siren6214

Aloha all!

My husband and I are touring Europe in 2016. We're starting in Ireland - Scotland - London - Belgium - France!

Currently I have us staying in Paris for 7 days (with a day trip to Versailles on the bicycles) we are not specifically artsy but it would be neat to see some of the greats which is why we plan to visit the Louve & Musee de'Orsay. I'm pretty pleased with our Paris itinerary, but then we leave for Bordeaux for 3 days, mostly because it has been a dream of mine to see the Chateau de Hautefort...and that's pretty much it. We aren't big wine drinkers, but I was hoping to see some French countryside since we'll be spending so much time in the city. I had checked out Burgundy, Lyon, and Grenoble...because it's on our way to Geneva but it didn't seem much different from Bordeaux so I may just take the train straight from Bordeaux to Geneva. If there are any other spots we should check out, please let us know! We are in our 30's and like moderate hikes but hoping to soak in a lot of French culture mostly, we love checking out beautiful architecture which seems to be plentiful throughout Europe.

Thanks,
Tes

annhig

Hi siren,

what you don't tell us is how long you've got overall for your trip. this is important as at the moment, you are planning to do a large diversion from what would be a conventional route, to get to Bordeaux from Paris and then over to Geneva. As you say, a much more obvious and convenient route would be to go via Lyon or Burgundy, which has some lovely countryside and nice places to stay like Dijon or Beaune.

Going all the way to Bordeaux to see just one Chateau looks like a big detour from your overall trip. that may be ok if you've got a long trip, but if you've only got another few days, it adds a lot to your travelling time. According to the SNCF website, it takes about 4 hours from Paris to Bordeaux, and 3 from Paris to Geneva, but a whole day to get from Bordeaux to Geneva [flying would probably be a lot quicker as the route seems to take you back to Paris and out again].

so you effectively add a whole day of travel to the trip if you want to go to Bordeaux.

Jeff801

The Chateau de Hautefort is a two hour drive from Bordeaux. Unless you can fit it into some other travel, you are looking at a 4 hour round trip. That does not appear to me to be a good use of your time in so short a trip.

annhig

Jeff - you said that so much more succinctly than i did!

Sojourntraveller

"touring Europe"

A version of the oh so signifigant perception (or mis-perception) people have.

As noted above, you are asking a question in isolation. Depending on the bigger picture, the responses you get may or may not be good advice if based only on what you have asked.

If this is a 3 week 'see all of Europe' trip, that is far different than a 6 month 'see all of Europe' trip. You need to provide more relevant info to get the best advice.

Gretchen

Just curious, WHY is this a dream in particular. As others point out--it's the wrong direction for seeing anything else.
You don't have to be "artsy" to enjoy a museum--and some "biggies" are not nearly as interesting as other things, like the Musee d'Orsay itself, its Impressionist collections, art deco furniture, view from the clock toward Montmartre.
The Louvre IS a chateau, and its basement is interesting for how it was constructed.
The Carnavalet is the museum of the city of Paris, so you could see paintings from the 1500s which would depict Paris at that time--or from the 1920s--or the French Revolution.

Michael

Unless there is a special bike path to Versaille, it's better to take public transportation there.

To see Hautefort you'll need a car. Take the train to Limoges, rent a car and drive down D704 to stay near Sarlat. If you take a very early train you will get to Hautefort by early afternoon and can visit the chateau and the hospital museum (which I recommend) while going to Sarlat or Montignac. That will give you a day and a half to see the highlights of the Dordogne. Return the car in the late afternoon in Brive-la-Gaillarde to take the train back to Paris.

Book train and car rental ahead of time. If the train is booked three months before the date of travel, you can get tickets for 20€ per person.

The slide show will take a while to load, but it includes Sarlat and Hautefort: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...164797649/show

bilboburgler

I suggest you take a train detour to say Auxerre (just off the main line to Burgundy) and physically in northern Burgundy. I've not done the train trip for some time so you need to check the details, but Auxerre is like half a city bisected by a canal/river with little on the other side of the canal. You can hire bikes from Tourist Info and wobble down the canal or be tough and do the trip to Chablis.

http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Yonne_Guide.php may help

Auxerre is tres pretty, two lovely old church buildings, local good pinot noir without the Burgundy prices and in the countryside around some wonderful old places.

FrenchMystiqueTours

As mentioned, Bordeaux is very far from Hautefort and if you took a train from Paris to Brive-la-Gaillarde you would be closer. Also realize you'll need to rent a car to get there. But I'll agree with others that this is an awful big detour to see one château when your objective is to go back across the whole country to get to Geneva.

