Jean Griffing

My husband and I are going to Belgium and France
for 10-1/2 days.We will arrive in Brussels, and go to the following: Bruges,Paris,Normandy,Lorie,Dordogne, Languedoc,Paris.(like to go to The French Riviera,
but I doubt we have time). We will follow "Rick Steves" guidebook (we used his book 2 years ago went to Italy, had wonderful trip).
For France, we will buy Rail & Drive Pass, probably with 3 days driving or add additional days $30/day.
I WOULD LIKE SOME SUGGESTIONS for which area or areas are worth driving and also where it would be easy to pick up and drop off the car. We might have to drop off the car in a different place from where we pick it up, then take a train back to Paris and catch the return flight plane.
Seems like the areas (beside Paris) we are planning to go are not easy to access by train. Can anybody give us some advice? Thank you in advance.

greg

There is no way that you can do justice to the areas that you mention in 10 days. I would strongly suggest that you limit your geographic area and try to hve a good look. If you are lucky you will get back and see the other areas another time. Suggest you look at going across the north only as far as, say, Mont St Michel, and then head for the Loire via, say, Le Mans - you could leave the car at Tours and take the TGV back to Paris (You will still find this rushed, but doable) Don't miss Honfleur, Caen, Bayeux, Mont St Michel, . . . !!
An alternative given where you will be coming from would be to visit Alsace and Burgundy.
If you want to discuss give me an email
Greg

Jean

Greg, Thanks for your suggestion, we will study some
more this weekend, then might ask you some more qeustions. Aslo, is that easy to drive at France country side? I mean the road condition, sign, direction etc.,
Jean

Lynn

Hi: I fully agree with everything Greg said. I know how you feel about not wanting to miss out on anything, but you also want to enjoy yourself. You may get tired a burnt out constantly moving. When we were in Tuscany, for example, last summer, we found a centralized town and drove to the hilltop towns that we chose when we felt up to it. And we went almost everyday, which was still too much for my husband. But I can't imagine packing and unpacking all the time. If you want to see the Loire Valley, I would recommend it. We also centralized ourselves there in '96 and visited all the wonderful castles.
I still think of it as a highlight. But you need to be there at least 3 days (in the same spot). I have a suggestion for a place there if you're interested.
Good luck and have a great trip.

Lynn

Jean: I forgot to reply about your question concerning the roads. Just get a good map and enjoy. We love driving and the roads are as good, if not better than here. If you want to gett from, say, A to B, fast, then take the major highways. If you have time, take some back roads. Read for suggestions on interesting places or sceinic drives. If you have time, they can be great. I wouldn't drive into Paris, though. We left our car in Fountenblieu (sp?), south of Paris and caught a train up. We were really glad we did. There was a nice security car place right next to the train station.