alamotraveler

I have not been to France since I was a teenager, so I definitely need help with this June 2015 itinerary. My husband and I plan to fly into Paris and will stay there for 4 nights using hotel points. There are three other areas of France we would like to visit: Normandy, Provence, and an area on the Atlantic coast of France just south of La Rochelle (for a family reunion). I realize these areas are pretty far apart from each other and am trying to figure out the best way to get around. We could rent a car and/or travel by train for portions -- and possibly even take a minibus tour to Normandy to see the Beaches of Omaha, Mont St. Michel, etc. We could fly home from Paris or Nice (or somewhere else that is recommended). Your input is greatly appreciated!

PalenQ

Trains tend to radiate out from Paris but are not so great cross country - I'd definitely rent a car to see the places you wish and having driven in France for decades it is very easy now with speed limits and booze limits enforced vigorously!

Start in Paris
drive via Giverny and Monet's House/Garden to Bayeux, best base in many ways for the D-Day visits

Bayeux one of the few towns not blitzed in WW2 here and is a nice smaller city with sublime cathedral and world-famous Queen Matildha's Tapestry documenting the Normal Conquest of Saxon England in 1066.

Drive over the Mont-Sain-Michel and stay there - awesome site when all illuminated at night.

Easy drive from there down to La Rochelle

and keep going south via Provence - Avignon-Arles area with so so much to do with a car (Pont du Gard, Les Baux, etc)

drive via Aix-en-Provence onto Nice. Return car there and fly out or take train back to Paris.

Well there is one sweet itinerary for about 2-3 weeks.

alamotraveler

PalenQ, that helps sooo much! Someone had warned me that distances in France were way longer than one might expect, so I was concerned about lengthy car drives. I very much appreciate your advice. We have at least 2 weeks in France and I'm hoping to eke out our stay a bit more. Thanks again!

PalenQ

Well autoroutes - our freeways - go everywhere if you need to make speed and then once you get there take side roads, etc in a small area. 3 weeks would be better but it could be done in 2 weeks though then I may say to ditch the Riviera as that area is worth several days if going there - and it is a longish drive from Avignon area.

Bonne route! as they say in France.

alamotraveler

PalenQ, if that is the case, would you recommend that we drop off our car in Avignon once we are finished touring Provence and take the TGV train back to Paris for our return flight home? Also, I noted that it is about 6 hours drive from La Rochelle to Provence. Can you recommend any stops/sights between those two areas in case we didn't want to make the long drive all in one day?

dugi_otok

+1 for Palen's recommendations. By all means take the TGV from Avignon to Paris. Buy Prem tickets exactly 3 months in advance for huge discounts. The drive from La Rochelle to Provence is more like 8 hours. A good place for an overnight stop is Carcassonne. A good central location to stay in Provence is St Remy which is between Arles and Avignon. I do not know if I would go all the way to Provence if I was not staying at least 4 nights.

https://www.google.com/search?q=carc...w=1261&bih=559

If I did not have 4 nights for Provence I would stay 3-4 nights in the Dordogne (vicinity of Sarlat).

https://www.google.com/search?q=dord...w=1261&bih=559

StuDudley

My wife & I have spent a total of 3 years vacationing in France. Normally 2 months every year. This year we were in Paris, Provence for 2 weeks (total of 20 weeks over the years), Nice 2 weeks, and very near La Rochelle for 2 weeks.

I wouldn't try to do your itinerary if you only have 2 weeks to do it in. It's a 4 1/2 hr drive from Mt St Michel to Rochefort (just south of La Rochelle). If you choose not to visit MSM, it is a 5 1/2 hr trip from Bayeux to Rochefort. So you loose pretty much an entire day in transit. Then as dugi pointed out - 8 hrs to Provence.

There are other things you must consider when visiting France, that most American (if that's where you're from) first-timers are not aware of. Like most/all shops in major cities close on Sundays, & Monday mornings, and during lunch also. There are a few exceptions. Museums usually close 1 day a week ond sometimes during lunch too. This means you can't pack as much into a day in France as you can in the USA.

When driving the autotoutes/freeways you'll likely to encounter the road "deviations" where everyone in one direction is channeled off to the opposite side of the road in 1 lane and traveling as fast as the slowest truck. There can ge back-ups and other "challenges" at toll booths. This means that your 8 hr trip to Provence could take 10 hours.

So for a trip containing 14 full days (not arrival or departure days), you have a day lost getting to La Rochelle, St Remy, and a half-day lost getting to Paris. You really only have 11 1/2 days to do stuff. Three days in Normandy, 3 days in La Rochelle area, 3 days in Provence, and 2 1/2 in Paris is not nearly enough to get much out of these regions.

If you could skip the La Rochelle portion of your trip, I would recommend:

- Flying into Marseille or Nice, rent a car, and spend 4 nights in Provence. St Remy is a good base.

- Drive 30 mins to the Avignon TGV station, return the car, and take the 9:16 TGV to Rennes in Brittany - that arrives at 14:46. No train changes. Rent a car & visit MSM, D-day stuff, etc. Spend 4 nights in Bayeux.

- Return the car in Bayeux or Caen and take a train into Paris & spend your remaining time there.

This itinerary could be done in reverse.

I wrote some itineraries describing several areas in France that we've visited. I have a 35 page itinerary for Provence & the Cote d'Azur, and a 20 pager for Normandy & Brittany. I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors. If you would like copies of these, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

alamotraveler

dugi_otok and Stu, thank you so much for your input and recommendations. Very much appreciated! Stu, the area just south of La Rochelle (Royan) is where our family reunion will be held (a church building will be named in honor of our Huguenot ancestor, who was a pastor in the 1600s), so we can't skip that! I very much appreciate the realistic info about driving times. We will try to prolong our trip a bit to ensure that we have adequate time in each area. For sure, we are looking at 4+ nights in Provence. Thankfully, we are not the types to want to cram tons in each day, so the closing days/times shouldn't bother us that much. We prefer taking in the ambience and scenery and seeing a few highlights along the way. Stu, please look for an email from me regarding your itineraries. I would be very interested in seeing them. Thanks again!

StuDudley

We loved Royan - especially the waterfront villas that were "missed" during the WWII bombings. Lots of beach & biking there.

As I stated in my e-mail to you - consider the Dordogne instead of Provence & you'll save a lot of wasted/boring driving time. The Dordogne, along with Provence, are our two favorite regions in France.

If your choices are Royan, Paris, and Provence - this is how I think you can do it.

- Arrive at CDG and immediately take the TGV from CDG to Royan that leaves at 10:16 & arrives at 15:34. One train change in Angouleme. There is a later train that follows the same path that leaves at 14:07 & arrives at 19:15.

- Spend time in Royan.

- Take one of the many trains back to Paris that takes 4 to 4 3/4 hrs - 1 train change.

- Spend your time in Paris.

- Take one of the many TGVs that take 2 3/4 hrs to get to the Avignon TGV station. Rent a car & spend time in Provence.

- Fly home from Marseille or Nice.

Save Normandy/WWII stuff for another trip - or do it as an "organized" day-trip from Paris (very busy day)

Stu Dudley