, ESPECIALLY at Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. We had a bad experience in 2000 the first week of June. HDG was booked and we were "bumped" without warning from our reservations at Hotel Luxembourg (Rue de Vaugirard, 4). DO NOT reserve or stay there. We arrived to check in and were told that our reservations had been cancelled but they had booked us comparable rooms in a nearby hotel. The hotel was a business hotel near the Gare Montparnasse. It was comparable only in price, not location or convenience. They would not even locate a cab for us and gave us incorrect walking directions. STAY AWAY FROM HOTEL LUXEMBOURG. Restaurant rservations were not difficult to get during the FO nor were the museums particularly crowded. Paris is wonderful that time of year but make your hotel reservations early.