Countryside France
 

I plan to drive down (car rental) from CDG, Paris on Friday 13 Nov morning to a nearby countryside. Sad part is I just have 2 nights, 13th and 14th night. Is there a close-by countryside that I could do, as I don't want to spend too much time driving since daylight hours are less in Nov. Also, want to avoid the rains. If I could please get some suggestions. Thanks.

Give us a hint as to what interests you. Chateaux? Wine? Champagne? Cheese? History? Art? Anything?

And how far you'd like to drive. "Close-by" can mean different things to different people. Since you likely don't want to drive very far, I don't think there would be much you could do to "avoid" rain. Do you need to return to CDG?

Thanks Jean for your response. Nature interests us, coupled with chateau, vineyards (sadly cant taste the champagne/wine as per my doctor due to medical reasons!), quaint villages where there isn't much of a crowd. We would like not like to drive more than 3 hours (overall) since the daylight hours are very less. So, ideally, if we look at leaving CDG by 7 am, we would like to reach our destination by max 10 am.

How about Avallon/Beaune in Burgundy or St.Marlo/St. Michel in Brittany? And yes, we have to return to CDG on 15th Nov.

Have you noticed the responses to your other posts? Just click on your screen name to find them....

what about the Loire Valley?

If my doctor said I could not drink Champagne I would change my doctor and visit the vineyards.

I don't think 3 hours would get you as far as you think, especially if you want to travel on secondary, country roads rather than highways.

On highways, Beaune would be about 3.5-4 hours and Troyes about 2.5 hours. IMO, Troyes is more interesting than Avallon. Three hours would get you to about Blois or Amboise at the eastern edge of the Loire Valley, but there are chateaux closer to Paris (Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Vaux le Vicomte, etc.). Brittany would be too far.

I don't know how interesting it would be to visit vineyards in November. The champagne houses in/near Reims (2 hours or less from CDG) are interesting, and I would definitely at least take a sip. YOLO.

Thanks Kja, mamcalice, RJD, Jean for all your responses.

Kja - my other posts were queries particularly on Brittany and Avalon. But haven't been able to make up mind due to the short time of just 2 nights. So was asking for suggestions of other countryside places close to Paris.

Quite close to CDG is a beautiful chateau, Chantilly, and the medieval small town of Senlis. I don't know where you're flying in from but the Loire is a long drive if jet-lagged.

While reading this, my immediate thought was Chantilly--around half an hour by car from CDG. There are other chateaux in the area, Senlis--an interesting medieval city, beautiful gardens and an interesting town at Giverny, and nature along the Seine.

I just checked opening times, the web site is a bit confusing but looks like low season starts on 2 November:

http://www.domainedechantilly.com/en...e-your-visite/

Sorry - but I don;t think there is any way of guaranteeing no rains in November - you won;t know until a couple of days in advance. Also in November, besides short daylight hours you will have trees with no leaves, grass that is brown and crunchy and no flowers/gardens. Not really time for trying to tour pretty countryside.

Certainly there are many things to see and do in towns outside of Paris - but agree 3 hours isn't far by car unless you use the major highways. And how do you calculate leaving CDG by 7 am - does your plane arrive at 5 am? Have you allowed for line at immigration, waiting for luggage, getting to car rental, completing the rental and the preflight check up?

Cathinjoetown, dwdvagamundo, nytraveler- thx...

I get in to CDg the previous night...so can get good rest before I drive next morning.

YOu might want to visit the area around Auxerre to the SE, it's not that far. Or, Troyes which is in-between AUxerre and Reims.

If that's too far, I agree Senlis and Chantilly area would be quite good.

If you are a history buff, I'd suggest Meaux which is not far at all, east of CDG (just take A104 to N3 or something similar). They just opened a WWI history museum which is fantastic, I went there last Fall. Meaux itself is a town of about 50K, which actually might be better than just staying out in the country somewhere in November. Of course, both Senlis and Chantilly are small towns, quite small, and Auxerre is in the middle size-wise. At least if it's raining, these places would ahve something to do.

http://www.museedelagrandeguerre.eu/en

I'd pick Troyes over both Avallon and Auxerre.

Thanks Christina that's helpful. I think I would go to Auxerre and see if u can visit a few more nearby places.

Thanks Jane. Troyes looks interesting too!

"Kja - ... So was asking for suggestions of other countryside places close to Paris."

Ah, got it - sorry! You've gotten some great suggestions. I'll second the idea of visiting the Loire.

There are loads and loads of places very close to Paris that don't require a three hour drive. Senlis is only about a 30 minute drive from CDG and Chantilly only 9km from there. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Nearby are also Compiègne, Pierrefonds, Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, an abandoned Gallo-Roman Amphitheater, Crépy-en-Valois, the medieval donjon in Vez, Auvers-sur-Oise, The Abbey of Chaalis and nearby town of Ermenonville, The Abbey of Royaumont, medieval hilltop town of Laon, WWI battlesites (Chemin des Dames), and any number of charming villages and beautiful private châteaux that you can drive past and incorporate into scenic drives while you go from place to place. And that's just the area north of Paris.

Peak foliage season is right around the beginning of November so there will still be color in the trees on November 13th. I've written loads of photo reports about exploring the countryside around Paris and I'll give you links to some of them that cover all the places I mentioned, with the exception of the Abbey of Royaumont and Auvers-sur-Oise, if you want ideas.

Compiègne, Pierrefonds, Crépy-en-Valois, Gallo-Roman amphitheater, Saint-Jean-aux-Bois (with a Michelin starred restaurant):

http://tinyurl.com/7edejbz

Donjon in Vez, Morienval, villages:

http://tinyurl.com/o56293h

Laon and WWI sites: http://tinyurl.com/cqst5xz

Chantilly, Senlis: http://tinyurl.com/bsnyjgr

Abbey of Chaalis, Ermenonville, villages:

http://tinyurl.com/dy9ulob

With such limited visiting time I think it's a waste of time to spend three hours driving just to get to someplace (and you have to drive that far to get back to CDG) when within 30 minutes of CDG you could already be visiting places.

well, if you just have two nights, you cant go to that many places! Actually, if you are so into wine, Chablis is right near Auxerre (only about 20 km), and that's one place you can't easily get to without a car.

YOu can see what there is to do there or if you can visit a winery at that time of year. check the tourism website

http://www.tourisme-chablis.fr/

this place gives some wine tours
http://www.tourisme-chablis.fr/touri...s-vititours/8/

So does this guy nearby, looks like one for 3 hours http://aucoeurduvin.com/

This is a winery close to Auxerre/Chablis http://www.brocard.fr/ They have some tastings and visits.

BUt if you can't drink wine, not much point to that.