couple in their early 60's. will be flying 8-9 hours from US to munich to Marseille (with a 2 hour plus layover). not much sleep. should we attempt to then drive to hotel in st remy area or stay near the airport for a night to recover? realize individual stamina here, but curious what other people have done. haven't driven in france before. don't speak much french.

Personally, I hate to waste the first full day of vacation with more travelling and hotel changing. We went to Italy last year, arrived after an 8 hour flight, and drove 2 hours to Varenna. I was nervous about the driving, but it was fine.

I would say that it depends on how much sleep you get on the plane and how long of a day you can handle safely. I am one of those lucky people that can sleep under any circumstanses. I always fly overnight from the west coast and am ready to go when I get there.

Hi Joan
We are about the same age. My wife and I have found that we are excited enough about arriving that we are running on adrenaline.

I suggest that you drive around the airport a few times to get used to the car, orient yourself with your maps, and then get in the right lane and drive at the speed limit.

I doubt that you will fall asleep at the wheel.

PS: Long distance race car drivers keep their thumbs up while driving. The navigator can tell if they are getting sleepy when their thumbs drop.

We are in our 60's and used to fly in from NYC and drive 2 1/2 hours from Nice to St. Remy. (We now fly to Paris and use the TGV to Provence.)

The drive to St. Remy is an easy drive on AutoRoutes, main highways, from either Nice or Marseilles. But stay alert. Switch divers. Bring some cassettes or CDs if your car can accommodate CDs. Speed limit is 80 mph. French drivers are very good but move very fast.

The ultimate decision really depends on your physical condition. If I arrive, and was too weary to drive, I would get a hotel--we did that once near Nice . (Other advice given here is excellent too).

Good luck.

Joanel,
Great advice by other posters.

My experience is time related in that I start feeling too tired to drive ~1PM local time the day we arrive - after 2-3 hours sleep on the flight - i.e. flight arrives at 8AM, I'm good for 4-5 hours driving; flight arrives at noon, I have about 1hr driving in me. YMMV.

Go with your gut feel once you arrive.

Joanel,

Assuming you're going to St. Remy de Provence, it's only 42 miles from MRS. We arrived MRS last year after a flight from DFW/LGW/MRS, arriving around noon, drove to Beaucaire with ease. MRS is a small airport, rental cars are a direct easy walk across from the terminal and the airport is easy to exit. French highway signing is good, better than we have here in TX. Go to Michelin for driving instructions. I'm 65.

We are in the same age range and find no problem in just driving. We have had problems when we try to see a lot on the first day. But two years ago we arrived in Paris and then drove on to Burgundy (about 4 hours)and it was easy.