My husband and I are thinking of a little trip to France, a kind of last minute idea. We probably have 10 nights, maybe 11 and would like to fly from NYC to Nice and return from Paris to NYC. I know we don't have a lot of time, but would like to see as much as possible. I just read Stududley's trip notes and will try to take some information from there.

I thought we could stay 2 nights in Nice, drive to St Tropez, maybe stay the night ( I don't know the driving distance) and then several nights in Provence- maybe St Remy. I would like to see Aix, Arles and of course, some small towns, villages with nice views, scenery. We would rent a car when we leave Nice and return in to Avignon , where we would take the train to Paris. I need to spend a few nights in Paris, as it is my most favorite place.

Any ideas are welcome. I know September is not as pretty as the lavendar season in June and July but this is tthe time we have. We are seasoned European travelers with driving experience in France. We also tend to be budget travelers, choosing hotels that are clean but not fancy, and are not gourmet diiners. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sept is a great time for southern France - crowds have thinned dramatically after the last weekend in August.

From Nice or actually Grasse you can take the Route Napoleon, a road made for Napleon for military reasons that goes thru the hintrlands of Provence and then go via the Grand Canyon of the Verdun - about the largest such thing in Europe - we did a kayak trip - easy to do without advance arrangements - thru Moustiers onto Aix region and a slew of famous market towns.

the main route along the Riviera coast is slow going with lots of traffic - the autoroutes are boring and avoid all towns.

http://www.ultimatedrives.net/top-10...oute_ID=100009

Looks lovely, PalenQ. But I don't know about the mountains and the edge of the road, my husbands driving makes me pretty nervous on ordinary roads!

You do not have to negotiate any real mountains - I drove it - avoid the roads along the Grand Canyon of the Verdun however as they often do hug the cliff - but this is a fairly flat route all in all - wide main roads.

Also, how essential do you think it would be to book hotels in advance from here? I don't want to be homeless, but we might want to linger or we may discover someplace and would not want to go rushing to the next city because of a reservation.

There are lots of tourists in Provence & the Cote in Sept. Lots of people from the US (like you & me) wait for August to end so that the French can go back to where they live, and then we head out for France. Do lots of research, and plan your trip well. Then make reservations. St Tropez is especially difficult to get hotel accommodations in. Stay more than 1 night there, however. We got the "last room available" in Aix once - in mid June. It was a crappy room.

Stu Dudley

Thanks, Stu. I know the feeling. We almost didn't get a room at all in St Malo after visiting Mont St Michel. It was cold and rainy and I was afraid we would have to sleep in the car.