French countyside
 

Planning a trip for next November and have never been to France. We'd like to concentrate a week in the countryside of France, but landing in Paris. We love the experience of local cuisines, good wines, charming older towns. Is it feasible to stay in one location and sightsee from a single home base via rental car (we don't like to pack and unpack too many times)?

Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated!

Of course it is feasible to do as you say. France is full of lovely countryside, local cuisines, good wines, charming towns. My suggestion is that you first get hold of several good guide books to help you narrow down the possibilities and figure out what it is that calls out to you.

Burgundy might fit your bill, but keep in mind that November is a dead season in "charming towns" and that the weather might be damp and chilly.

Your plan is definitely doable and your only concern should be which town to choose. I think you have plenty options to do this; i.e. rent a holiday property in the Loire Valley (Tours) and day trip to different villages and chateau sightseeing. Try vrbo.com, holiday-rental.com, or slowtrav.com for hundreds of ideas. Another way to do it is read and mark on a map which sites/town you MUST do and then pick a centric location. No driving more than 3 hours (limited daylight in November) one way so that gives you a radius (distance). There is your plan; go execute :-D

If you are here in November it will be low season wherever you go so there'll be no crowds to deal with. The warmest weather at that time would be in the south so maybe the area around Nice or around Avignon would be good.

The absolute best way to see France is to do what you want to do, rent a place for a week and have a rental car. Perfect idea.

As others have suggested get yourself guidebooks but also get some maps to get yourself oriented with locations and distances. You can use the website viamichelin.com (among others) to estimate drive times and distances, fuel and toll costs and suggested routes. The times given do not consider traffic, weather or stops. When you settle on a location you'll want to buy maps of that region to assist in driving. I use Michelin maps but whichever you choose make sure the scale is at least 1:200,000.

Loire is a good choice. I wonder if the Dordogne might also be a choice. We have a few experts on that area here.

I did a Loire valley driving trip a few years back and liked it a lot. Castles, medieval towns, museums, caves, wineries, etc..

November is a month that opens more possibilities than in the summer. In the summer, you would want to go to places with good weather, but in November you can go anywhere.

I will once again lobby for the north and the east. Lille, Valenciennes, Arras are great cities to see in the north. You can also go all the way to the coast to places like Calais, Dunkerque or Boulogne. Even though they were bombed to rubble in WW2, they have been put back together quite well.

As for the east, Strasbourg, Metz and Nancy are all magnificent.

Normandy would be a nice trip. Cheese, cider, and wine from other parts of France.

Does it have to be November?

(Another vote for Dordogne here, if you're tallying them.)

I actually wouldn't recommend the Dordogne in November. The weather can be nasty and many, many things are closed, even in Sarlat. I'd go as far south as I could and find a base in the countryside that's within an easy shot of a big city.

Whereas in the north and east, the cultural activities are at the height of the season.

Thank you all. I will take all of your suggestions and visit the appropriate websites. Looks like I have a bit of homework but a fun one! I'm glad to know that a central base to stay in is a do-able one for what we'd like to do. We tend to like the cooler weather and less crowded conditions so we are quite used to traveling in the off-season.