cybertraveler

Hello Fellow Travelers,

I posted a thread a while back asking for help with a trip to France for 29 days. I received wonderful suggestions, and I wanted to post back with the itinerary we came up with. We’re leaving very soon, so we’re pretty set with our plans at this point. I’m posting in hope that all my research can help others planning a similar trip, and if anyone has any refinements to suggest, we’re always grateful for help.

Here’s our itinerary:

Days 1-5: Fly into Paris. Stay 5 nights at Relais Saint-Gemain hotel in the 6th arrondissement . http://www.hotelrsg.com
We’ve been to Paris before, and seen many of the museums and sights. This time, we’re going to try to relax and just “be” in Paris. We might like to do a half-day trip to Giverny on Sunday, since many things are closed on Sundays.

Day 5: Pick up rental car at Hertz at Montparnasse, then drive to Honfleur, with a possible brief stop in Rouen to see the cathedral and Joan of Arc sites. Stay in Honfleur 1 night at La Maison de Lucie www.lamaisondelucie.com

Day 6-8: Visit Honfleur in the morning (St. Catherine church, old town), then drive to visit Arromanches on the way to Bayeux. Stay in Bayeux 2 nights at the Villa Lara Hotel http://www.hotel-villalara.com
Day 7: Visit the Bayeux Tapestry in the morning, then possibly drive to Pointe du Hoc for a quick visit before continuing to the American Cemetery and Memorial.
Day 8 (morning) Visit Utah Beach Musee Du Debarquement. We are not sure what to do with our bags at that time. We may ask the hotel in Bayeux to keep them, and just go back for them. Then we will drive to Mont-Saint-Michel.

Day 8: Stay one night in Mont Saint-Michel at La Vieille Auberge http://www.lavieilleauberge-montsaintmichel.com
We’ll walk around town when we arrive and enjoy High Tide, which begins at 8:10pm. Here’s a handy site that gives tide information, which is very important to know: http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en...tembre2016.htm
Day 9 (morning): Visit Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel as soon as it opens (and hopefully beat the hordes of tourists). Then, leave the island, and drive to Angers to see the Tapestry of the Apocalypse on our way to Amboise.

Days 9-11: Stay in Amboise 3 nights at Le Pavillon des Lys http://www.pavillondeslys.com/english/index.php
Day 10: Visit Chateau de Chenonceau in the morning, then drive to Chateau Chaumont and the International Garden Festival. We’ll have lunch there, then drive to see the Jardins de Villandry in the late afternoon if we still want to see more gardens.
Day 11: Visit Chateau de Chambord in the morning. Then drive to Chateau de Cheverny to see the Chateau and Gardens with the ride on the electric boats and car. Day 12: Drive to Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud before heading to Sarlat. We know this is not truly on the way to Sarlat, but as a longtime admirer of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Plantagenet fan, I didn’t want to miss seeing this place when we’re “in the neighborhood”. It will be a 4-1/2 hour drive from there to Sarlat; hopefully it’s pretty.

Days 12-16: Stay in Sarlat 5 nights at La Lanternes Chambres d’hotes http://www.sarlat.biz/the_guests.html
There are so many places to visit in this area that it took a lot of research and route plotting on Google Maps. We came up with this plan, but it might not all work out, or we may rearrange based on the weather.

Day 13: Visit Rouge Gageac and take a boat trip on Les Gabares Norbert. http://www.gabarres.com/?lang=en We haven’t booked this yet, but we hope to get on the first ride of the day.
After the boat trip, we’ll visit Chateau de Beynac to see Richard the Lionheart’s castle (another Plantagenet!!). Then we’ll visit Chateau de Castelnaud. So convenient that these are all so close to each other!

Day 14: Drive to Perigueux in the morning to visit the market, and buy lunch for a picnic later (or in the car). Then visit Chateau de Hautefort. If we’re still feeling energetic, we might pass through Montignac for a brief stop on the way back to Sarlat.

