Bastille day weekend - driving and returning rental car
 

We're going to be in France from July 2-July 17th (provence-lot-dordogne). I just realized as I have been researching train schedules and rental car drop off points that we may have screwed ourselves with these enddates, being that it coincides with the end of the Bastille day weekend.

I have reservations at Les Granges Hautes near Sarlat from July 12-15. We had originally thought to drop our rental car in either Bordeaux or Poitiers before returning to Paris for one night.

I am only finding one train from Bordeaux to Paris on Sunday the 16th, leaving at about 630pm. Is traffic and travel going to be too crazy on the 16th in this region? Should we leave Sarlat a day earlier?

Would you recommend flying out of Bordeaux to return to the states rather than Paris?

Thanks

anyone?

Hi LP,

There are 7 trains from Bordeaux to Paris on 16 July 2006.

Also consider dropping the car in Libourne and taking the train from there.

PREMS fares are as low as 25E pp.

See www.voyages-sncf.com

If you drop at Bordeaux airport and fly home, you will change planes in Paris.

On our last visit we found that it would be about $100 pp more to fly back to the US from Bordeaux, including the PREMS fare.

((I))

Mappy gives a total of 2hrs25min to drive from Sarlat la Caneda to Bordeaux via Le Lardin St. Lazare. That might be the easiest drive, with relatively little traffic as you avoid all the main tourist sites and city by-passes (Périgueux is a mess).

Thanks all! Exactly what I was looking for.

Had to put planning aside for awhile and haven't been on the boards.