First time to France, looking for trip advice
 

My wife and I are planning an eleven night trip to France, May 24 to June 4. Flights booked to/from Paris. We are planning a train ride to Nice on the 24th as we arrive around 9am. We have hotels (apartment) booked in Nice for 4 nights. Tickets to Scorpions and practice day at the Monaco GP both on the 26th.
We are sure to end our trip in Paris, but havent booked a hotel yet. We are looking at the Eiffel tower area for that. And hoping for 3-4 nights in Paris. That leaves us 3 nights in between to decide on where else to see.
1. I was hoping for a view of Carcasonne, is the logistics to get from Nice to Carcasonne very difficult or time costly?
2. Would the Loire valley be acceptable for 3 nights, and which city should we base from?
3. Or wondering if there are day trips from Paris that reach Normandy as I would like to see WWII history.
Thanks for any advice for 2 new travelers!
Joe and Angie

hi newtraveller,

personally I would stick to the two places, and spend half your time in each. your stay in the south is already over half used by the Scorpion and F1 days, [4 nights = only 3 days] and 3 days in Paris is nothing.

with 11 nights, spend 6 in the south and 5 in Paris [or vice versa].

don't try to shoe-horn another place in between.

For train schedules between Nice and Carcassonne: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train?_AGENCY=VSC

Why not an open jaw ticket landing in Nice and leaving from Paris, or vice-versa?

You really don't have anywhere near enough time for all that. I would stick to Nice and Paris. And yes, an open-jaw ticket would be far better than having to loop back to your arrival point.

If all you want is a view of Carcassonne, it's hardly worth the logistics of a drive-by, since it's roughly in the middle of the area between Nice and Paris. If you absolutely must take 3 days away from Nice and Paris to see something else, I suppose I would advise taking the train to the Loire for a couple of nights - get off in Tours, rent a car, base in Amboise or Blois, then drive back to Paris or ditch the car and take the train back. But that really would be shortchanging Paris.

Well, you've only got 10 full days on the ground since your arrival day is lost in getting to Nice and your last day is mostly a wash since you've got to be at the airport at least 2-3 hours before your flight. Four nights in Nice means you're leaving Nice on the 28th so you've got 7 full days from the 28th to June 3rd. That's the first thing you need to take into consideration. I think you're selling Paris short if you're there for less than 4 days and if you took a train from Nice to Paris it's a 6-7 hour train ride, meaning you lose a lot of that day. So let's say from the 28th to June 1st is devoted to Paris then that leaves 2 days left of your vacation. In summation, think about the logistics of your vacation before you decide where you are going.

Are you planning on getting around by public transport or are you going to rent a car? Before any advice can be given you need to answer that question since it makes a big difference in terms of what you can see or do.

If you can change your flight to do open jaw flying into Nice and out of Paris I think that makes a lot more sense.

The open jaw suggestion is good for you time-wise but maybe you're getting a better plane ticket price because it's RT to Paris?

The other thing about flying is whether you couldn't just change flights on arrival in Paris and then fly the second leg to Nice? I've never done this, so maybe someone who has could better advise you.

In-between, StCirq's advice is fine. Either skip anything else or Loire Valley is good.

Or you could also day trip from Paris to Versailles or Giverny as your "other city".

I agree with all of the above. Stick with just two locations - especially if you won't have a car. Paris in 2-3 days (3-4 nights) is about 4 too few, IMO. Same with Nice - 3 days with 1 for Monaco is 3-4 too few. If you already have the RT tickets to CDG booked, I think it would be too late for a convenient open jaw to Nice & home from Paris at a minimal cost. I would consider taking a one-way flight from CDG to Nice (like FrenchMystic said - it is a long train ride) if you can get a reasonably priced ticket. Then perhaps stay in Nice for 5 nights. Rent a car for the last 3 days & explore the beautiful Nice Hinterlands & quaint villages. Then drive 1 1/2-2 hrs to Aix-en-Provence and stay for 1 night (not on a Sunday night). Early next morning drive to the Aix TGV station, dump the car, and take the 3 1/4 hr train to Paris & stay for 5 nights (4 3/4 days).

Stu Dudley