France for the first time
Dec 28th, 2013, 05:31 PM
#21
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,552
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As I mentioned previously, skip Cannes and I would also pass on Grasse. If you're only spending one night in Nice then you have no time to visit anyplace but Nice before you move on to the Avignon area.
Try not to focus so much on an "authentic Parisian experience" but think instead about what your musical/entertainment interests are and ask for recommendations based on that. There's no sense in going to the Moulin Rouge or any other show if that really doesn't interest you.
Try not to focus so much on an "authentic Parisian experience" but think instead about what your musical/entertainment interests are and ask for recommendations based on that. There's no sense in going to the Moulin Rouge or any other show if that really doesn't interest you.
Dec 29th, 2013, 05:58 AM
#22
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
St Cirq has saved you several hundred dollars by suggesting you miss the Moulin Rouge and Monaco... I'll save you another hundred.
Ignore the suggestion earlier to "take a taxi to Nice airport to pick up a rental car". All the major players have offices right downtown on a street beside the Meridien Hotel. Here's a link to a Google streetview: http://goo.gl/maps/9i1u0
You can just drive right out of town along the Promenade des Anglais until you see the signs for the autoroute. Nothing could be easier.
That saves a 30 euro cab fare (the airport is close but cabs are expensive) plus a 40 euro surcharge for picking up a car at the airport. So that's 96 dollars at today's exchange rate. I don't get all cheap when on holiday but 100 bucks is a hundred bucks! ;^)
Ignore the suggestion earlier to "take a taxi to Nice airport to pick up a rental car". All the major players have offices right downtown on a street beside the Meridien Hotel. Here's a link to a Google streetview: http://goo.gl/maps/9i1u0
You can just drive right out of town along the Promenade des Anglais until you see the signs for the autoroute. Nothing could be easier.
That saves a 30 euro cab fare (the airport is close but cabs are expensive) plus a 40 euro surcharge for picking up a car at the airport. So that's 96 dollars at today's exchange rate. I don't get all cheap when on holiday but 100 bucks is a hundred bucks! ;^)
Dec 29th, 2013, 11:06 AM
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks ParisAmsterdam for those tips. As I am flying into NIce it probably makes sense to pick the car up at the airport. From previous comments I think we will then drive straight over to the Avignon area (3 hour drive I believe a good scenic route) and spend 3 nights at St Remy de Provence as a base and then 3 nights at Luberon as a base. Return the car in Avignon and then catch the TGV to Paris. Any comments on this plan appreciated. Would a VW Polo be a suitable size rental car? B&B or small apartments?
Dec 29th, 2013, 11:40 AM
#24
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I realized too late you were coming from Scotland so wouldn't need time first to recover. For 2 people a Polo would be fine. A friend in the UK has one and he loves it.
One thing to be careful of at the Nice airport is that lines at one rental desk can be horrendous if a lot of the people on the plane have booked a car through the airline... get to the rental desk asap... if there is checked luggage have one person await the baggage and the other dart to the car desk! ;^)
B&Bs of the type common in England and Scotland are rare in France.
You may get some suggestions here. Try Google.fr and search for 'chambre d'hote".
One thing to be careful of at the Nice airport is that lines at one rental desk can be horrendous if a lot of the people on the plane have booked a car through the airline... get to the rental desk asap... if there is checked luggage have one person await the baggage and the other dart to the car desk! ;^)
B&Bs of the type common in England and Scotland are rare in France.
You may get some suggestions here. Try Google.fr and search for 'chambre d'hote".
Dec 29th, 2013, 12:54 PM
#26
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chambfres d'Hotes - B&Bs in French dot the roads all over France - they are not quite clones of British B&Bs but are the same idea - rooms in private residences but not always with breakfast.
Look for Chambres d'Hotes signs along the way. Not so many in cities like in the U K IME.
Look for Chambres d'Hotes signs along the way. Not so many in cities like in the U K IME.
Dec 29th, 2013, 08:30 PM
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks FrenchMystiqueTours. Now focusing on accommodation, do I get good accommodation for 100 euro per night or do I need to spend more. Do I need to book now for next October. Also looking at the rental car if I keep to a small car very reasonable in price any comments about using www.Rentalcars.com.
