France experts needed to help w itinerary please
 

Bonjour! Suppose you had 10 days to two weeks next July to go to France for the first time. <BR>You knew you wanted to go to Paris for 4/5 days but then you were open to suggestions about where to spend the next 5+ days. <BR>We had been talking about Provence and The Loire Valley. <BR>Would really love to hear your thoughts <BR>Merci! <BR>Where would you go to next? <BR>

Should have included that the "we" is: myself, my hubby and 1 teenage son (16) <BR>Please keep the teenager in mind. <BR>We like: anything musical, artistic, cultural and fun (festivals, concerts, markets) <BR>We dont like: beaches,sitting in traffic LOL

I would highly recommend driving through the country. My husband ans i did so a few years ago, and are planning it agin at the end of this summer. Yes, cars are a little expensive and fuel is not cheap, but you have total freedom, and you can take long drives along back roads, really seeing the country. Places that I highly recommend are Dijon, Beaune, Aix-Les-Bains, and Chamonix. There are just so many wonderful places, I feel like I could give you many more recommendations, but will stop there.

friends of mine swear by rail travel - they love the convenience and the lack of responsibility - i, personally do not like trains as more than a way to get around a city - here is a good link for information about provence - i have used it myself http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/provpil.htm

Definitely go to Annecey and Chamonix to ride the cable car if you want to impress your son. I enjoyed the Loire Valley but would not call it a highlight of my trip. I think Mont St. Michel and the American Cemetary in Normandy will impres him more. As for Provence, how can you not love it?

Think about using Paris as a base and take some one or two day tours from Paris. Ten days or two weeks is not a lot of time. You just might fall in love with Paris and spend your time there. I would use the Internet to study what options were available them put your plan together. Be flexable and don't try to do and see to much. Take your time and enjoy it.

For some people, if you spend your entire time in Paris, even with day trips, 10 days to 2 weeks is too much time in the city. Consider whether you'd prefer more time in the city or the countryside. <BR> <BR>If you or your son is interested in Roman history, consider Provence. It's a very easy ride down to the south on the TGV, then you can travel by car to historic sites. The theater in Orange is impressive (I think they still have performances there), as is the Pont du Gard. My rather jaded husband insisted on going out of our way to see the Pont, and he was glad he did. Arles is my personal favorite; a manageably small city/town, with lots of Roman stuff (can you tell what I'm interested in?). I think they still offer outdoor theater performances there too, and sometimes bull fights in the Arena there. And of course there's Avignon and Les Baux. <BR> <BR>My husband and I really enjoyed the Loire Valley, but the interesting points of most of the chateaux are architectural (many are unfurnished), and while one castle is interesting to a kid/teen, many more than that may not be.

Pam: <BR> <BR>With 10-14 days to spare, you can see quite a bit of France even with 4 full days in Paris. After you've hit the obligatory Parisian sights, I'd recommend a trip either by car or by train down to the the city of Toulouse. (5 hrs by TGV, 7 fast hrs by car with stops. Toulouse is a marvelous city on the Garonne River and there are basilicas, churches and museums to keep you busy for 2 days..not to mention wonderful food. The down side is the weather..very hot! After 2 days in Toulouse, I'd stop off for lunch in the town of Auch, 40 miles west of Toulouse in the Gers departement, a lovely area of rolling hills and farms. Auch itself is a bit of a dowdy market town, but it is home of the Cathedrale Ste. Marie, a lovely 15-17th century church with stunning carved wooden stalls and stained glass. There are also 3 great restaurants there: Hotel de France, opposite the church, Table d'Hote and Cafe Gascon (the latter 2 are literally right next to each other on rue Lamartine, numbers 7 and 5 respectively).From Auch, continue SW toward the Bearn region, to the capital city of Pau where the panoramic views of the Pyrenees are stunning along with a great chateau: Chateau de Pau, built in the 13th cent. by Gaston Phoebus. From Pau, head further west to Bayonne, which is next to Biarritz and the Atlantic Ocean/Bay of Biscay. There are miles of beach, churches and even surfing.. if your son is into that. (Biarritz is the surf capital of Europe). Drop me a line if I can be of further help.. <BR> <BR>Regards.. <BR> <BR>Luis Vernon

