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3 sisters, aged 55 to 68, spending 9 or 10 days in France after visiting Switzerland. We will be taking the train from Geneva, but might rent a car for France outside of Paris.. We plan to spend about 5 nights in Paris. The Loire Valley has been suggested as another destination. We like great scenery, castles, cathedrals, historic places, food and wine. One of us is a little worried about the French reputation for rudeness. One of us speaks a little French, but it is rusty. None of us has visited France previously but this is not the first European trip.

I am wondering if we should spend most if not all of our nights in Paris and see what else we can with day trips. However, it would be fun to soak in a little provincial culture. and perhaps we could do that by staying in a smaller more intimate place for some of the trip.

Suggestions?

We have been going to France for many years. Always Paris, then train to pick up a car and have adventures in other parts of the country.

Rude French? Just the opposite, most French people are more than polite & courteous. Of course, there are rude people everywhere. Most of the time you get what you give. Be polite, always say Bonjour and you will find France to be a most welcoming place to visit.

I think you are on the right track with 5 nights in Paris, then train to Loire Valley (Amboise base is probably best for a first visit) pick up a car and see the magnificient chateaus. Even after 2 separate trips to the Loire we would return in aagain because there is so much to see. The driving in the countryside is quite easy. Train goes to Tours---busy. Take it to St. Pierre de Corps 9sp?) much easier drive IMO.

We have gone south many times also, but I think you would need more time. The Loire is the perfect place for a few days away from Paris.

Food & wine? Can't get much better than France! Just posting about it makes me want to be there.

BTW, welcome to Fodors. You will find the best info from those who have been there and love to talk about it.

>> The Loire Valley has been suggested....We like great scenery, castles, cathedrals, historic places, food and wine<<

My grades for your "wishes" (compared to other regions we've visited)
- great scenery C-
- castles A
- cathedrals C+
- historic places (other than castles & cathedrals) C
- food & wine B+
- I'll add in "interesting cities & villages" C-
It will take you 5 1/2 to 6 hrs to get to the Loire by train - with 1 train change.

Other options within 3 hrs of Geneva
- Provence
- Burgundy

>>One of us is a little worried about the French reputation for rudeness.<<

The "one" is dealing with very old rumors. The French are "private" people, and won't want to become your "best friend" as they serve you dinner - but that's just fine for me.

Stu Dudley

>>Other options within 3 hrs of Geneva<<
- Provence
- Burgundy

and also within 3 hrs of Paris.

Stu Dudley

I've seen rudeness at times in France and not just to tourists - the French IME can be rude to each other too - it's a cultural trait that could be said to being too formal without intending to be downright rude. I see this more in Paris (as I do also in New York City) and I think it's more a big city thing - anyway chances are everyone will be nice to you - if you are not too demanding and of course learn to say 'Bonjour' when entering any small store or restaurant - a little bit of protocol using French goes a long way. and say "au rivoir" when leaving - a few words in French go a LONG way IME.

Now I've seen Americans who act rather boisterous (the French stereotype for Americans it seems - along with being often overweight) and demanding and that does not go over very well.

For example - just don't expect groveling service (to get tips) in restaurants and cafes and the wait person may well as is oft the case kind of throw coffee cups and plates down with an exclamation of "Voila!" The wait person is being a professional and does his/her job as they see fit - don't expect to constantly be asked "is everything all right" or "is everything OK" as American wait people do because largely they are paid from tips - service people in France are paid decent salaries with benefits so do NOT tip as a matter of course - your service charge of about 20% or so will be included in the bill.

Again the waiter is the boss and acts as a professional doing his/her job as they see fit - not putting on airs or going overboard with kindness to get a fat tip.

Coming from Switzerland it would be easy to stop by Burgundy for a few days - esepcially if into wine and wineries - Beaune would make a nice smaller city to stay in - rent a car here and drive to the Loire for a quick look and then return the car at a TGV station and take the train to Paris perhaps.

Most of the "rudeness" reported for France is actually just a more reserved attitude among service staff - esp from americans who seem to expect all service staff to personally introduce themselves, make alot of person chit chat and grin continuously. Service staff in france are much more well paid, consider themselves professionals at what they do and often behave in a reserved professsional manner - no rudeness.

I think if you give yourself 6 nights (5 days) in Paris that is time enough to get a good taste - leaving you some time to see another part o the country. Coming from Geneva I might consider burgundy or even the Strasbourg area before dropping the car and heading from Paris (there are high speed trains to Paris in couple of hours from several cities in the area.

While I love the Loire it's a little out of the way from Geneva and also is really about chateaux rather than scenery.

Thanks to everyone for the good advice. I will be sure to brush up on my French phrases.

Rent your car at the Basel or Geneva airport, which ever city is closest to the end of your Swiss tour, making sure that it is on the <b>French</b> side of the airport. That way you can do a one way rental that will terminate in or near Paris without paying cross-border drop-off fees. Alsace-Lorraine, ending in Reims, might make a good itinerary (there's a TGV connection from Reims to Paris).

Browse through several guidebooks covering those areas to see if it would fit your bill.

Burgundy has castles, wine, nice villages and scenery, and if coming from Geneva, makes more sense than Alsace.

These are pictures from Burgundy, but in reverse order:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...755059630/show

Haven't read the responses you received but to reply directly to your post, if you have visited Europe before then lack of language skills should be a non-issue. If you can learn French for "please, thank you, goodbye, hello, you're welcome and do you speak English" then smiling and miming will get you everything else you need. Whoever says the French are rude is repeating stereotypes. I can say that I have never once been treated rudely (because I wasn't French) in all my years of first visiting and then living in France. I have a few hundred French friends who like me just fine, and I'm American btw. I'll also say that I often get extra special nice treatment in France precisely because I am American, even in Paris. This happens quite frequently and even more so in the rural villages I quite often visit. ;)

I have no particular advice about whether you should spend all your time in Paris and do day trips or whether you should go somewhere else for a few days because really either choice is fine. But if you are interested in day trips from Paris you can have a look at the following thread to see my list of many of the most popular day trips from Paris. Have fun whatever you do. :)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#66017674

I am a bit surprised at finding that I agree completely with Pal's response. I've been traveling to France for some 30 years and my only experience with rudeness was a popular pizza restaurant in Paris. Don't worry about the French or not being able to speak the language. You'll be fine.

Count me in on non-rudeness in France for our first five trips, sixth coming up next month. The staff persons are professionals and polite, they dont tell you to have a nice day or want to become your friend nor inquire how are you guys doing. I don't travel to find friends. As to your itinerary, we on all our past trips, have spent about 5 days in Paris with perhaps a day trip thrown in from there which included Fontainebleu, Giverny, Auvers-sur-Oise, Versailles, Sceaux. For the next five days we have headed by car north to Normandy, east to Champagne & Burgundy, southeast to Loire. For five days, you could do a train to Dijon travelling south through Burgundy to Beaune. You could add Champagne to the north or Loire to the south or neither. Taking in Loire from Paris is a bit of a rush. Or, drive from Geneva, definitely stopping at Lake Annecy and over through one of regions mentioned in posts above from there. Read everything you can and select what speaks to you gals!

p.s. and if one or all of you have smartphones, download one of the free French (or other) language apps that translate out loud to help with pronunciation, we put them on our phones today, just in case, and am laughing already at whipping it out in a shoppe to a salesclerk to inquire about some detail. The true test of rudeness and politeness awaits! They were featured in this morning's NYT travel section.

I agree with Michael's suggestion to rent a car on the French side of the Swiss border. Alsace is one of the most consistently beautiful parts of France.