Dec 29th, 2013, 09:17 PM
#29
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 225
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree with FMT - this sounds realistic and a nice relaxing way to see lots of things in each area. You may want to go from Nice straight to a Luberon village such as Lourmarin or Bonnieux, and save St Remy for your last days so you are generally travelling west, without backtracking. We stayed in Lourmarin for a couple of weeks a few years ago, and it was a lovely spot. There are several webistes which detail the Luberon villages, so start researching! And definitely look into the smaller Paris hotels now. I just booked 3 rooms in Hotel du Champ de Mars (130 euros pn for a double room), and they are already filling up in early Oct.
Dec 29th, 2013, 11:35 PM
#30
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
kiwinz, it seems that your trip is evolving nicely, and I think you are making lots of right decisions. Not to muddy the waters, but I have a totally new idea to put on the table. It would involve taking 24 hours from somewhere, but it would fit in so nicely I can't resist bringing it to you attention.
En route on the TGV from Avignon to Paris, you could stop in Lyon. A lovely small city, it lives up to its proverbial reputation as "the gastronomic capital of France." As it happens, I have both a top-notch B&B and a superb restaurant to recommend, within a 10-minute walk of one another, so I am offering a neat little package.
B&B is Evasion Loft:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...one_Alpes.html
Great hosts, great breakfast, and right on a metro stop.
restaurant is Gourmet de Seze:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...one_Alpes.html
Really special - this is music for the mouth, a meal to remember.
Plus, Lyon is worth a day to explore. More of a city than your stops down south (except Nice) but more laid-back than Paris.
Biggest negative to this idea is that the TGV station is actually 15 miles from the city itself, though there is plenty of shuttle service of course. And the metro system in Lyon is clean, attractively designed and a pleasure to use, which is more than you can say about the Paris metro!
En route on the TGV from Avignon to Paris, you could stop in Lyon. A lovely small city, it lives up to its proverbial reputation as "the gastronomic capital of France." As it happens, I have both a top-notch B&B and a superb restaurant to recommend, within a 10-minute walk of one another, so I am offering a neat little package.
B&B is Evasion Loft:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...one_Alpes.html
Great hosts, great breakfast, and right on a metro stop.
restaurant is Gourmet de Seze:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...one_Alpes.html
Really special - this is music for the mouth, a meal to remember.
Plus, Lyon is worth a day to explore. More of a city than your stops down south (except Nice) but more laid-back than Paris.
Biggest negative to this idea is that the TGV station is actually 15 miles from the city itself, though there is plenty of shuttle service of course. And the metro system in Lyon is clean, attractively designed and a pleasure to use, which is more than you can say about the Paris metro!
Dec 30th, 2013, 05:40 AM
#31
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,552
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't rent cars but read lots of comments from people who do and the most widely recommended agency to check with is www.autoeurope.com, a brokerage agency that works with all the large rental companies. Quite often you can pick up in one location and drop off in another with no surcharge.
If you are traveling in October you'll be outside of high season so finding a hotel will be no problem in Provence. You can take your time and do research and not feel like you have to rush to make a booking. You may even consider renting a gîte so you can cook some of your own food, save money on meals and be able to take advantage of buying foods from the local markets. In high season many only rent by the week but outside of high season you're likely to find flexibility from some owners on the length of stay.
I'll suggest you start doing some research by looking at the various tourist office websites and I would also suggest that you buy good maps for any region where you will be driving/exploring. I've got some standard info about maps and tourist offices that I cut and paste from a word doc so here it is:
Get your hands on the Michelin maps. You want the ones of the scale 1:200,000 (regional maps) or 1:150,000 (departmental maps, more detailed, cover slightly less area) for whatever regions you visit. A nice feature of the 1:150,000 maps is they show the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green guidebooks. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.
You can buy the Michelin maps from their website and here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:200,000 scale maps of France: http://tinyurl.com/4bt96ev
And here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:150,000 scale maps of France:
http://tinyurl.com/6mt4n64
You could also buy them here but then you can't do research beforehand. The maps can be bought in many places such as bookstores, news stands, magazine stores, larger supermarkets, department stores, hypermarkets and in the full service rest areas on the autoroutes, just to name a few.
You need good guidebooks for whatever region in France in which you will be traveling. I like The Michelin Green Guides. If you need restaurant info then get The Michelin Red Guides, which cover restaurants.
