Honeymooners

Old Oct 31st, 2013, 12:55 AM
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Honeymooners

Hi All you awesome people,

Getting married in Feb and tickets have been booked for France. We will be arriving in Paris on 25th Feb and will be coming back on 15th March. We have 18 days with us and we would like to just stick to France and get a good experience.

I have been doing some reading on this forum and also took a look at the itineraries which start at Paris and go down South to Nice. I will be grateful if you guys can help me planning out the itinerary. As of now i have only done reading for things around Paris and we intend to spend 4 - 5 days in Paris.

I also need to know which location would be best suited at that time of year. Looking forward to your reply.
GauravChauhan is offline  
Old Oct 31st, 2013, 01:27 AM
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Welcome to Fodors Gaurav, so I guess you understand the weather issues of a holiday in Feb? The days are getting longer but still short so the darkness falls early. The train system is very good in France so the easiest route to Nice is just catch the train see www.seat61.com for advice.

Given the issues above you may want to focus on cities rather than traipse about in the countryside. You may have an interest in wine in which case (while you can just turn up) most towns in wine areas have people who do half day tours for not too much money which may be fun.

Now I guess we need to know a bit more about you, your interests, architecture, museums, party, food what do you two actually like doing?
bilboburgler is offline  
Old Oct 31st, 2013, 09:14 AM
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18 days is a long time, you can visit several locations, but it's hard to say without knowing what interests you. When you chose France, you must have read about it and certain cities or regions appealed to you, perhaps? February isn't going to be great for countryside, so a lot of things I might be interested in wouldn't appeal to me in that season.

But for a rough possibility, since you say you want to go to Nice and I'm assuming you'll get to various places by train:

Paris 5 days
Dijon 3 days
Lyon 3 days
Marseille 3 days
Nice 4 days

You can get between those by train very easily.
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Old Nov 1st, 2013, 04:16 AM
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Thanks @bilboburgler and @Christina

Thanks for your reply. Yes i understand the issue with sunlight i believe on an average we can expect 11 hours of sunlight and yes it is going to be cold there which is fine with us.

We would like to make this vacation a mix of few things like visit to museums, eat good food, little bit of party, experience the french culture and just have some fun time with locals.

I understand that given this time of year there may not be much to do in country side. Is this because of weather ? or Some other issues. I will be glad if you can expand on that.

Itinerary suggested by Christina is helpful. I just wanted to mention that our flight back home is from Paris so any itinerary which is more like a loop(Paris---Paris) will prove to be really helpful for us.

I am grateful to both of you for replying to my query and helping me in planning our trip.
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Old Nov 1st, 2013, 05:16 AM
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Yes weather and being overcast does not help, and generaly the usual festivals, walking tends to be calmed down. You might find some hunting, riding or good walking while the weather is fine, but once it gets wet most people go indoors, avoid the Mistral which blows down the Rhone, it can be miserable out there. You need to dress for the weather which just adds to your bagage. But for most people canoing, climbing and bike riding gets unpleasant.

Paris 5 days
Dijon 3 days
Lyon 3 days
Marseille 3 days
Nice 4 days looks good, you could blend in some smaller towns Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Auxerre, Beaunne etc
bilboburgler is offline  
Old Nov 1st, 2013, 05:23 AM
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Because it will be winter in the countryside, it will not have the same look as it has in the other seasons. And there is not much to do outside unlike the cities.

I think you would find at least a week's worth of things to do in Paris and visits to 3 or 4 other places can be done in the remaining days before returning to Paris. Going south as Christina suggests is a good idea.

Be sure to use this forum and others and guidebooks to see what cities and towns appeal most. In addition to those suggested by Christina, Avignon can be reached by TGV on your way south.

Enjoy planning and happy honeymoon.
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Old Nov 1st, 2013, 05:25 AM
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Since you arrive and leave out of Paris, one option is to catch a flight directly to Nice upon arrival at CDG. Then spend the rest of the trip working your way north, ending in Paris. This has the advantage of saving a travel day (the day you arrive is sort of a lost day anyway) and also of starting the trip with the more relaxing south of France, assuming you will be tired after wedding and travel. Congratulations and Bon voyage!
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Old Nov 7th, 2013, 12:08 AM
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Thanks everyone. I am doing my research gradually.

I have started reading the "The rough Guide to France". It's a 2007 version and i am not sure if the information would be relevant now.

If anyone has a better suggestion please feel free to suggest.
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Old Nov 8th, 2013, 05:53 AM
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2007 isn't that long ago, most of the information will still be relevant, no doubt. I would re-check information like opening hours and days of some particular attraction. You could supplement that with other information, there is tons of it that is free (such as right on Fodors, or other guidebook websites, and tourism websites). But a book is useful to get a big overview, see maps easily, etc., and plan the basics which aren't going to have changed since 2007.

