Itinerary help
 

Trying to plan a short notice 9 night trip in France for next month (mid October) flying in & out of CDG. We hope to include Versailles, visit Normandy, some time in a wine region and at least 3 nights in Paris. This is not our first time in France. We have seen several of the highlights in Loire Valley (the major Chateaus) & a brief stop in Epernay. Loved all of it all. Can we squeeze this all in?

we are open to driving & combining with trains….

Can I get some suggestions on what a logical plan/route might be?

Yes, you CAN do it all. Depends on your type of travel. We travel fairly quickly and efficiently, meaning we travel light (carry-on luggage) and we get up early and stay out late. We visited Versailles as a day trip from Paris via train. We also visited Brittany and Normandy by car in four nights. Here is a link to our trip report to show what CAN be done: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...tober-1659892/

We haven't done much of French wine country, but we talk about it lots and then usually end up in Italy. There are a lot of "wine countries" in France. You might consider Sancerre to Nantes. If I were to combine that with our above Normandy trip, I might do Paris first or last, then go to Sancere, work my way over to Nantes, presumably by car. The rest of our Brittany/Normandy trip was from Nantes to Paris. Obviously, there are many other possibilities.

Thank you; I appreciate the input.we travel light and stay on the move as well. Would love to have the luxury to linger longer but unfortunately at this point in life, we are restricted by the confines of vacation time from work! I will check out your ideas!

Just finished reading your trip report; very helpful; I will save it for reference!

If I read this right, you have 9 nights between flights. The first night is after arrival, the last is before departure, so you have 7 full days in between to see things. You want 3 days in Paris, if you include the Versailles day, and you are considering a Normandy Brittany segment of 4 days. That's all the days. Wine country doesn't fit your time line, as you have already done the two closest to your areas (Loire, Champagne). There is, however, a vineyard actually inside Paris: See https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2...dden-vineyards and, if they have it this year and you are lucky in your October dates, there is a harvest festival. The site is in French, but Google will translate: https://www.comitedesfetesdemontmartre.com/

Good luck!