5h4n3

Would like to have your feedback on my really really really rough preliminary itinerary

My wife and I are planning our first trip to France in either May or June next year. We will also be bringing along our by then 1 year old child. I know, I know, we shouldn't bring our infant child along to really enjoy France but there are no other alternatives and besides, we would like to instill our love for travelling in her at a very young age.

Originally, I was overly ambitious and tried to fit in Provence and the Riviera into our 2.5 week itinerary but I knew we were trying to do too much. Anyway, here's the trimmed down itinerary I've mapped out so far:

Day 1: Arrive Paris, depart straight to Bordeaux
Day 2-6: Sarlat (or any of the other surrounding cities: Beynac?)
Day 7: Limoges
Day 8-9: Amboise
Day 10: Mont St Michel (My wife absolutely wants to stay a night in MSM)
Day 11-12: Bayeux
Day 13-18: Paris

I intend on renting a car in Bordeaux on day 2 for our journey to the Dordogne region and will drop the car off after we're done in Bayeux. Day 7 is a one day stop in Limoges so that we can break our travel time as I understand that the drive from Sarlat to Amboise can take around 4-5 hours. We're open to alternative suggestions on a town to overnight in.

Michael

You might want to drop off the car in Chartres and visit the cathedral before going on to Paris.

StCirq

I have no problem with lugging a one-year-old to France - Did it twice, with two of them, and lugged them about 50 more times also, so no argument from me.

Day 6 - Beynac isn't a city; it's a village.

Forget Limoges - it's a dump. You wanna buy porceleine? You can get it Stateside for less. Try Tuesday Morning. A day in Limoges is a day wasted in France, IMO. Go to Oradour-sur-Glane.

The rest sounds reasonable.

5h4n3

Thanks for the tips & suggestions. Sorry about the verbage - cities vs. villages.. what I was trying to determine was whether Sarlat would make sense as a base in Dordogne. Heard it can be quite jam packed on certain days and driving in/out will be a problem.

As for Limoges, I intended to make it a base to visit Oradour-sur-Glane and to also break my travel time to Amboise. Are there accommodations in Oradour??

Thanks again!

5h4n3

I forgot to ask, would a daytrip to Versailles from Paris be pointless after seeing the Chateaus in Loire??

StuDudley

I usually don't like to drive long distances when I don't have to, but twice we've driven from the Dordogne to the Loire in one "easy" day. Hunker down and drive 4 hrs to Valancay, visit, then off to Amboise.

We spend 2 months vacationing in France most years.

Stu Dudley

Michael

Versailles is a royal palace, quite different from even the pleasure chateaux of the Loire valley.

Michael

Limoges is less of a dump than implied. It has increased its pedestrian only areas in the old part of the city. In fact there are two old parts because one hill was controlled in the Middle Ages by the civil authorities and another by the church. It has an important porcelain museum, as well as a small one in the bishop's former palace specializing in Limoges enamels. For accommodations, try http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Hotels

jamikins

Limoges is 'ok' - certainly not a highlight. If your Day 7 is a Sunday drop it completely as it will be a ghost town and everything is closed.

Sarlat is the perfect place to base for the Dordogne. We stayed here, a short drive out of town, so we werent impacted by traffic getting in and out of town as much: http://www.les-granges-hautes.fr/

aussie_10

We used Sarlat as a base for our trip in 2009 and had no troubles driving in and out for day trips.
We loved Sarlat especially in the evenings. They light up the medieval buildings so beautifully.

5h4n3

Even if day 7 is a Sunday, won't most all other towns/villages be closed?? What I gather from most of you guys is that it's best to just stay in Sarlat and just endure the long drive to Amboise instead of making a night stopover in one of the towns/villages/cities in between?

Digbydog

Jamikins--that hotel looks great. How long did it take you to get into Sarlat? Will you give a Fodors review of the hotel, I.e., what were the pros and cons?

StuDudley

Actually, Sundays are great in the Dordogne. Many shops in Sarlat close, but that's a good time to admire the lovely architecture since it won't be obscured with umbrellas, too many tourists, and other distractions. Also a great day to take a boat trip on the Dordogne River, visit the many castles, wander through Beynac, Roque Gageac, & Domme.