Day 15: Bastide Towns day! Drive to Monflanquin in the morning, leaving early to visit the market. Then drive to Monpazier (30 minutes) to visit for a couple of hours. From there, we hope to drive to Issegiac (25 minutes) for a short visit before returning to Sarlat.

Day 16: Balloon day (?) Maybe…DH is all for this, but I’m being somewhat uncharacteristically hesitant. The balloons looked very appealing, until I saw some photos posted by tourists from their rides. I was astounded that they seemed to be as high as an airplane! Not sure how much I’d enjoy being in a basket that high…but maybe…Here’s the link: http://www.montgolfiere-du-perigord.com/#_=_
After the balloon ride, we’ll drive to Domme and finish with a visit to the Jardins de Marqueyssac. http://marqueyssac.com (or do this the next day)

Day 17 (morning): visit the Sarlat market before leaving town. Then visit the Jardins de Marqueyssac if we didn’t make it yesterday. We’ll then drive to Collonges-la-Rouge and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne en route to Rocamadour. Again, we’ll have the issue of leaving our bags in the car, but we can’t see another option.

Days 17-19: Stay in Rocamadour at Best Western Beau Site http://www.bestwestern-beausite.com/

Day 18: Sunday: not sure what to do that day. We need to research to find out what to do. If anyone has any suggestions, we’d be grateful. We may actually do the balloon ride that day.

Day 19: Visit Conques in the morning, then drive to Figeac. These look like lovely towns, and we’ll just wander and enjoy.

Day 20 (morning): drive to St Cirq-Lapopie and visit, then continue on to Toulouse. We are a little concerned about getting to our hotel in Toulouse, and driving through the city, but hopeful that it can be done with the help of our TomTom and patience on the part of the other drivers!

Days 20-22: Stay in Toulouse 2 nights at Hotel Albert 1er http://www.hotel-albert1.com/

Day 21: visit the different areas of Toulouse.

Day 22 (morning): visit Cordes-sur-Ciel, then on to Albi for a few hours before continuing on to Chateau de la Caze in the Gorges du Tarn (2 ½ hr drive)

Day 22: stay 1 night in Chateau de la Caze http://chateaudelacaze.com
This looks truly magical! What a lovely stopover spot!

Days 23-25: after a leisurely morning in the castle, we’ll drive to Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Stay 2 nights in St Remy at Le Mas des Carassins http://www.masdescarassins.com/

Days 25-28: Stay 4 nights in Nice at Hotel Le Suisse http://www.hotel-nice-suisse.com/fr/ While in Nice, we may take the tourist train to other towns. In this case, we might return our car early.

Day 29: fly home from Nice

So, this took many delightful hours of planning, but it’s our first trip alone in a long time. We’ll be dropping off our sons at college, and will be Empty Nesters, so it seemed like a good time to spread our wings!

StCirq

Sounds like some awesome research went into this, but:

Honfleur: no Musée Eugène Boudin?

Amboise: no château d'Amboise? No Clos Lucé?

Now, to the Périgord:

<< So convenient that these are all so close to each other!>>

Funny how that worked out. I hope you've read your history.

The old quarter of Périgueux is well worth some time. On the other hand, the Château d'Hautefort is quite a haul to see similar things you could see much closer by. Like the Château de Biron. But maybe you're a Drew Barrymore fan.

Your choice of bastide towns, apart from Monpazier (which is marvelous), is a bit odd, and you're going way more miles to see them than you need to. I'd visit Molières and Beaumont-du-Périgord (which also has a menhir or a dolmen, I forget which) and Lalinde and Domme, which are much closer and, well, they are all in a way, the same, as they were supposed to be. A whole day of bastides would be tiring to me. And Issigeac is a big meh IMO, though if you don't mind insane crowds the Sunday market can be interesting. Otherwise, it's mostly elderly British pensioners.

No prehistoric sites? None?

