We are planning a 3 week (+2 travel days) trip to France in July 2005. Two musts are Paris (1 week) and Normandy (My father landed there in '44).

Initially, we were planning to go to Provence, Normandy and Paris in that order. We are starting to think this is too much driving.

Questions:

*How many days are necessary to see Normandy?
*Where else we should go that does not have us driving all over the country?
*How much time should we be spending in each location?


We enjoy scenery, history, and wine. We enjoy good food, but it is not a major priority.

Thanks for any help you can give.

You could easily go to Brittany and/or the Loire without driving so much. France is the size of Texas basically. So what your original plan has you doing is driving from the "panhandle down to the valley". That really is quite a bit of driving, although it certainly is doable. I would spend a week in Paris for sure. Then possibly 4-5 days in Normandy, 3-4 in Brittany, and possibly 3-4 in the Loire. Then you will have covered a lot of territory, but seen 4 distinct areas of France. In the other hand, to confuse you, you could always take the train from Paris to Provence!

Wren, thanks for your response. It sounds good to me, but my husband just told me he does not want to be on the move too often. He would prefer to keep our itinerary to three places...Paris, Normandy and another.

Which location, the Loire or Brittany, has enough attractions to keep us "touring" for a week or more?

Opinions please...

Thanks!

Have you read some guide books on the Loire or Brittany? What are your interests? What types of things do you like to do and see when traveling? I think you might get a little more help if we knew what your likes and dislikes are. I have been to both and I feel both the Loire and Brittany could keep you busy with more than enough to do.

The Loire! The Loire! I loved the Loire. It's fairy tale country.

I wouldn't worry too much about too much driving, except that you should plan your itinerary so you are not driving too long at a stretch.

I'd want at least two full days for D-Day invasion stuff. We spent a long day at the Normandy beaches, and it wasn't nearly enough.

I loved our itinerary, though we had only twelve days! We landed in Paris, stayed overnight, and took the train to Rouen, where we picked up our rental car and drove on to Honfleur, via the Route of the Abbeys. Wonderful drive!

Then we drove down the coast through Trouville and Deauville, where it would have been fun to spend a night, and on to Bayeaux. We visited the marvelous WWII museum at Caen, the museum at Bayeaux, and saw the Bayeaux tapestry. No time to go to St. Mere Eglise, which I was sorry about.

Then we made the beautiful drive through Falaise, where there was a WWII museum we weren't able to find in the time we had.

The chateaux in the Loire are just unforgettable.

We spent our last three or four days in Paris. It was just an unforgetable trip and, being my first trip to Europe, kindled a zest for travel that has just grown in the intervening years.

Recommended reading for the D-Day leg: Stephen Ambrose book on the D-Day invasion. I wish I could be with you and hear your father's recollections when he visits that incredible place.

We spent a week in Paris and nearly a week in Bayeux doing the Normandy tours. You can easily spend a week there: Mont St Michel, Bayeux Cathedral and Tapestry, a guided tour of the beaches can be one or two days alone - another day at the Peace Memorial in Caen and did I mention the numerous musuems the various villages? For the third week, you could head north along the coast to Honfleur, etc. We drove but trains are fairly convenient.

I don't see any problem with your original plan. Fly to Paris and spend a week there. Get on the TGV, preferably with those cheap PREM fares, and go to Avignon and pick up a car there and spend a week in Provence. Take the TGV back to Paris, drop off the car, and head out by train again to Bayeux or Caen, pick up another car and drive Normandy for a week (yes, you'll need a week to explore even just the basic sights there). This is not too much driving. Yes, it involves two car rentals, but that's not a big deal.

Personally i think a week might be too long if you limit yourselves to the D day sights. Bayeux is great.
Your interests include, history, scenery and wine..with that list you can include ANY part of France. Decide which areas might be of most interest. You don't need a car in Paris. You can take a train to a second location. The TGV to Provence is fantastic and I believe that area fits all your interests. Actually, like the other posters have noted, other areas of France are likely equally as viable...you will need to decide which areas are of interest. With the fantastic trains available don't be put off by distances. Just take the train and rent a car when you arrive. enjoy.

We flew into Paris and immediately took a train to Caen (many prefer Bayeux as more scenic; Caen has, I think, more WWII related sites). We spent 4 days in Caen; one day we hired a taxi to visit all the WWII sites I had selected; there are also organized tours, but I wanted my independence). We then took a train back to Paris and spent two weeks, all without a car. From Paris, you can use trains for day trips to many interesting places, again all without a car.

I felt our 4 days in Normandy was good to see the WWII sites and a few museums; another day would have been nice, but two more would have been too much.

