travel04

Hi,

I'm so confused. I have 2 weeks to explore France. Like my Italy trip I'm beginning to understand I cannot do both southern/northern france in 2 weeks! so given that:
1. I really want to spend about 5-6 days in Paris with a day trip for Versailles.

2. I want to experience France and not just paris. I'm interested in Brittany, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley. Brittany for it's small towns, Loire Valley for the beautiful Chateaus and Burgundy for the wine region.

3. What are the towns I shld concentrate on in Brittany, Loire and Burgundy? I'm confused as how to how to get around to these regions from Paris.

4. In burgundy would you recommend Auxerre or a drive down the Cote D'or? How about Autun/Dijon?

5. In Brittany I'm thinking Rennes, Carnac and the menhirs, and is it worth visiting castle of fougeres and vitre? they look beautiful.

any help you experienced folks can give will be great! Am i missing any must sees, should I not see some of the towns mentioned above etc. I will save Provence and Nice for the second trip. ;-)

Thanks much!

4totravel

When are you going? Summer near the sea?
Fall for the grape harvest? Spring - bike riding in the Loire?

Michael

You might want to read my report and look at its pictures:

Brittany Photos:
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shar...BBAB&cb=PW

Normandy Photos:
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shar...BBAB&cb=PW

Trip report: Ghent, Bruges, Normandy, Brittany:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34444403

tomboy

We did 18 days in France in September. 3 days Paris (3 months wouldn't be enough) 3 Normandy 2 Loire 3 Dordogne 1 Provence 4 Burgundy 1 Chartres 1 Paris
If I were to skip one, it would be Loire. Didn't get a "French" feel.
And Normandy seemed almost, well, homogenated. Meaning it could well have been US, UK, Germany Greatly enjoyed Burgundy (Beaune, Lyon, Semur Auxois (sp) Vezelay

StCirq

Brittany, the Loire, and Burgundy are all vastly different places strung out along a fairly wide east-west expanse. With only one week to explore (and I do agree you should spend that first week in Paris with a trip to Versailles), I'd concentrate on two of those three regions at most. Because they are so different, I'd spend a good bit of time looking at guidebooks to get a sense of what appeals to you. If you do go to Brittany, yes, Fougères and Vitré are lovely towns and shoudl be included in a visit, if you can.

westcanuck

For me it would be a toss-up between Burgundy and Britany.
Beaune is wonderful. Don't miss the Marche au Vin (try to sneak in some bread for your pallette and same some room for the last room of reds.
In Britany, the Mehirs are amazing, making Stonehenge seem very small. i also loved Renne and Vannes, on the coast.

Underhill

Before going any further, pick up a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to France and do some research to find out what in those three areas outside Paris you can reasonably cover in the time available. The guide has suggested itineraries laid out by number of days; that will give you a good idea of what you can manage. Then return here with more specific questions.

rex

You should train to Rennes, rent car there, 3 days Brittany, drive to the Loire, 2 days there, drive to Dijon/Beaune, three days there. Drive or train back to Paris for your flight home.

It's a lot of driving - - but you're the one who wants to see Wisconsin, Tennessee and New Jersey...

Best wishes,

Rex

StuDudley

>>>We did 18 days in France in September. 3 days Paris (3 months wouldn't be enough) 3 Normandy 2 Loire 3 Dordogne 1 Provence 4 Burgundy 1 Chartres 1 Paris<<

Wow !!! tomboy is a he-man!!! This looks like my first trip to Europe 30 years ago. My mom & sister had to leave midway through the trip because they were exhausted & didn't like spending that much time looking out the window of a car. My wife was upset too, but she didn't leave. My second trip to Europe was much different.

We all travel differently, but I would not use tomboy's trip as a "template" for a travel itinerary to France. I'm sure it suited him just fine, but most people I've helped devise an itinerary, would not want one that "moved" this fast. If you want to do a quick look/see to decide where to go next year, then it might be OK, but I prefer to do research at home to figure out where I want to go.