The Montgolfières du Périgord go over our house sometimes. In fact, one made an emergency landing in a farmer's field right up the road from us a couple of weeks ago. They are pretty, but no way I would pay 300 € to do that. YMMV. But surely you wouldn't travel all the way back from Rocamadour to do the montgolfières!

Near Rocamadour there are also the Gouffre de Padirac and Martel, the ville des sept tours. Both worth a stop.

Don't mean to put a damper on your plans, but there are some things that can be improved, IMO.

I'm surprised Pech-Merle isn't on your route, especially as you don't seem to be planning to visit any caves in the Périgord. If you have a free day, use it for that. It's far more interesting than St-Cirq-Lapopie

RonZ

I went to viamichelin checking the route from Toulouse to St Enimie [and yes the hotel is very nice and the drive through the gorge spectacular]. They estimate the quickest route at 4:38. However here is what's significant: out out of 265 kms, 204 are on secondary roads, where due to slow traffic time estimates can go right out the window. That's one reason why personally I would cut back on Toulouse in favor of Albi, staying at the Hostellerie San Antoine.

Michael

<i>Then visit Chateau de Hautefort. If we’re still feeling energetic, we might pass through Montignac for a brief stop on the way back to Sarlat.</i>

That's automatic. D704 goes through Montignac as a one-way street. Don't miss the medical museum in Hautefort.

aliced

Sounds pretty fabulous! We had 28 days last September, but as it was our 6th trip to France, after Paris, we went to Limoges, Bordeaux, Sarlat, Rocamadour, Albi, Toulouse & St. Remy. We had 5 nights in Sarlat and felt this was a perfect amount of time; we then headed east to Rocamadour which we loved and we stayed at Grand Pelerins, where Madame Helene was born and who still runs the place; antiques in her dining room are worth a look and a meal, the name means "Grand Staircase" and that's where it is at the bottom of to upper parts of town. There are not many restaurants in Rocamadour once all the tour buses leave, so do consider this option. From Rocamadour we explored villages to the east (Autoir, Loubressac) then went to Figeac and on to St. Cirq Lapopie and to Albi for the night. That was one long day, but Albi was worth it. I presume you have checked on the closing day of the Lautrec Musee which is worth a few hours; the cathedral there is mind boggling. In Lautrec we stayed within the "golden triangle" and it was perfectly convenient. Do dine at Chez Emile for the ancient recipe of their cassoulet, and leave a bit of room for the Grand Marnier souffle. If you have time, a ride on the Canal du Midi was one thing we really missed doing. Instead, we lunched at Carcassonne on route to St. Remy. A couple hours at Carcassonne will suffice, and then the drive on the A road to St. Remy will get you there well before dark. We stayed at LeSoleil, opposite the Tourist Center and couple doors from LeSouleiado (yes, I am a shopper and can't find much of their stuff in NYC/USA anymore). We had considered staying at Avignon or Arles, but St. Remy is conveniently set between both of them. Do not miss Pont du Gard to the west of Avignon. Loved Arles too. Did Riviera on a previous trip where we stayed in Nice at La Perouse on the east end on the Sea practically in Villefranche-sur-Mer. Do go to Monte Carlo via the corniche and stop in Ezes, breathtaking.

Michael

You could by-pass Montignac and take a road to Coly in le Condat and visit St Amand de Coly. Saint Geniès, right off D704, a little farther south, is also worth a stop.

StCirq

<<we stayed at Grand Pelerins, where Madame Helene was born and who still runs the place; antiques in her dining room are worth a look and a meal, the name means "Grand Staircase">>

Nice write-up, Alice, but what means "Grand Staircase?" Rocamadour? No, it means the rock of St-Amadour. "Grands Pèlerins?" No, that means great (big) pilgrims. So what means grand staircase?

StCirq

Sorry, should have read pèlerins.

And yes, St-Géniès is a gem.

Michael

Going crazy with accents? Is it to contradict the Académie française's recent ruling that unnecessary accents can be omitted?

