brianb

Planning an extension to a Great Britain visit. Staying with family in Surrey. Plan to visit France (1st time) with my family, 3 kids (11, 13, 18) from July 7 to July 16. We are Canadian with English as the 1st language. My children have attended French schools all their life, and are bilingual. I have a desire to immerse them into the French culture for 7 to 10 days. I have just joined Travel talk and in a matter of hours, have read more than I have been able to gather in 2 weeks, surfing the net. Being Canadian and faced with an currency exchange disadvantage, I am hoping to get some advise on accomodation both in Paris as well as possibly countryside. Some of the things we wish to experience: people, architecture, museums, cathedrals, restaurants, countryside. Safety is high on my list. Car rental has always been part of our holidays, but I sense this is not a necessity in France. I am looking for advise or a service to help us plan acomodation/itinerary in advance. Prefer not to be in a different hotel every night, but not adverse to 2 or 3 hotels over the 9 day stay. The range in prices on the internet seem very wide, and most hotels don't seem to accomodate a family of 5. Will two rooms be required? We wish to get a flavour for France,(not only Paris) and I am looking for help/suggestions in planning a safe, mid-budget 9 day adventure. Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

Powell

The lavender season is in full stride during the period you will be visting France. Provence is the center of this beautiful happening.I recommended a hotel in St. Remy de Provence earlier today. It is called L'Amandiere and you can it up through my response. This would be at a budget level and two rooms will be necessary. Other places in Provence are Aix-en-Provence, "Paris of the South", a small city with many summer cultural offerings, festivals.

You could reach Provence (Avignon) in under three hours from Paris. You really will need a car there to explore it as public transportation is spotty.

Good luck.

Christina

I don't know of an agent that will help you plan that itinerary in France, sorry, maybe some Canadians will know. However, being fairly familiar with hotels in Paris and France, I would say that you almost certainly will need two hotel rooms for 5 persons, 3 being adults and two others not small children. I have only heard of a very few rooms that have room for five persons in all of Paris, and I think those assumed some were small children. Two budget rooms (double and triple) will not necessarily cost more than a room for five if you could find one, however, and you'll get two bathrooms. Luckily your eldest child is 18 so could be in the room with the other kids.

It's very hard to plan an open itinerary for all of France for 9 days if you don't have any idea of the area you want to cover, but if you haven't been there before, you might just stay in Paris and some nearby country (Loire Valley or Alsace, something near). You might get a general guidebook for France and read an overview of the regions to get a flavor of what most appeals.

Michael

I would not consider a trip to the Provence for the short time that you have. I assume that you will need a few days in Paris, which leaves only a few days for the rest of France. The Loire valley might be a good choice. Check out Gites de France. My impression is that some of the B&B's they list can accomodate larger families. But the easiest way to do a search for a B&B is to first know where you want to be.

Alan

Hi, brianb!
Can only comment on the Paris part of this holiday.... if you're having trouble finding a budget hotel for 5, try renting an apartment; many private owners will rent for three or four days, if you don't want to stay a week. There are lots of apartment sites mentioned on this forum -- a search will turn up more than you can possibly want! -- but the one we were particularly pleased with was a small one called www.beau-paris.com. You contact the owners directly, and there's no agent commission. Good luck!