Hi - We have the last week of August and the first week of September for vacation. One idea my husband and I have is to spend the last week of August hiking around the French Alps and then the first week in September pootling around Provence/Cote d'Azur. We are coming from London. Should we fly into Lyons and out of Nice? Into Geneva and out of Marseille? Any good ideas for a base(s) in the Alps? Annecy sounds lovely, but seems far from Provence. What about Briancon? We want to stay somewhere lovely and not too built up with ugly concrete ski hotels... Provence we want to go to some village perches, Orange, Arles, Nimes, and a couple of days on the coast somewhere for a dip in the Med. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Briancon is a wonderful town, with a medieval walled area that is just charming. I was only there in ski season, stayed at Auberge du Mont Prorel; it has since changed owners, but I would hope that it is still the same friendly place. Briancon is not a purpose-built concrete monolith type of area; it is traditional. I imagine it is just as wonderful in the summer as in the winter. We flew into Milan on Delta and had a private transport in a mini van, b/c there were 5 of us, 3 with ski equipment.

Thanks Sue. Do you or anyone else know how long it would take to drive from Annecy to Briancon? I'm now thinking to spend two-three days in each. Has anyone else spent any time in the French Alps in the summer - looking for other recommendations...

mappy.com says Annecy and Briancon are 237 k (~147 mi) apart but estimates driving time to be around 3hr.45 min. <BR><BR>To learn more about Briancon, go to www.briancon.com; it's a lovely area with very friendly people.

For more info, check out http://serre-chevalier.net/sun-ros-bif<BR><BR>The auberge was owned by a French family when we were there in 3/'00, but have heard that it was bought by an English group since then; have not heard any reports since that has happened. It was a great location for skiing; the lift was literally across the little street. Guisane river flows directly behind the auberge, also. Good for kayaking, etc.<BR>

Chambery is a very nice spot. It has the advantage over Briancon of giving easy access to a couple of interesting areas like the Grand Chartreuse National Park and the lakes at Annecy, Aix-les-Bains and Aiguebelette. Briancon tends to be rather cut off from other places of interest. <BR><BR>If you should choose to go to Chambery don't miss a visit to the Carthusian monastery at St Pierre d'Entremont and to the cellars where the world-famous liqueur Grande Chartreuse is made, at Voiron. I did this trip just three weeks ago and it was a real highlight of my time in France.<BR><BR>Harzer

Thank you for your suggestions... what about Chamonix in the summer rather than or in addition to Annecy? And has anyone been to Evian?

Have been scouring this site and looking at some other ideas too... any comments on staying in Talloires rather than Annecy? What about a visit to Bonneval d'Arc - looks amazing... Also, has anyone out there spent any time in Vence?

Chamonix and Annecy are pretty different in the summer. In Chamonix, the days will still be mostly cool. In Annecy, it's more like real summer, and the walkways along the lake and canals are very pretty. In spite of that, given my choice, I'd stay in Chamonix. I love the ambience and the fantastic views, with huge mountains surrounding the city in every direction. And there's always a little something going on there---not a big celebration, but something that will catch your interest and be memorable. On one trip, we stopped and listened one evening to a Dixieland jazz group from Switzerland. On another trip, they were celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first climb to the top of Mt. Blanc. On yet another occasion, the senior member of the Perrier family was there to pour Perrier water for all the people who were celebrating an anniversary of the Perrier water---forgot which one.

thanks. They both sound wonderful. Do you think it will be necessary to book hotels in advance in either Annecy or Chamonix? We usually prefer to travel freely and find a place once we get there...