Going to Geneva for a few days -Should we go to Provance too???
 

We will be spending 2 days in Geneva and then will be going to Talloires in France to pick up our son and spend 2 days with him. He is suggesting we go to Proavacne/French Riveria. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

I think your query actually has two questions embedded in it?

1) Will you spend too much time and/or money travelling to and from Provence and the French Riviera, relative to the length of time of your trip (2 days for this portion)?

Answer: The trip is doable, but I think it could take a fairly large chunk of time out of each day. It would be about a 5.5 hour drive to Nice on the express roads for example (and I couldn't find a route by train). Perhaps a more realistic choice would be go to somewhere a little further north than the coast (e.g. Avignon or Aix).

2) Why would you want to go to Provence/French Riviera?

Answer: I'll let those who love the region answer that one. It's not my favourite part of France, to be honest, perhaps because it is over-hyped. And if you're going in the summer, it will very hot and very crowded.

Why don't you ask your son why he wants to go there and what kinds of weekend trips he's likely to be doing while based in Talloire (is he taking a French course there)?

I guess I'm still trying to figure out why you decided to stay in Geneva.

Dukey- I am staying in Geneva beacuse we are flying into Geneva, I have never been there and our son is in Talloires which is about an hour from Geneva as it is in the Alps. The primary purpose of the trip is to visit my son and meet the family he is living with. We plan on spending 2 of the 4 days with him and see Geneva on our own for 2 days before we go to him in Talloires.

KateW- I am now seeing that my son might not understand where he is living in relation to Aix en Provence which he thought would be a good place to go for 2 days . We wanted to go somewhere in France for 2 days after we pick him up and not go back to Geneva but rather a great spot in France instead. Yes he is studying there for 6 weeks and living with a French family in Talloires. My son is going to be taking some weekend trips like to Paris and Geneva when we are not there so he was trying to come up with another place in France that we could all enjoy together.

I suggest Chamonix, an attractive town about an hour away, at the base of Mt Blanc. From there you could go up to Aiguille-du-Midi or, maybe better yet, Mont Brévent.

Hi rjbriskin,

I favor the smaller towns along the lake instead of the city of Geneva -- specifically Montreux or Vevey. I like the slower pace & the time one can wander and enjoy the lakeside cafes.

Here's a list of acitivities based in Montreux, though you can do all of these from anywhere on the lake:

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...rges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Have fun!

s

You might want to do some research on the FRench town of Annecy. It's a wonderful area, beautiful city, and SO interesting.!!!..and not a long drive from Geneva.

As always when Geneva comes up, I would go to Vevey and Montreux and spend the 2 days there instead.

Annecy is another nice suggestion.

Provence/French Riviera seems an unusual suggestion for 2 days in Geneva imo.

I think that Chamonix is a place that your son likely will go to on a weekend excursion in connection with his course. (It was when I took a French course in the region.) So, I can see why he might be interested in going somewhere with a different climate and environment - Provence. Aix and Avignon are somewhat more accessible destinations than Nice. (Everyone has heard of Nice, but it actually takes rather a long time to get to by train, whereas Aix and Avignon are somewhat shorter trips.)

You could also head north and a bit east to explore Alsace (which has a unique character, more reminiscent of Germany than France) or perhaps visit some chateaux in Burgundy (if you and your son are interested in wine). If he likes mountains, then perhaps it would be worth exploring in Switzerland.

To all of you-thanks for all the input-I just spoke to my son and he just got some new rcommendations from his host family. They are suggesting that we tour Genevea on our arrival day and half the 2nd day and then drive to Talloires to pick up my son. My son wants to then show us around Talloires and Annessy. Stay at a hotel in Talloires and the next day go to Charmonix and La Mer de Glace. Stay in Charmonix and the next day go to Martigny and Gstaad. Drop himm back off in Talloires and stay in Geneva that night for our flight home the next day. Have any of you heard of these places??? Your thoughts???
KateW- As it happens my son is going to Charmoinx this weekend but instead of touring the town the other option offered to him is to hike up the mountains which he will do if we decide to got to Charmoinx as a family when we get there and tour the town together.
Did you study in Talloires???

Sure I've heard of Annecy... it is a pretty lake town up in the mountains in France not too far from Geneva.

Hi rjbriskin:

No, I didn't study in Talloires. I took a 5 week "French for lawyers" course at the Universite de Stendhal at Grenoble in 2002. There were trips organised for almost every weekend, including to the Mediterranean coast (but Grenoble is a little further south than Talloires).

I've been living in France now for almost two years. My husband and I have been trying to explore bits of France, mostly on long weekend trips. We're trying to fit as much in as possible because we're moving back to North America in late July. The next trips we've got planned are to the Loire Valley and Burgundy. We're also going to spend 4 days in Switzerland (in the Bernese Oberland) to hike in the mountains. And then we've got one final trip to plan, I'm not sure where yet - perhaps Carcassonne.