true2101

Hi there,

You all have been so helpful in the past - thank you! This year we are headed to Europe for July. Thinking of 2 weeks in a village England and 10 days in France (last three in Paris before the return plane). For the week in between England and Paris, I am up in the air on where to go.

If you could guide us on some of your favorite places for a week trip in France, I would be much obliged. Children are 13 & 10, our preference would be to dig more into one area and stay in one place for the week. Will do the sight-seeing in Paris, so it's okay if it is lower key. We don't mind small towns as long as there is a bakery, grocery and 2-4 decent restaurants. Can rent a car. Re: previous France travel, the boys have been to Coillure, but it was a day trip from Spain. DH and I have been to Paris multiple times, but not for 15 years, so we are fuzzy on all of it. Favorite places as a family so far have been Girona, tiny white-washed villages in Southern Spain (in the winter, though), Ronda, Fornalutx on Mallorca, Positano, Florence, London. So in that, I guess we like some kind of a view in the town - either mountains or water, or just pretty architecturally or naturally. Or fun. (that would be London - it was just fun).

Dear husband would probably love it if I could find a place with some type of road bike rental shop and the ability to ride for 2+ hours a day (him, not us). We would prefer not to be in a place with 100 degree days, as that's what we have at home.

Many thanks!

Gretchen

I'd stay longer in Paris personally, especially if the children haven't been.
It could be very hot somewhere in the countryside. I'd choose somewhere along the Normandy coast for a few days, and then finish in Paris for at least 5 days.

true2101

DH says that is okay if he can spend the extra two days in the park with a book . He spent much time there for work in the past, and for some reason, it is not his favorite city.

justineparis

Personally I would give Paris more then 3 days too, my kids were 11 and 13 when they had their visits and three days to see all we wanted to see would have been too rushed.. its hard to enjoy Paris if you set it up so you are having to rush and because of short time limit waiting in lines or dealing with crowds( both likely for a summer visit)is going to make you crazy.

I would sit down and figure out what you think you would like to see and do in Paris, and I will also add there are a few daytrips you could do that your kids would likely enjoy.. look up Provins, its a world heritage site , and its a fun day out of city, also what about Versailles?

Anyways, if you decide to take some time away from Paris why not consider a few days in the Loire Valley, there was a small hotel I had researched for my visit last year but we ended up having to change plans because of family..

www.hotel-chenonceaux.com/

It has a pool its within easy driving to several chateaus, it might be a nice change from your city stays.

justineparis

Sorry just click the flag on top right hand side for English and if you look up reviews for that hotel on tripadvisor you can see tons of pictures posted by those who have stayed there. just google reviews of Hotel Roseraie.

true2101

Oh, sorry- we have 1-2 nights in Paris on the front end of the trip, so we will hit a few things then. That is why I only have 3 nights at the end. Our flights are in and out of Paris. We ended up using AAdvantage miles (first class, direct, plan-ahead both ways) - given the UK taxes and that all the UK flights with AAdvantage miles add nearly $5,000 in taxes/fees, it seemed to work better. The Eurostar to London was $400, so we are adding some travel time, but I hope it will be okay. It isn't completely ideal, but I just found the tickets last week and wasn't expecting to go -

Coquelicot

For biking, FMT (French Mystique Tours) is the expert on this site (and on some other travel sites). In fact, he gives day bike tours from Paris for small groups or individuals and you get out to the country and go through villages off the beaten path. If he sees your question you'll get excellent advice from him.

We have walked, not biked, some of the voies vertes (converted railway lines) and voies bleues (canal towpaths), but have noticed that usually bikes are available to rent along the way. It's not exciting biking since it's flat, but it takes you through pretty countryside.

If you don't mind a town rather than a village, take a look at the Plus Beaux Detours website.

http://www.beyond.fr/villages/plus-b...rs-france.html

There are 100 of these and we've been to 11, of which ten were really worthwhile and only one was "eh." Chateau-Gontier wowed us last year and it's in the beautiful Mayenne region, quiet and peaceful. We made several day trips in that area covering scenic villages, including Ste Suzanne.

We also like the Perche region, where Percheron horses come from. There is a voie verte from Conde sur Huisne to Alencon. Road biking is possible in this area since the back roads are not heavily trafficked. If you have French Canadian roots, this area is where the settlers of Quebec came from. Pretty hill towns are Mortagne au Perche, Belleme, and La Perriere. The Perche is a regional national park with HQ near Noce. This area is popular with Parisians, so you'd need to book soon. You would need a car to get the most out of it.

nytraveler

That time of year I would head for the Atlantic coast - Normandy or Brittany - beaches but cooler weather and less trendy than beaches in the south. Tons to do in the area with short day trips.

seth54

We've rented a house on Ile de Re, on the Atlantic coast, with our children and loved it. Very low key. Walk or bike everywhere. Great people and food

AtlTravelr

We rented an apartment in the Dordogne region for a week with kids similar ages. We had a car and drove to see castles, pre historic caves, canoeing down the river, visiting morning markets. We stayed in Belves which was exactly what you describe-a smallish town with a bakery where we sent the kids each morning to get bread, several restaurants, including one that we went to twice because we loved it so much, and it was easy to base ourselves there and enjoy the area.

We loved Normandy but I probably wouldn't stay a full week in the area. If you've had your fill of village life from your time in England then split the week with half in Normandy and half in the Loire. It would be an easy trip to do from Paris and ill second the recommendation of Hotel Rosarie which is where we also stayed. They had a "family room" with 2 separate bedrooms which was great for us and we ate dinner at their restaurant twice as well. We also did two nights in Brittany "just for fun", staying at a hotel near the beach and all we did was scramble around the rocks, walk and bike-a nice break from the more history based touring that we were doing.

TPAYT

The Loire Valley would be fun. the Chateaux are amazing and the biking would be good.