We will be going to France in December 2008 for almost 2 weeks.  My daughter will be studying in Paris from Sept. - December and we will meet up with her with my two other children (18 and 12).  We definitely want to spend 5-7 days in Paris and the remainder in another part of France.  We arrive on the 12th and leave on the 25th.  Any suggestions for the non-Paris part of our trip, considering the time of year we will be there.  My husband thought of the Bordeaux area. We have been to some parts of the Provence but it was many (many!!!) years ago. Not sure winter would be the time to go. Any suggestions are welcomed and thanks in advance!!!!

We're actually going to Provence in December too, and it's a nice time of the year to go. Many towns and villages have Christmas fairs and decorations, along with holiday foods; the Nice fair is among the largest. So that's where I would suggest that you go, especially as the weather is more likely to be cooperative than in the north.

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Well, winter in Provence would likely be a lot more palatable than winter in Bordeaux, but if I were going to France at that time of year I'd take advantage of the season and do the French alps.

Go to Strasbourg and the Alsace wine road villages which will be beautifully deocrated for Christmas.

This is a question worth posing to your other children; would they prefer snow (Alps), coast (French Riviera), or mountain towns (Provence, Bordeaux). I would actually pick an area with the possibility to do all three as daytrips; i.e. Nice.

Have a great time!!

Thanks everyone for the responses so far. What I am hearing so far is that we might have better luck with the weather in the South. We are not necessarily interested in the Alps although I know it would be beautiful. We enjoy the countryside, strolling, hiking, shopping, wine. We love museums (although might have had our share in Paris)and I remember an incredible tiny Chagall museum outside Nice. Since we don't celebrate Christmas, this would not be high on our priority list although I know the kids would probably enjoy some of the Christmas fairs. I have been looking on some sites to rent a house for 5 days or so and several of the places are in areas that I am not familiar with. One of the difficulties will be that my older daughter will have been there for 4 months and will have a few large pieces of luggage so unless it can remain with her host family, we will be schlepping that. So..the other question is regarding renting a car or taking a train (which I hear is faster). We could also take a train to our point of destination and then rent a car from there. (sorry for the essay!!)