We will have a few days after our rental in Provence at the end of May, to head back to Paris and fly home. We thought we would head towards Paris by train and stop in an interesting and pretty town. I was reading about Auxerre on the Fodors forum and it sounds lovely. Any other suggestions for a couple of days? We will already have had quite a bit of time in Paris. Won't have the car anymore. Don't want to spend too much time getting there since time is limited. Any thoughts?

Justine,

Take a look at Annecy.

Honfleur and trouville for the best Moules at the Bister des Vapeurs.

Dijon would be my choice.

Stu Dudley

Should have asked - what day of the week are these "few days"?

There is frequent train service between Dijon & Beaune - 30 min trip.

Dijon is my second favorite city in France.

Stu Dudley

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (thursday night back to Paris, leave Friday morning early.)

Stu, I now see your suggestions at the bottom of your itinerary. Lyon looks like an interesting ancient city.

And Cigalechanta, those are mussels? Sounds tasty. But I'm wondering how much travel time is involved in getting there from Avignon since I'll only have 2 1/2 days.

Anymore thoughts on this?

Hi JA,

I think that Auxerre is worth an overnight, but not much more.

Lyon is a very nice city - I would do 3 nights there on my next visit.

Dijon/Beaune are worth 3 nights.

Enjoy your stop off.

I have just learned that an old friend owns a lovely B+B about 8 minutes by car from Richelieu. Is that too long a trek from Avignon---even by train for only a couple of days? Is it worth it?

Thanks for the advice Ira. I'm thinking the same thing that such a great city as Lyon or Dijon, need more time. A quick run in and out will only prove to be tiring and not very fulfilling.
Maybe we should hold on to the car for that extra couple of days and explore something else in Languedoc. We have been through the Languedoc area a couple of times but there's always more to see. Just thinking out loud...

I'm with the others who mention Lyon - much to do, see and EAT there - 3 nights would be nice. The Globe et Cecil hotel - www.globeetcecil - is lovely and convenient.