Our pics at xmas last year in Burgundy
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/pug_gi...7647659760923/

And in Sept a few years ago

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/pug_gi...7607493717331/

Good luck with your choice, you can't go wrong!

<< No more lavender in boom in august I'm afraid. >>

But it won't be nearly so noisy.

(Sorry, pariswat. Couldn't resist your typo.)

To the OP, Provence needs to be experienced leisurely, not crammed into a short trip. Save it for another time.

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There is on Monday only one direct Nice to Brussels train and it leaves at 6:02 am from Nice
and stops in:
Antibes dep 06:21
Cannes dep 06:32
St-Raphael-Valescure dep 06:56
Toulon dep 08:16
Marseille-St-Charles dep 09:14
Aix-en-Provence TGV dep 09:28
Avignon TGV dep 09:50
Lyon Part Dieu dep 11:00
Marne la Vallée-Chessy dep 12:52
Aeroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle TGV dep 13:07
TGV Haute Picardie dep 13:37
Arras(F) dep 13:59
Lille Europe dep 14:44
Bruxelles-Midi Mo, 19.10.15 arr 15:25

Oddly enough the direct train takes up to nearly 1.5 hours longer than many journeys requiring one change of train - weird! Leave at 7:02 on a changing train and you arrive earlier than the 6:02 direct trains.

Ooh, Bergundy looks lovely! Did you stay in Beune or Dijon? We could rent a car but would prefer not to for most of the trip, as our Italy adventure was all car all the time and we'd like less of that this time around.

I guess I just have this idea in my head of fields of flowers, quiet countryside, wine, bread and cheese. Maybe that's just Provence and only in July, but is there anywhere in Loire or Bergundy where I will get this? Maybe not Lavender, but something? When I google image "Provence", that's what comes up, and it looks like an absolute dream, but when I google "Loire Valley" or "Bergundy" it seems to be less about nature and more about buildings.

I don't think we will be heading to Nice, as an all-day train ride does not sound like a worthwhile day to me with such a short amount of time.

We stayed in Beaune and loved it. If you like vineyards and rolling hills you will find them in abundance in Burgundy and Alsace...we thought the countryside was beautiful.

I would recommend a car for your time outside Paris so you can get out into the countryside. Trains don't give you the same flexibility.

Hi pmurray10

Unfortunately getting around can be tricky at that time of year.

I think I would head to the Normandy coast as its reasonably handy from Bruges/Brussels and there are some lovely places to see around there in the summer, very interesting too and there are some romantic spots, plenty of history.

We are down in the south of France and each year we head up to Normandy to visit family and I find I look forward to it more and more each time.

Here's what we did in Normandy this summer:

http://peter-horrocks.tumblr.com/pos...ms-of-normandy

Another plus is you can nip along to Paris as well which is best of all in August as the Parisians are on holiday elsewhere.

Best

Peter

Paul, No advertising on Fodors.

Thanks for the heads up Orlando_Vic, none intended, but I see what you mean.

I will adapt my responses.

Best

Peter

PQ

You probably looked at right now.
Thalys runs during the season.
I've taken it several times.

In summer.
Like august

Nobody goes from Bruxelles to Nice or back in winter.

We have decided on:

Fly from Toronto to Paris
Spend 6 nights in Paris including day trips to Versailles and Reims
Train to Loire Valley and rent a car. Stay for 3 nights (haven't decided where to base ourselves yet)
Drive to Beaune for 2 nights and drop off rental car at end of stay (hopefully in Dijon)
Train to Bruges, spend 3 nights in Bruges, with a day trip to Ghent
Final night in Brussels before flight home from Brussels

I feel pretty happy with this itinerary after everyone's suggestions! Decided to save Normandy for another time to pair with Brittany. Looks like we will need to make many trips back to France.

Do let me know if you see any glaring errors, if not I will be at peace until time to start planning details begins!

seems sweet to me. Try to stop for a quick look at Vezelay when going between the Loire and Beaune - a very unique neat place:


Vézelay, Church and Hill
Shortly after its foundation in the 9th century, the Benedictine abbey of Vézelay acquired the relics of St Mary Magdalene and since then it has been an important place of pilgrimage. St Bernard preached the Second Crusade there in 1146 and Richard the Lion-Hearted and Philip II Augustus met there to leave for the Third Crusade in 1190. With its sculpted capitals and portal, the Madeleine of Vézelay – a 12th-century monastic church – is a masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture.>

From UNeSCO World Heritage Site site - once the relics of Mary Magdalene were exposed as fakes the thriving pilgrimage trade dried up and the city became a backwater that slumbered along as a small village without any modernization for eons until it was re-discovered and put back into its original medieval state - a rare example of an untouched medieval hill town with stunning basilica. It's small so only a few hours needed here to have a break from driving.