sweetwood

IMy husband, myself and our 7 year old child are planning 3 weeks in France in August. My husband is a "reluctant travellor" but loves rural settings, good wine and cheese and WWII history. We are planning 7 days in St. Remy, 5 days in Loire Valley, 4 days in Normandy and 5 days in Paris. Any thoughts on our itinerary ot "must sees" from the seasoned travellors out there? I have been reading about the rural areas in Normandy and the great cheeses and ciders. Does anyone have a favorite location in Normandy to take it all in?

Michael

Get the Michelin Green Guide for France which will give you the highlights to see for each area you plan to visit.

For rural settings, most of the listings in http://en.gites-de-france.com/ are outside towns.

You need to change your length of stay in each area. If you truly prefer rural settings, you will need a car, and it makes little sense to rent a car for each area. It would be best to rent a car in southern France an return it in Paris. Consider http://www.autoeurope.com/?utm_expid=661124-2 if only to establish an idea of what a rental for that period of time would cost. But this implies traveling by car between the main areas of interest, and at least the drive from St. Rémy to the Loire valley might be best done in two days, with some sightseeing in between. Consider going up the Gorges de l'Ardèche and then seeing Le Puy-en-Velais while gong north to the Loire valley.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57623313123155

mamcalice

I think it is a good itinerary - about the right length of time in each of your destinations. A car is best. We have been to all of your destinations and, for Normandy, you might base in Bayeux which is a lovely town and convenient to WWII sights. With only 4 days, you may want a hotel rather than a gite.

You can find lots of recommendations for accomodations by doing a search on this site.

ita

ttt

Kurosawa

Here is a trip report that might be helpful: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm.

ita

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