Stu Dudley

orval

I have been to Europe about thirty times. The first time was the same as you, I needed to see everything at once.
With your time allowed, I would spend at least a week in Paris the first time, understand that you will have to come back to pierce the surface and try to cool out and enjoy the scenery, sit and eat and drink also.
Then, I would rent a vehicle and drive towards Dijon, but stay near Beaune. Visit Patriarche & Fils caves for a tasting, and other sites in Beaune. Then get out of town into the cote d'or hills and visit many vineyards and small towns, eat the food, drink the wine...visit Dijon in the evening if you have time...lovely medieval town, beautiful day or night, especially at night...many things to do and see around the burgundy area. Then drive back to Charles de Gaulle airport, spend the night locally and go home to plan your next trip.

You must drive to see France. Otherwise, you are a limited tourist.

travel04

This is great info, thanks a lot! I will research some of these suggested spots from a guidebook and come back with more questions!!! Thanks again everyone!!!!

StuDudley

>>visit Dijon in the evening if you have time...lovely medieval town, beautiful day or night, especially at night...many things to do and see around the burgundy area. Then drive back to Charles de Gaulle airport, spend the night locally and go home to plan your next trip.<<

Better yet - visit Dijon on the last day of your trip. Stay overnight at the Hotel Jura, which is next to the train station. The morning you leave, take the 6:30AM TGV train directly to the CDG airport - it arrives at 8:20AM.

Stu Dudley

travel04

And Orval, yes it is with great restraint im not even planning provence and nice. i feel like i have to see everything at once, even for Italy i had to forget about southern Italy. I felt like crying, but i got over it. ;-) Thanks again for the tips!

travel04

4totravel - going in early september.
Michael - thanks for the links, am reading your trip report now!

Sue4

I agree with others - definitely spend at least a week in Paris. Personally, I would just do one other area after that (but that's just me, I don't like to rush from place to place too much) and plan to go back to France many other times! I've been to several areas, including the Loire, Provence, Alsace, but for a real countryside experience, I think I loved Burgundy the most. There is so much more there than the wine - beautiful villages, chateaux, gorgeous countryside, abbeys, and wonderful food. I went there in October, and it was very uncrowded. From Paris, it's a very easy trip there.
I took the train, and rented my car in Dijon. Burgundy is quite a large area, but you can't go wrong anywhere there that you decide to go. But DO see Vezelay!

I am going to the Dordogne in May, and have a feeling I'll love it as much as Burgundy.

Dave_in_Paris

We fled Beaune in less than an hour and have never returned, but maybe Beaune was having a bad day, or maybe we were. Burgundy is wonderful.

Last autumn we spent two days on the Bay of Morlaix in Brittany. Great countryside, Roscommon is a lovely town of the coast. Also, we had one of the best hotel-restaurant stays ever at the Hotel de Carantec, in the town of the same name, near Roscommon, with a Michelin two-star restaurant in the hotel and panoramic views of the bay from the restaurant and the rooms -- all of them.

http://www.hoteldecarantec.com/http:...ecarantec.com/

cocofromdijon

I'm glad to see that Burgundy is on the top list
here are a few pictures of Dijon :
http://www.ofoto.fr/BrowsePhotos.jsp...id=43499444733
corinne [email protected]

JeanneB

Travel04:
Of course, only you can decide. But we did a trip very similar to what you've described...and regretted it. We had a total of 17 days in France, 3 more than you. Our itinerary was:
7 days Paris
3 days Dordogne
2 days Loire
3 days Brittany
2 days back in Paris

We actually ended up cutting Brittany short (didn't like Rennes) and headed back to Paris for the last 3 nights.

Looking back, we tried to do too much. But it's not just all the driving. There was always the feeling of &quot;heading to the next place&quot; even as we arrived in a town for a couple of days. It was unsettling. Believe me, I <i>know</i> what it's like wanting to see everything. Can it be done? Yes. But, if we had it to do over, we would have picked only one region (probably Provence, which we couldn't fit into our busy itinerary).

I would suggest:
-5 days Paris
-6 days in one region outside Paris.
-Last 3 days, Paris

We loved having the time in Paris at the end. We felt like old hands, knowing the metro, etc. And the time in the countryside had given us time to really think about what we wanted to do/see on returning to Paris. We stayed at a different hotel the second time, a chance to experience another neighborhood. Not many people do it that way, but it was our favorite part of the trip.