My wife and I recently returned from two weeks in France and having seen Paris on two previous visits, we opted to rent a car and see other parts of the country. We first visited Bayeux in Normandy where we spent three nights and wish we could have spent at least one more night. Like a previous answer to you inquiry, the D-Day sights here are something that will stay with us forever. We took a tour with a retired British Col. who lives in Bayeux and ventured on our on to see Pegasus Bridge and the Bayeux Tapestry and Bayeux Catherdral (1,000 years old). Bayeux is a great central point to see the landing beaches and surrounding towns. Next we drove to Amboise where we spent four nights. We devoted one day to seeing two Chateauxs and the rest of the time we drove to various medevial towns and walked around. This area of the Loire Valley is steeped in history as you might imagine. For example, we visited the castle where Joan of Arc met the Dauphine (future King of France)and visited an abbey where we saw the tombs of Richard the Lion Hearted and his parents. Naturally along the way we stopped in to sample the local wines. Vouvray is just outside Amboise. By the way Amboise is where Leonardo di Vinci lived out his final years and died. His home is open for a visit and the basement contains examples of many of his inventions which were constructed from his drawings. Worth a visit. <BR> <BR>We then drove to Orange, visited the Roman Amphitheatre, wine growing regions, Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, and several of the surrounding towns. Next drove to Aix, stayed at Mas de Entremont (very nice) and toured around the southern part of Provence. Drove to the coast and finally to Nice where we stayed at a B & B in the hills just outside Nice. Visited St. Paul de Vence another town worth visiting. <BR> <BR>My recommendation would be to use half of your time to see Paris and then select one area close to Paris such as Normandy or the Loire Valley to visit. Don't try to do too much with such little time after all it's vacation and who wants to rush around trying to see everything? I bought a couple of Michelin books on the Loire Valley and Provence and used these as well as suggestions on this web site to plan the trip. This was our first time to drive in Europe and other than getting lost a few times it was easy. The French as wonderful people, very helpful (we don't speak any French)and we can't wait to return. My wife is already planning a trip for this Thanksgiving. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Since you are going in July, you may want to consider the weather/heat as a factor. It will probably be warmer and drier in the Mediterranean climate of Provence, and cooler in the the countryside of the Loire. Just a thought. <BR> <BR>If you do choose the Loire valley, I recommend you find a nice, small-to-midsize town to relax in, and make it your base for easy daytrips in the area. Good contrast to the hustle & bustle of Paris. Chinon, Amboise, and Saumur are all fine choices, but Tours is kinda big and traffic-jammed. Find a nice little manor house just outside of town to stay in. Great area for bike riding!

Wonderful.....wonderful.... <BR>keep them comin' please

Some interesting, well-considered suggestions have already been posted. Although I'd happily spend two weeks in Paris, I do agree that half in the city and half in the country makes a lot of sense for a first time in France. I see several reasonable possibilities, all of which become more interesting if you will be driving. The car will allow you to poke around a bit more and enable you to go to avoid much of the tourist overload. Driving in France is easy enough and quite possibly more cost effective than rail travel. Trains can be OK, but extremely limiting. The most northern would be Normandy, which would include Rouen, the Seine Valley, Honfleur, and the D-Day beaches. Slightly more south would be the Loire Valley and Chartres Cathedral, especially if Malcolm Miller is giving his daily presentations. On the eastern side, there's the champagne country and Alsace. Halfway down is Burgundy and a trip to Annecy. At the southern end, excluding the Cote d'Azur, is Provence. From a historical perspective, I think Normandy is the most interesting. If you are fascinated with the most typical French architecture, the Loire may be for you, but could be boring for your son. Burgundy (as well as most of France) has lots of old churches, quite a bit of wine, and some of the best restaurants in the world. Provence has some wonderful artifacts and its own special style. You really can't make a bad choice as far as areas are concerned, but good research into the chosen area can vastly improve your satisfaction with the trip. For your son, Normandy and Burgundy/Annecy may have a slight edge. The WWII and D-Day issues often are of interest to kids. Annecy has a superb setting on a magnificent lake, with lots of activity possibiities nearby. Despite suggestions from others about Chamonix, I wouldn't bother. We passed through a month ago en route to Switzerland. It's too far to go for not enough, at least in the summer. Those interested in winter sports may well prefer Megeve, which is closer. If you want to consider Annecy, the issue is whether you stay in town (a bit busy these days) or slightly outside, perhaps Talloires, which is about 10 minutes south and light-years ahead in terms of esthetics and pace. (I have a teenager also, so I have a good idea of what works . . . and what doesn't.) <BR>Forget about Mont St. Michel. It's more overrun with tourists than most other places. Those who insist on visiting should get there late in the day when the tour buses have left. Then, have a nice dinner, watch the sun set, sleep, have breakfast, and get out of there as quickly as possible thereafter. Unless you love crowds and t-shirt shops, MSM should be avoided like the plague. <BR>Be glad to answer any questions you may have, if I can.

Consider Lyon? Lots said about it here previously. It's a 2 hour TGV ride from Paris. Then we took the train to Geneva from Lyon. That was a pretty ride and Geneva was an interesting city.