The drive to the Loire goes fast - especially if you stop at Valancay along the way.

Stu Dudley

Carlux

'Sarlat is the perfect place to base for the Dordogne. We stayed here, a short drive out of town, so we weren't impacted by traffic getting in and out of town as much: http://www.les-granges-hautes.fr/'

Les Granges hautes isn't a hotel, but a Chambres d'Hotes, or Bed and breakfast. It is run by a charming couple who do speak English (although Beatrice, if you are reading this, you should have stayed in my English class!) It's about 20 minutes from Sarlat. They also provide meals.

Digbydog

Carlux--thanks for the info. I do know the difference between a chambre d'hote and a hotel. Just a sloppy post on my part.

annhig

Hi,

I think that you are being over-ambitious with your first day - do you really want to be driving all day after what I guess is an overnight transatlantic flight with a 1 year old? I asl this as we did it once [the other way round] and we soon realised that is was a really daft idea.

instead, I would suggest doing your Normandy leg first,

Day 1: Arrive Paris, depart straight to Bayeux
Day 3-4: MSM
Day 5-7: Amboise
Day 8-12: Sarlat
Day 13: Limoges [optional]
Day 14-18: Paris

this gives you some much shorter drives at the beginning, leaving the potentially longest one [Sarlat to Paris] until that end when you have more idea of what you're doing. you could cut down the MSM staay to one night which would give you extra time in Paris or the Loire, and just stop off in Limoges rather than stay the night. [and/or drop the car off there and get the train to Paris, where you will not want to have a car].

Mimar

ann, the OP is going straight to Bordeaux and picking up his rental car there on the second day.

To the OP, Is there a train direct from CDG to Bordeaux? If not, consider flying on to Bordeaux.

Last May we based in Sarlat, staying at this place, which we recommend highly: www.hotelsarlat.com. It's right on the edge of medieval Sarlat. We parked on the street and drove in and out of town with no difficulty. Caveat: we weren't in Sarlat for the Saturday market; parking, in particular, is probably more difficult then. But the Wednesday market seemed quite adequate to me.

You're planning long drives with many changes of place. How with this go over with your one-year-old? Generally, fewer, longer stops with short trips between are what's recommended for travel with children.

annhig

Would like to have your feedback on my really really really rough preliminary itinerary>>

i hadn't picked up that going straight to Bordeaux was written in tablets of stone, mimar. shame if it is, as i think that first day might be quite tough.

5h4n3

Ann, first day is tough but I think it's best that I just get it over with and just work my way to the furthest point away (Dordogne) from my eventual end destination (Paris). Anyway, I think that it'll be equally tiring to head straight to Bayeux after touching down in Paris so why not just endure an hour or more longer to get to Bordeaux? My original post did state that I was only picking up the car from Bordeaux on Day 2, which implied that I was looking into taking the flight or train from Paris to Bordeaux on Day 1.

Mimar, I have no idea on how my 1 year old will cope but so far, she's pretty mild tempered and not easily agitated plus she sleeps through car rides. I might err on staying in bigger cities/villages so that I will have easy access to medical help if (touch wood) anything happens to my child.

Few other questions for others:
1) Train or flight to Bordeaux from Paris CDG, which is more convenient? I'll be taking the red-eye flight from Singapore and will reach Paris early in the morning so jet-lag should be less of an issue to me than those travelling from the States. However, I'll most likely arrive in Terminal 1 and I understand the TGV station is in Terminal 2.
2) If I drop Limoges (Day 7), should I allocate the day to Dordogne or to Normandy - perhaps add in a stop at Rouen or Honfleur? Or should I just use that day to drive towards Amboise and make stops at Oradour and Valancay?

Michael

You will burn a couple of hours when making a stop in Oradour. If not staying in Limoges, consider Poitiers and environs. One year we drove from La Roche Posay to the Périgord vert (close to Hautefort) with a brief stop at Angle-sur-l'Anglin (a <i>plus beau village</i and Saint-Savin (worth a stop), and it took us all day to reach our final destination. But we did not use any <i>autoroute</i>.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...76890499/show/