danlin

Hello!

My husband and I are travelling to France in late September: a week in Paris, a week in the Dordogne and balance in the countryside. We want to rent a car (auto) outside Paris to drive to the Dordorgne and then slowly back toward Paris for our return flight.

- Any ideas where best to pick up the car? (Someone suggested Orly.)

- Any recomendations as to route/what area to visit on way back to Paris?

- We enjoy B&B (2+ nights per stay); is it feasible to stay in gites along the way without reservations?

Thanks for any input.

grandmere

A "gite" is a self-catering rural dwelling; "chambres d'hotes" are more like B&Bs.

IMO, staying only two nights in self-catering places would not make sense what with having to buy supplies, etc.

Have you looked at the www.gites-de-france website?

Have a fun trip!

danlin

Thanks for the clarification, grandmere. Guess we'll be looking for chambres d'hotes.

ira

Hi D,

I think that B&Bs would be better for you.

> a week in Paris, a week in the Dordogne and balance in the countryside.

The Dordogne is considered by many to be "countryside".

How long is the "balance"?

I would take the TGV from Paris to Libourne and pick up the car there.

You could visit St. Emilion and other parts of the wine region.

You could also take the TGV to Strasbourg, spend 3 nights visiting Alsace, 3 nights in Burgundy and then a week in the Dordogne, before driving to Libourne to take the TGV back to Paris the day before your flight home.

Enjoy your visit.

bratsandbeer

We found all our b&bs on Gites de France. We stayed in some very rural areas and was fun trying to find them. But it was worth the experience of being off the "beaten path". Two places we stayed had never had Americans stay with them before.

We did make our reservations via email before we left home.

danlin

Oops--after a week in Paris, we have two days to get to the Dordogne, a week there visiting with friends, then six full days to get back to Paris. We tend to travel slowly on back roads and stay in the countryside or small towns.

StuDudley

I agree with Ira about taking the train to the Dordogne - but check schedules to Brive la Gaillard - which is closer to Sarlat/Dordogne. However, St Emillion is nice, but very touristy and a little one-dimensional (wine) so if it sounds interesting to you, take the TGV to Bordeaux or Libourne and pass through St Emilion and also Perigueux to get to Sarlat/Dordogne.

On the way back to Paris, head over toward Cleremont-Ferrand and stay in the lovely & interesting Puy du Dome area for 2 nights. Besse en Chandesse is a cute village to stay in. Then head to Bourges, stopping at Chateau Meillant along the way. This is a fantastic chateau - but note that it closes for lunch. We actually had a picnic on the grounds of the chateau and admired the lovely exterior (lots of pics). Stay 1 night in Bourges.

After Bourges, head to the Loire & stay there till the night before your flight home (if youe flight leaves in the afternoon). You can get directly to CDG on the TGV from several cities in the Loire.

Stu Dudley

Images2

We are staying 3 nights in a B&B in the Drome, which I found on the gites de france website, before our 2 week stay in a gite. I was a bit surprised that we had to sign a gite contract for our B&B stay, just as we do for our weekly gite rentals. The owners also added our request for the dinner offered on our rental contract, needing a deposit.

We'll be there next week, so I'll report back on it when we return.

StuDudley

Six days to get back to CDG!! That makes a difference. What time of year??? Also, what other areas in France have you already visited?
Provence
Languedoc
Cote d'Azur
Burgundy
Pays Basque/Pyrenees
Loire
Auvergne (Puy du Dome)

Earlier this year I spent about 45 mins researching & making a suggestion to someone about an itinerary - only to find out that they had already visited that area & wanted to try someplace else.

Stu Dudley

Michael

If willing to take a less direct route back to Paris, I would recommend driving to Le Puy-en-Velais, Besse-en-Chandesse, Bourges and back to Paris. The Green Guide to France would give you some ideas of what to see within such an itinerary.

danlin

Thanks for the suggested itineraries and referrals to gites-de-france, everyone!

Stu, we will be in France from September 20 through October 11. I spent some time in the south of France over 30 years ago and my husband has never been to France, so let's just say it will all be new to us. But we like to travel at a SLOW pace, savouring the area we are in, lingering over whatever takes our fancy. That's why I thought we'd probably spend those last 6 days moving from the Dordogne back up to Paris in a leisurely way, rather than racing off to Provence for example. I had thought the Loire would be a good place to spend some time, but wanted to see what the Fodorites would suggest. (I have just recently been referred to this forum and can't get over the wealth of information--what a contrast to researching a trip 30-35 years ago!)

Also, I have found your suggested itinerary to someone travelling to the Dordogne last year which will be very helpful for that part of our trip. Thanks!

StuDudley

Don't rule out Provence. You could drive over there from the Dordogne (stopping in Carcassonne along the way), then get back to Paris or even CDG within 3 hrs on the TGV. If you want slow - I can't think of too many other places that are better than Provence for doing very little and enjoying it a lot.

Sometimes Chateaux & other sites in less touristy areas like the Auvergne start to close in mid-Sept - but Provence has lots of stuff to do year round. I think it would be a good complement to the Dordogne.

I have a 27 page itinerary for Provence & Cote d'Azur, and also a 20 pager for Dordogne. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy. I also have a 35 page itinerary for the Languedoc - the region between Provence & Dordogne. I have never posted any of these itineraries on Fodors, so the info you dug up from a past post by me is not the complete itinerary.

Stu Dudley