Two weeks was not enough to see everything we wanted in Paris; we got to Versailles and Giverny, but not to Chartres and some other places we wanted to see, but we did spend an abnormal amount of time in the many art museums, which were the focus of our trip.

I like to avoid driving in Europe, unless we are intent on going out into the countryside. I feel I am able to see more, and relax, on their excellent public transportation, than worrying about traffic and signs.

Enjoy your trip. The invasion sites are well kept and memorable, even to those of us too young to have remembered the war.

Walkteach:
From personal experience, I would say DO NOT take Provence off your list. When we were planning our trip, we finally dropped Provence because we could see so many more districts. We have sadly come to regret that decision.

You are both wise in wishing to avoid long drives between regions. As such, here's what I would suggest--it's very similar to StCirq's:

Paris - 7 nights

Take TGV to Avignon, rent car, and tour
Provence - 6 nights.

Turn in car at Avignon and take the train to Caen. You can leave around 9am and be in Caen at 3. Rent car in Caen.
Normandy - 5 nights.

Turn in car, return to
Paris - 3 nights.

We returned to Paris for 2 nights after touring the countryside and we were so very glad we did. It felt good coming back to a city we were now familiar with. It also made for many good conversations "out in the country", what with so many people wanting to share their knowledge of Paris restaurants, shops, etc. One grand old lady ("the Duchess&quot even offered that we could stay in her apartment in the banlieu! But we wanted to be in the city, so we graciously declined.

We booked 2 different hotels in Paris. The first week we were smack in the middle of St. Germain. Upon returning to Paris we stayed in the center, right at the iles and Notre Dame. Our 2nd hotel was kind enough to let us store extra bags there while we were out in the country. All in all, we were very happy with "tasting" two distinct sections of Paris.

I seem to recall there was a program called "rail and drive" or something like that. With this kind of itinerary you may want to check that out.

Whatever you do, it sounds like a lovely trip. Enjoy the planning!
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Footnote: We chose the Loire and Brittany over Provence. We enjoyed both immensely, but wish we'd kept the Provence leg since we don't know when we'll get back.

Thank you for all of your suggestions! They are helping us come closer to a decision about our itinerary. We are leaning toward staying in northeastern France.

We were lucky enough this past summer to have spent almost a month in Italy. This trip included Rome, Positano and two weeks in Tuscany....what a great trip!

I must confess, we traveled with more luggage than most Fodorites, but knew that we had a driver (Rome to Positano) and a rented car (Sorennto to Tuscany), so it was not a problem. We each had a carry-on, regular suitcase and our gadgets: laptop, cameras, GPS, etc...... We believe that this might be difficult on a train from Paris to Provence.

Considering the distance from Paris/Normandy to Provence, our luggage issues using the train, and that Tuscany and Provence seem to have similar characteristics, we are now considering a separate trip to Provence and northern Italy in the future.

Any thoughts on our analysis would be appreciated...thanks.

>>>Paris - 7 nights

Take TGV to Avignon, rent car, and tour
Provence - 6 nights.

Turn in car at Avignon and take the train to Caen. You can leave around 9am and be in Caen at 3. Rent car in Caen.
Normandy - 5 nights.

Turn in car, return to
Paris - 3 nights.<<<

I've done something like this itinerary & it worked out great. We spend 2 months in France each year, and I think that a "taste" of Paris, Provence, and Normandy/Brittany would ensure that you return to France the next year to see more!!!

Other options to JeanneB's plan would be:
1. Fly to CDG & take the TGV from CDG to Avignon (3 hrs - done this many times). Rent a car & explore Provence, which is beautiful in July when the lavender & sunflowers are in bloom.
2. Take TGV back to Paris & visit Paris.
3. Take train to Rouen, rent a car, explore Rouen & Normandy beaches & countryside. Explore Brittany around Mt St Michel, Dinan, St Malo. Stay last night in Rennes (very nice city) & take the early TGV to CDG & fly home (arrives at CDG @10:20).

Personally, I think 1 week would be too much in just Normandy for a first timer - that's why I suggested some time in Brittany. Also, unless you really like chateaux, a week in the Loire would be too much.

I have a 20+ itinerary for visiting Provence, with a "lavender route" described. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.

Stu Dudley
San Mateo (San Francisco), Ca

"Staying north" certainly simplifies a lot of things.

Are you trying to avoid trains entirely? You could pick up the car at Orly (cab/shuttle) or Chartres (train). Drive down to the Loire for a few nights. Then on to east Brittany and Normandy. Drop the car at Caen or Rouen...or back in Paris if you want to avoid trains.

You could easily do this "tour" in 11 or 12 nights.