I've been to Hautefort and spent a couple weeks nearby. If you are determined to go there and spend a few days there then you can have a look at a photo report I wrote about exploring that area based in a rural gîte about 10 minutes drive south of Brive-la-Gaillarde. The scenery south of Brive is magnificent and you might consider the villages of Turenne or Collonges-la-Rouge as a base.

http://tinyurl.com/q6bb5av

FrenchMystiqueTours

Actualy, there are bike paths between Paris and Versailles but I believe the OP is doing one of the bike tours that starts in Versailles itself but requires taking the RER first from Paris to Versailles.

dwdvagamundo

Unless you have some emotional connection to Chateau de Hautefort, consider substituting a chateau that you could see on a day trip from Paris. The Chateau de Chantilly is easily doable from Paris and has a great art gallery (Musee de Conde), gardens, and the biggest and fanciest stables I've ever seen. There are others.

I agree with bilbo that Burgundy would be more logical on your way to Geneva than Bordeaux and surroundings. Auxerre, Dijon, Beaune would all be good bases. The statement that Burgundy is pretty much like Bordeaux is not accurate--you'll discover that no two areas of France or anywhere else in Europe are alike.

siren6214

Sorry I should have included that we are on no particular timetable. We have set aside at least 3-months to do Ireland/Scotland/London/Belgium/France/Switzerland/Italy but if it goes longer that's okay, if it goes shorter that's okay too. I realize it seems silly to go all that way for a Chateau but to me, it would be a highlight of the trip and we have time to spare as well as free rides on our rail pass- I was just hoping to see a bit of the French countryside as well. I had made plans to rent a car once we got to Bordeaux, and since our trip isn't until 2016 have some time to actually book it. And yes FrenchMystique the bicycle tour is once we get to Versailles, sorry I didn't make that clear either. I am excited to check out some of these other places you guys mentioned, I am not as confident in my knowledge about France and it's history as I have been with other countries so I appreciate you helping me out.

Gretchen

You may need to check requirements for a trip longer than 3 months.
Having that length of time does make a detour much more palatable.
But how about the chateaux of the Loire? Are you going to Provence? Is it only Paris and Bordeaux for "France"?

Underhill

I suggest that you get the Michelin Green Guide to France and do some reading.

siren6214

Gretchen - you're right I think after 3-months it does get tricky, however I'm not too worried right now we are barely over 2-months with our current plan.

Underhill - will do! Thanks for the suggestion.

Up until this portion of the trip things have been pretty meticulously planned as far as timing/cost with plenty of days planned with nothing on the agenda to give us some downtime. Planning France is definitely in its infancy. I am not 100% committed to anything right now, except perhaps the Paris part. Also considering leaving Switzerland out for another time and going to Marseilles or Nice on the way to Italy. Barcelona isn't too far out of reach either, and could probably just fly to Rome from there. The possibilities are endless!

Sojourntraveller

It doesn't just get 'tricky' it gets difficult if you don't understand the Schengen rule of 90 in 180 calendar days.

OK, 2 weeks Ireland, 2 weeks Scotland, 1 week London, 1 week Belgium, 2 weeks France, 2 weeks Switzerland, 2 weeks Italy. I'd say that is a basic minimum to cover all that.

Where are you from? The equivalent would be saying 2 weeks Mexico, 2 weeks USA, 2 weeks Canada. Europe may be small in size but it is vastly more packed with things to see and do. You could spend your entire 3 months in France alone and still not have seen all that might interest you there.

My advice is to consider only moving once a week.

siren6214

Sojourn - I did read up on the 90-day rule but as I mentioned before I am barely over 2 months so right now I am not worried about it. If my itinerary approaches 3-months I will pursue the regulations further. I am spending at least a week at each destination, some places a little more some a little less. I've decided to just do Paris this trip and go straight to Geneva. I have no doubt France is packed with things to see and do to last a lifetime, and someday when I return I will explore even further.

Leely2

I think Michael has provided you with some good suggestions. Maybe I think that because it's very close to what I did several (!) years ago. Took the train to Limoges, picked up a rental car there, spent the night nearby in Oradur-sur-Glane, saw the martyred village and museum there, drove down to Sarlat, stopping on the way to visit Chateau Hautefort, which is magnificent. After our Dordogne stay (six days, I think), we dropped the car in Brive-la-Gaillarde and trained back to Paris. Depending on your allotted time and interests, you could do some variation of this.

It is an extremely beautiful area.