It's <i>pélerin</i> with an <i>accent aigu</i>

<i>Saint-Geniès est une commune française</i> (from Wikipédia)

note the spelling of St Geniès

RonZ

Thank you Michaél.

aliced

Why dont you tell us St. Cirq since you love to critique! The hotel is named Terminus des Pelerins at the bottom of the Grand Escalier to upper levels. You know that even though you dont like Rocamadour as I recall. Or, wait, it's for "tourists." Hmm, I'd say they are. Is your comment helpful to Cybertraveler? Of course not.

Cybertraveler, must disagree with RonZ above as to staying in Albi longer than in Toulouse -- no comparison IMHO. But let the guides be your guide, and Cadogan "Dordogne, Lot & Bordeaux" is a gem.

cybertraveler

Thank you everyone for all of the great tips.

StCirq, it's always good to hear from you, and the information on Bastide towns is helpful. We chose them based on various sources. Stu Dudley recommended Monflanquin in his itinerary, and he mentioned the Bastide museum there as a good starting point for visiting the towns. Before researching this trip, I'd never heard of the Bastide towns. I will look into the towns you suggested and see if they might be a better choice for us.

About the prehistoric sites, I agree that it seems strange, but we don't like cold, dark places underground. (We actually turned around and climbed back up halfway down a cave in Bermuda once!)... Also, we're a bit claustrophobic: especially DH. We've been in the Atlantis submarines in the Caribbean a couple of times and enjoyed that until rough seas kept us down an extra 45 minutes...so there is some rationale for the phobia, I guess...

Still, I'm considering visiting the Lascaux cave site anyway by myself while he waits at a cafe nearby...if it fits in our schedule!

Honfleur: I will definitely look into Musée Eugène Boudin. Thanks!

(And I am a history buff, so I'm very excited to see the rival castles! However, not so much a fan of Drew Barrymore, and didn't even know there was a connection between her and the area.)

Your point of view on the balloons is good to note. DH is the one more sold on doing that. Maybe I'll wait at a cafe!


RonZ, thank you for the information on the road to Chateau de la Caze. We'll get an earlier start from Albi just in case we get stuck in traffic. At this point, it's too late to start changing hotels, though. I'll keep that recommendation for the next time!

Michael, glad to hear we can't miss on Montignac if we take the direct route. I think by then, DH will be wanting to cut back on the drive time. I'll be sure to visit the medical museum, too.

aliced, it sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I'm glad you mentioned the Lautrec Musee. I had come across that in my research, but forgot to include it in my plans. We have also stayed in St Remy before and visited Pont du Gard and many of the hill towns nearby. We have also visited Nice, but in the past, we stayed at Le Hameau, which is about 20 minutes up the hill in St Paul de Vence: highly recommended! This time, we wanted to be near the water. We visited Monte Carlo and Eze by car on a previous trip. I agree that they are not to be missed! As a fellow shopper, I am also looking forward to those beautiful items in LeSouleiado. St Remy is one of our favorite places. I will look into your other suggestions, too.

Thanks again for all of your help. Fodorites have helped me plan so many great trips, and I'm always amazed at the amount of knowledge so generously shared here!

Cathinjoetown

I think you will like the Hotel Albert 1er, excellent location, just off Place du Capitole. They did a major rennovation about 5-6 years ago.

Parking and driving in Toulouse can be a little problematic, the hotel is on a narrow side street, very little on-street parking.

Check with the hotel, they will probably recommend parking under the Place du Capitole or at Place Jeanne d'Arc. While farther away, Place Jeanne d'arc is not a bad walk and much easier to get in and out of than Capitole. I remember the hotel sent us to Jeanne d'arc, possibly we got a discount on overnight parking, this was about 8 years ago. It is fairly easy to get off and on to the péripherique from there.

Your entire trip sounds great. Amboise is our favorite stop in the Loire.

cybertraveler

Cathinjoetown, thank you for that information on Toulouse parking for the hotel. We'll definitely contact them, and it's good to know which is easier to access. I have already added it to my notes on Tripit.

