Well, now that our proposed trip to Bavaria is shelved(iffy weather), our family of 4 thought France would be a good bet. Proposed dates of travel are August 15-29,2012.

Tentative itinerary follows:

Aug 15-- arrive Paris airport...depart immediately either via rental car or train for 3 nights in
Loire Valley. Not sure where to base. Want charming town, but not too touristy.
Maybe Loches?

Aug 18-- depart Loire Valley and head to Provence, again either via train or keeping the
rental car for the duration of our travels. Need a nice "base", again away from the
tourist hordes. Stay 4 nights.

Aug 22--depart Provence and head to Alps...maybe Chamonix?. Stay 4 nights.

Aug 26--depart Alps for 3 nights in Paris

Aug 29--fly home

This is definitely subject to change. We would love to visit the D-Day beaches, so we'd have to figure a way to work it it.

We're also not sure if it make sense to rent a car upon arrival and keep it until we return to Paris, or do a combo of train/car rental. We want the most expedient AND cost effective option.

ANY and ALL feedback is greatly appreciated.

Lori

I would highly recommend Loches for the Loire valley. We stayed here: www.logisloches.com and loved it. The town itself is very nice and there are several nice places to eat.

I would highly recommend a more informative heading so that people can give more targeted feedback (although I too like Loches a lot)

I think you've both convinced me about Loches.

NOW...any advice on the rest? Should we include the Normandy beaches?
Thanks

What's so iffy about weather in Bavaria in August? Why wouldn't weather be iffy in France too?

I wouldn't drive to Provence from the Loire - long, boring drive with the sun in your face the whole way, plus the TGV gets you there in about 2 hours.

The D-Day beaches aren't geographically on target for your proposed itinerary, so you'll either need to change the amount of time you've got or change venues.

How can you possibly know the weather in Bavaria already -- or France?

I would have plenty of advice for France if your plans were not so completely vague. Get back to us after you have done a bit of real research or you might end up wasting our time, and we are not paid much here.

Don't understand why Bavaria in August is out. Iffy weather exists everywhere. We had lovely three weeks without rain in Ireland (unheard of) while people were literally dying of the heat wave on the European continent. So you take your chances.

If we are missing part of the story, then I'll go back to your question:

If you do Normandy beaches, then your really should cut Provence and Chamonix out.

From Paris, it's easy to do a Giverny/Rouen, Normandy beaches, down to Mont-St.Michel and other parts or Britanny, a swing over to the Loire and back to Paris. There are lots of ways to do this. Your 15 or so days is squeezing it, but it's doable.

Conversely, you could easily get down to Avignon, do some Provence stuff, explore the Riviera, swing up to Chamonix (that part is rather a stretch) and get back to Paris. Would advise trains for some of this trip and car rental for others.

Regarding Bavaria...I have spoken to 3 different individuals who lived in that area of the world and said that August is typically quite cool AND rainy. Given the current cost of airfare, we did not want to chance it. AND, yes I know it's a crapshoot re: weather no matter where you go!

KEROUAC...I have been doing research and the options are somewhat mindbogling. I thought I had laid out an itinerary...wanted to know the feasability of carrying it out.

I checked out various car rental options, and it looked like 400-500 euros for the 2 weeks, obviously not including gas.

The trains look fairly expensive per person between destinations, and I found the France Rail Pass to be similarly expensive, and somewhat limiting. For example, a 3 day pass would cost roughly $200 pp, THEN I'd have to factor in the cost of car rentals locally.

You shouldn't even be looking at a rail pass. You should be looking at www.voyages-sncf.com and investigating PREM fares, which are available 3 months out from your dates of travel. They're not expensive at all; e.g., you can often get Paris to Avignon for 25-30 euros a person.

The average temperature in Bavaria in August is 83 F. The average temperature in Provence in August is 80.7 F.

Have you heard about the mistral? I'd rethink your plans.

A car rental may be a good idea. Going from the Loire to the Provence can be interesting if done with the idea of seeing things rather than just taking the autoroute to get from one point to the other. The two obvious routes would be through western Burgundy or through the Auvergne.

Similarly one can have an interesting drive going from the Provence to Chamonix. If one likes driving, the road following the crest of the Alps is challenging but varied while going over 5 high mountain passes.

However, it might be best to eliminate one of the chosen areas to have the time to get from one point to the other.

Thanks Michael!

Which region would YOU consider best eliminating...Loire Valley, Provence or Chamonix/Annency?

We would like to do some hiking

I would eliminate the Provence and use Burgundy and the southern Jura area for sightseeing on the way to the Alps. Drop the car off where you can get a TGV back to Paris and order your PREM tickets 3 months in advance.

Or drop the Alps, drive through as mentioned before and return from Nice (can you change your airline ticket to have it open-jaw?).

Michael...looked at open jaw tix, but they're each about $250 more. The airfare in/out of Paris is expensive enough!

You're probably searching for two one-way tickets instead of an open jaw. It's the "multicity" option.

I did use the multi city option!!

Then try ordering your tickets now for your return to Paris, you might get an iTGV deal:

http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/?DISTRIBUTED_COUNTRY=GB

Although realize that with the train fare and the hotel room in Paris (and a good part of the day lost), the extra price of an open jaw might not be that bad. We are flying out of Nice on an open jaw, planning to stay somewhere close to Nice and drive directly to the airport, so that we are not losing a day in travel.

If choosing the Alps, an open jaw from Geneva might work.

Good thought on Geneva...did not occur to me. I'll check it out!
Thanks, Lori

When we went to Annecy we flew into Geneva....maybe 20-30 minute drive.

The potential of what "weather" is on any given week is essentially a crapshoot. I just spent 2 weeks in Paris at what is considered the worst time of year, February. We had at least 5 days of absolutely stunningly, beautiful weather and essentially only one bad weather day.

dave