Dordogne experts - Flying into CDG in early June, renting a car, need a place to stay mid-way to the Dordogne
 

Hi everyone,
We will be arriving at CDG 10:30am on June 3rd and picking up a rental car. Our plan is to tour the Dordogne for one week and then somehow (fly or train) to Montreux Switzerland
I think that after flying from Los Angeles my husband will not want to drive more than 3 hours on our arrival day. So can someone please give me some suggestions of a town and hotel to stay in on the way.
Since it will be early June I'm thinking of basing ourselves in Sarlat since I thought it would be good to not have to drive at night for dinner and we could enjoy the town walking around. Do you think this is a good idea and any hotel suggestions? Would it be better to stay a few nights in Sarlat and then move somewhere else - where?
Thank you for any help you can give me.
Also any suggestions on the easiest way to get from the Dordogne to Montreaux?
Dac
All suggestions of hotels welcome.
Thank you

ttt

Hi dac,

The 13:45 from CDG 2 will get you to Libourne at 17:36, where you can pick up a car.

It is then a short drive to www.chateau-de-roques.com where we stayed for several days before heading for the Sarlat area.

You could also continue on from Libourne to St. Emilion or Bergerac.

>...the easiest way to get from the Dordogne to Montreaux?

You can't........easily.

I suggest driving to Clermont Ferrand or Lyon and taking the train from there.

All trains seem to go through Lyon.

See www.viamichelin.com for driving route and www.bahn.de for train schedules.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

I wouldn't drive to the Dordogne from Paris. It's a long, pretty dull drive, and if you break it up with an overnight, you've lost a day of your already short time there. Take the train, as ira suggests. You can take that TGV to Libourne and then probably hop a CORail local train to Périgueux, which will be a 45-minute drive to Sarlat.

Thanks Ira and St. Cirq for your quick replies. Ira, do I have to go into Paris to get the train or can I get it right at CDG? What site are you looking at for this info?

Hi dac,

>do I have to go into Paris to get the train or can I get it right at CDG? What site are you looking at for this info? <

Train leaves from CDG TGV 2.

Enter Roissy (95) for CDG airport at www.voyages-sncf.com.

((I))

Re getting to Montreux:

Ira may very well have given the best advice. From Lyon you would take a train to Geneva and change there for Montreux. You can do the entire trip in about 3.5 hours with some timings requiring an additional change in Lausanne.

You could actually fly to Geneva from Bordeaux (EasyJet) but to do so you'd obviously have to backtrack.

You can use the Bahn site (easier) to look at the schedules for France or use the Englush version of the www.voyages-sncf.com site

Thank you Ira and Dukey. I'm now starting to think that maybe we should just spend the two weeks in France.
There are plenty of places we've not been and it seems like it would be much easier.
Dac

Drive or train from Paris? It depends on what interests you. If you have never seen a royal chateau, driving to Fontainebleau, spending the night there and visiting the chateau the next day might be worthwhile. If you have been to the Loire valley before and seen some of the royal abodes (Blois, Chambord, Angers), you might want to take the train as previously suggested.

CDG to Dordogne is a very nice drive for those who know how to do it. Early June is the very beginning of tourist season, so I would certainly improvise and stop anywhere that suited my fancy along the way, including the numerous motels along the way. I am horrified by the number of people who have to plan every minute of every day.

The Michelin site is perfect for planning the itineraries.

So, kerouac, what do you mean by " those who know how to do it?" I've done it a number of different ways and never found it very enjoyable.

How do you do it?

I very much like the A20 (free south of Orléans), and there are many nice places to get on and off it along the way.

Hi dac,

>Thank you Ira and Dukey. I'm now starting to think that maybe we should just spend the two weeks in France.

An excellent idea.

((I))

If you happen to be interested in this, we took the train to Limoges, picked up a car, drove to Oradour sur Glane, toured the memorial there, spent the night and then had a very pleasant drive down to Sarlat, stopping at Chateau Hautefort along the way.

Have a great trip! We really enjoyed this part of France.

If using Leely's itinerary, you should also visit the hospital museum in the town of Hautefort (the building is in the same style as the chateau), which happens to be also the tourist information office with all the brochures you might want.

To add to Leely's itinerary:

Limoges has a major porcelain museum that should be seen if interested in porcelain. St. Yrieix has a couple of porcelain outlet stores in the middle of the old town, each of which has a wide range of selections from plain white in different styles to painted plates in the <i>liste de mariage</i> section.