And speaking of Michelin, you can go to the website viamichelin.com and get info on drive times and distances, toll and fuel costs and suggested routes (i.e. scenic routes). The drive times given do not consider stops (fuel, food, bathrooms) nor do they consider bad weather and bad traffic. I find the drive times very accurate when these factors are accounted for. The time estimates can break down when you are driving in congested urban areas, like in or near Paris, due to the unpredictability of heavy traffic or traffic jams. They can also be affected on peak travel days, specifically on autoroutes leading to/from popular destinations.
You should also acquaint yourself with rules of the road in France and road signs and such and this website will give you some useful tips:
http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchDrive.htm
Here is some other general advice for you. You should google the tourist office websites for any region, département, city , town or village you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites including hotel/accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the words "office de tourisme" followed by the name of your region, département, city, town or village and this will bring that place to the top of your search.
To give you examples of tourist office websites here are just a few for the region of Provence you'll be exploring. Keep in mind that every town that attracts tourists will have its own tourist website so when you want info specific to a town check their tourist website. The sites I'm providing are general regional tourist websites:
http://www.tourisme-en-luberon.com/index.php?lang=en
http://www.luberon-en-provence.com/
http://www.provenceguide.com/luberon-11-1.html
http://www.tourismepaca.fr/territoire-provence
http://www.visitprovence.com/en
If you are traveling in October you'll be outside of high season so finding a hotel will be no problem in Provence. You can take your time and do research and not feel like you have to rush to make a booking. You may even consider renting a gîte so you can cook some of your own food, save money on meals and be able to take advantage of buying foods from the local markets. In high season many only rent by the week but outside of high season you're likely to find flexibility from some owners on the length of stay.
I'll suggest you start doing some research by looking at the various tourist office websites and I would also suggest that you buy good maps for any region where you will be driving/exploring. I've got some standard info about maps and tourist offices that I cut and paste from a word doc so here it is:
Get your hands on the Michelin maps. You want the ones of the scale 1:200,000 (regional maps) or 1:150,000 (departmental maps, more detailed, cover slightly less area) for whatever regions you visit. A nice feature of the 1:150,000 maps is they show the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green guidebooks. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.
You can buy the Michelin maps from their website and here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:200,000 scale maps of France: http://tinyurl.com/4bt96ev
And here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:150,000 scale maps of France:
http://tinyurl.com/6mt4n64
You could also buy them here but then you can't do research beforehand. The maps can be bought in many places such as bookstores, news stands, magazine stores, larger supermarkets, department stores, hypermarkets and in the full service rest areas on the autoroutes, just to name a few.
You need good guidebooks for whatever region in France in which you will be traveling. I like The Michelin Green Guides. If you need restaurant info then get The Michelin Red Guides, which cover restaurants.
And speaking of Michelin, you can go to the website viamichelin.com and get info on drive times and distances, toll and fuel costs and suggested routes (i.e. scenic routes). The drive times given do not consider stops (fuel, food, bathrooms) nor do they consider bad weather and bad traffic. I find the drive times very accurate when these factors are accounted for. The time estimates can break down when you are driving in congested urban areas, like in or near Paris, due to the unpredictability of heavy traffic or traffic jams. They can also be affected on peak travel days, specifically on autoroutes leading to/from popular destinations.
You should also acquaint yourself with rules of the road in France and road signs and such and this website will give you some useful tips:
http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchDrive.htm
Here is some other general advice for you. You should google the tourist office websites for any region, département, city , town or village you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites including hotel/accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the words "office de tourisme" followed by the name of your region, département, city, town or village and this will bring that place to the top of your search.
To give you examples of tourist office websites here are just a few for the region of Provence you'll be exploring. Keep in mind that every town that attracts tourists will have its own tourist website so when you want info specific to a town check their tourist website. The sites I'm providing are general regional tourist websites:
http://www.tourisme-en-luberon.com/index.php?lang=en
http://www.luberon-en-provence.com/
http://www.provenceguide.com/luberon-11-1.html
http://www.tourismepaca.fr/territoire-provence
http://www.visitprovence.com/en
Dec 31st, 2013, 04:32 PM
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks FMT for your detailed responses, much appreciated. I am starting to wonder if we are better off to have 1 base for 6 nights then visit Luberon on day trips. Use St Remy as the base then find a self contained accommodation. Any thoughts?
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Jeannie
Europe
13
Feb 18th, 2003 05:28 AM