February is the dead of winter, it isn't just less sunlight or cold, there could be snow in some areas, of course, or ice or frost at least, and there just isn't going to be any vegetation, obviously, that is the big one. Nothing is going to look like much in that regard.
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Old Nov 8th, 2013, 06:25 AM
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Rough Guide is very good and apart from restaurants and hotels will be basically up to date
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Old Nov 8th, 2013, 05:15 PM
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In Feb there will be o flowers, trees will be leafless, grass will be brown and crunchy and the weather is likely to be chilly, gray and rainy some days (also possibly snow). Not good for biking, hiking or sighteeing in the country. Rally a time to stick to the cities - and keep even outdoor activities there for any days that are sunny.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 02:41 PM
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Hi Good Folks,

Our Visa is done and we are in full on planning mode. As suggested earlier we are going to start our trip from Nice. We reach Paris on 25th Feb @13:25 and we are willing to take a flight directly to Nice from CDG.

I was looking at possible options and came up with following :

1. Dep: 15:35 ( Feb 25) Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
Terminal 2 (CDG) AF - 7706

Air France
Duration:1 h : 30 m
Arr: 17:05 ( Feb 25) Nice Cote D'Azur Airport
(NCE)

2. easyJet – Flight 3991
Operated by easyJet 1h 35m
Take-off Tue 18:15 CDG Paris, France
Landing Tue 19:50 NCE Nice, France
Airbus A319 (Narrow-body Jet) | 1h 35m


I was wondering if we can catch the flight at 15:35. Air France at 15:35 leaves from Terminal 2 CDG and our flight at 13:25 arrives at Aerogare 2 Terminal A.

Please suggest.
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Old Jan 21st, 2014, 10:59 PM
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Just to reiterate my question. I just want to confirm if we can make it to Nice flight at 15:35. Do we have to change terminal ? May be go through security check again ?

please confirm
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Old Jan 21st, 2014, 11:19 PM
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It depends a bit on the timliness of the incoming flight. Does the airline have a good record on being on time. The times you offer for the AirFrance flight are border-line ok. Trouble is border-line is just that.

The CDG website shows the positions of the terminals (and the iinterconnections).
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Old Jan 22nd, 2014, 01:13 PM
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YOu haven't said what airline you are flying into CDG on? I imagine it's not AF as you seem to already have your tickets. As they would have transferred your bags for you and you wouldn't have to be worrying about making the flight or not. If you didn't, they'd take care of it.

I'm not positive, but I think if this is 2 separate tickets,you will have to go through security again. Not to mention get your bags, if you've checked them, etc. Saying a flight leaves from terminal 2 doesn't mean much as there are terminals 2A through 2F and some are pretty far apart. But not as bad as a completely different terminal number, of course.

So I"m not positive if you have to go through security, maybe someone else will know. But I think you might. I think I've gone through security there when transferring planes and both flights were AF, actually. They took care of my bags, but I think I had to go through security again.

That AF flight leaves from 2F, I checked. SO you have to get from 2A to 2F. Easyjet flights out of 2D and I suspect is a bit cheaper than the AF flight. Distance isn't too different as 2D is on the opposite side of the terminal from 2A, as is 2F. If walking, 2D is closer. But you can walk between all those in 2.

It's a guess -- you could probably make the AF flight, but you will be out your money if you don't, I'm sure.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2014, 05:45 PM
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If this is not all one ticket and you don;t make the second flight you will be a no show and have to buy a new ticket at the walk up price - if you can find a flight with seats available.

Entering France you will have to deplane, make your way to Immigration (and hope the line isn't long),then find your way to the gate for the next flight going through security again on the way.

That's if you have-on just carry-on luggage - or the first airline will automatically transfer your luggage to the second - you have to check that.

It's not something I would risk at the start of my honeymoon.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2014, 11:55 PM
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Our flight to Paris is operated by "Etihad Airways" and that ends there. It will be landing at "Aerogare 2 Terminal A" I believe that means Terminal 2A


Paris to Nice will be an entirely different booking and you are right if i miss it i will be out of money. What do you suggest ? Which one shall i go for ?
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Old Jan 25th, 2014, 07:13 AM
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I ended up booking "EasyJet" flight which leaves at 18:15. I am sure we will make it and it was coming out cheaper as well.
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Old Jan 25th, 2014, 01:39 PM
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Good decision, EasyJet have tight luggage control, be warned
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