BTW, for those of you who might not be familiar with Tripit.com, it is a fantastic way to keep all of these details organized online. They have an app, which allows you to access all of your information anywhere (even offline). I've used it for years, and highly recommend it. Much better than toting around a lot of paperwork!

denisea

Sounds wonderful. Your hotel is at our favorite little corner in Paris...love the area and I do love Chenonceau!

Enjoy your trip.

kja

Should be a great trip! Just a couple of comments:

After your visit to the Tapestry of the Apocalypse (awesome!), try to make it to the Museum Jean Lurcat. I regret that I got there JUST too late to visit it, but enjoyed the garden and the walk along the river very much.

You probably already klnow that the the gardens of Villandry are generally open much later than other places in the area, so if you find that you have the energy, you might be able to include them.

The Abbaye Royale de Frontevraud is well worth seeing, IMO, and you probably know that you can even spend the night there?

For your time in the area around Sarlat – no time for any of the caves with prehistoric art? Your call, and with a bit of claustrophobia, could make sense (except that the best way to beat a phobia is to face it. ;-) Just a thought). They were a highlight for me.

For your time in Rocamadour, have you considered the Gouffre de Padirac?
http://www.gouffre-de-padirac.com

I gave Toulouse only 1.5 days, and deeply regret shortchanging it. I could easily have used 2.5 or even 3 days just for this delightful city, not counting Alib (which I happily gave a full day) or anywhere else in the area.

Hope that helps!

StCirq

cybertraveler, not all the caves are "underground." Some require a fairly steep ascent to reach the entrance, but then, yes, you are in a dark, enclosed space. Lascaux II requires a bit of a descent, but it's designed to be very visitor-friendly.

The Gouffre de Padirac, which both kja and I mentioned, however, is VERY much underground. You might not like it.

I agree that the Musée Jean Lurçat is incredible, especially after you have seen the original Apocalypse tapestries.

aliced, if you had mentioned the Grand Escalier, which you didn't, it might have made sense.

Cathinjoetown

Forgot to mention how much I like your Paris hotel, I used to stay there often when in Paris on business. Now it's a bit over budget. By staying in the hotel you probably know you are first in line for the Comptoir. Les Editeurs across the street is also quite good.

In Toulouse, Le Bibent on the Place du Capitole is fun, a Christian Constant restaurant. The original features of the room have been retained, it was a famous literary café dating back to 1800s. The river/canal tour is an interesting two hours. It took years but now the major shopping street, rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, is a great pedestrian street, the little streets off it have some interesting shops and boutiques.

cybertraveler

Thanks everyone for all of your great comments.

denisea, it's good to hear that the hotel in Paris is a great location. We've never stayed in this area before, but I think we'll enjoy it.

kja, I was not aware of Musee Jean-Lurcat. I have added that to our itinerary; it looks like a wonderful add-on after the Apocalypse tapestry. Also glad to hear that you felt the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud was worthwhile. DH is on-board with that, but good to let him know! I think DH is completely against the Guiffre de Padirac, but I'm leaning towards trying to get to Lascaux ll (thanks St Cirq, too)

Cathinjoetown, we have our reservations all set for the Comptoir, and Les Editors! I appreciate the suggestions for Toulouse. That's probably the least-researched part of the trip.

I have one more question for anyone: since Sundays must occur in any long trip, it can be challenging to find a good way to fill them. We'll be in Rocamadour on a Sunday, and have no idea what to do that day.

Would anyone recommend returning to Rouge Gageac for a balloon ride, weather permitting? According to Google Maps, it's about a 1 hour drive from Rocamadour. So, it would be nicer to find something near Rocamadour if possible. Thanks!

cybertraveler

Popping back in again to thank Cathinjoetown for the recommendation of Le Bibent: just made a reservation online. It looks fantastic! Also added rue d'Alsace-Lorraine to our walking itinerary for a little shopping.