Variation: Instead of Chantilly, you can spend the last half day in Champagne, return the car there and take the TGV to CDG.

No lavender in May - it is a late June & July event.

Stu Dudley

There won't be lavender in bloom anywhere in May. It's a July crop in a typical year.

Ok - Thank you for confirming about Lavenders - in this case we will skip Provence for our next rip to France. As suggested by many of you, I am inclining to Burgundy area:

Day1 - Reach CDG and take car/train to Beaunne
Day 2-4 - Visit near by towns (castles - any reccos?)
Day 5 - Leave for Paris

>>Day1 - Reach CDG and take car/train to Beaunne<<

You'll have to take the TGV from CDG to Lyon, rent a car, then backtrack to Beaune.

Here is my Burgundy itinerary (less restaurant write-ups) that I usually e-mail to people. I actually wrote this for a friend who was going to stay in the same Gite we stayed in 2 years earlier:

Burgundy

Visiting Chateaux
Look for a brochure titled “Route des Ducs de Bourgogne”. http://www.route-des-ducs.com/
Save your ticket for the first chateau, and you will get a discount on the second chateau. Save the ticket on the second chateau & you will get a discount on the third, etc, etc, etc.

Monday (remember, shops close in Dijon & Beaune in the AM).
Leave the Gite & take the D17 south to La Rochepot – this is a pretty drive. The town of Orches is quite cute. Continue on the D17 to La Rochepot or Nolay.

Market in Nolay. This is a very small market, but the town has several antique shops. If this interests you, go there. I think the shops are open on Monday because there is a market there on Monday

Vist Chateau Rochepot*. Pg 279 in my Green Guide.. Note that it closes for lunch

Visit Chateau Sully* (pg 305 in GG) or Chateau Couches .

Tuesday
Visit Beaune*** in the AM. This is one of our “top 5” medium sized cities in France. Spend the better part of the morning there. The “popular” Hotel Dieu*** gets a lot of attention and it is quite elegant from the outside – but only OK on the inside. But it deserves a visit on the inside.

Afternoon – one of the chateaux you didn’t visit yesterday.

Wednesday.
Head out northwest on the A6. Get off the A6 at Exit # 21 and head towards Tanlay

Get the “Route des Ducs de Bourgogne” brochure. Remember about saving the entrance tickets.

Visit the Chateau de Tanlay**. This was our favorite chateau in the region. Tours start at 10 – so get there then . It is about a 1 ¾ drive from the gite (1 hr of freeway).

Next, drive to Noyers & explore this cute village. Note on villages in Burgundy - compared to Provence, Dordogne, and many other places you have visited in France – there are not as many “cute little villages” in Burgundy. This is one of them, but not in the “top 50%” in France.

Visit Chateau Ancy le Franc** Note that it closes for lunch – that’s why I have you visiting Noyers during lunch. If you can get to Ancy le Franc by 11:30 when their last tour of the morning departs – do that if you don’t mind back-to-back chateaux.

Visit Abbaye de Fontenay*** if you like abbeys.

Take the D980 south from the Abbey to Semur en Auxois*. See pg 296 in the GG. This village is more interesting from the outside than from the inside. As you take the R de Paris from the D980 toward Semur – there is a very nice view of the perched village. If you want to see the “scene” pictured on pg 298 of the GG. Circle clockwise around the exterior of the village to where I have marked “fantastic view” on the GG map of Semur. Next, drive toward the informatioin center (marked on map) & park your car outside the “gate” of town & explore the old section of Semur if you like.

Thursday
Visit Dijon*** This is our favorite city in France – after Paris. Find the “Dijon the Owl’s trail” brochure I sent you & follow this walk. The walk is fantastic. The “centerfold” has the route for the walk.. This may be market day in Dijon at Les Halles – but only in the AM. Lots of interesting sites to visit.

Friday
Head out north on the A6. Take the exit #22 and find your way west to Vezelay** pg 314. We did not approach Vezelay from this direction – we visited Vezelay after Auxerre. But I figured that on your last day in the gite, you might only want to do a half-day – so I “cut out” Auxerre – which is too bad because we really enjoyed Auxerre.

After Vezelay, head south on the D958 on a pretty drive to Chateau Bazoches. I mentioned Vauban earlier – this is his chateau. There is a “self guided” tour, but note that it closes for lunch.

If you don't mind a small drive, visit the Chateau Cormatin** – this is one of our favorites. The interior & especially the gardens are fantastic. http://www.castlesinsouthernburgundy...rmatin_uk.html

Stu Dudley

"You'll have to take the TGV from CDG to Lyon, rent a car, then backtrack to Beaune."

For 4 people you might be better to skip the train and pick up a car at CDG. See the more northern parts of Burgundy on your way to Dijon & Beaune, drop off the car in Dijon and train to Paris.

By the time you get to the CDG car rental office, pick up a car, make a wrong turn getting out of CDG - it will be a 4 hr drive to Beaune if you don't stop along the way. That's about 2 hrs longer than we like to drive on arrival day. It's 1 3/4 hrs from Lyon to Beaune by car. Personally - we find a train ride after a 12 hr flight to be very relaxing.

Stu Dudley

I'm not suggesting driving 4 hours to Beaune directly from CDG. I suggest starting at sites in northern Burgundy and working their way over several days to Beaune. It makes little sense to me to pay for 4 TGV tickets to Lyon + the backtrack, as you suggest Stu, rather just drive to the northernmost destination on their itinerary in Burgundy and finish, rather than start in Beaune, then dropping the car in nearby Dijon, enjoy the city, train to Paris. It seems a less expensive, more organized thing to do.

Not everyone makes wrong turns.

As I read their final plan:

>>Day1 - Reach CDG and take car/train to Beaunne
Day 2-4 - Visit near by towns (castles - any reccos?)
Day 5 - Leave for Paris<

They were going to stay just in one spot other than Paris. Which is Beaune. And he seems to have eliminated Champagne and added more days in Paris. I'm assuming this is for summer travel (2 kids) so he should be able to get PREM fares. A lot of assuming by me, however.

PREM fares are 25E per person.

I always budget for wrong turns anywhere near Paris. Although driving out of Lyon isn't easy either.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu- We are looking to only add one more base other than Paris to avoid too much moving with kids. Beaunne looked a pretty good choice in Burgundy area. While I was researching about Champagne, it seems a bit of a car ride from Beaunne. Am i missing something??

One more question- Any recommendation for staying in Paris - which area to stay?

Paris & Burgundy are fine, You'll find plenty of stuff in Burgundy to do - especially with all the castles around there.

I always advise first-timers in Paris to stay in the St Germain des Pres area. Close to most of the popular tourist sites.

Stu Dudley

Is this trip in addition to the one to Amsterdam or instead of?

OK, I see you replied to your other thread and have decided against Amsterdam. It would have been nice to know at the beginning that these two trips were actually just ideas, and you were deciding to between them.

Hi Hetismij2 - Apologies! I didn't wanted to make this thread about Amsterdam - It was just an idea we were talking about so thought to explore!

It takes a bit of effort to consider and post replies, so it's good to give us all the facts you know that will help the process, including "not sure, Burgundy or Amsterdam". Everyone benefits, especially you, with more to-the-point answers. Why not go for optimum?