Itinerary Paris/Provence - please provide thoughts
 

We will be taking our girls to France for 10 days this summer. I'd love your ideas on our draft itinerary!

This is flexible; we sometimes change plans on the go, especially when the girls are with us, or trade one day's plan out for another.

In Paris, we are staying in a hotel next to Luxembourg Gardens so will wander through and enjoy them at some point.

Day 1, Sunday - Arrive Paris.
Check in at hotel. Lunch.
Hop on/hop off yellow bus tour
Can't read my husband's notes on what we're doing next. :) But then, I assume, dinner and bed.

Day 2, Monday
Louvre early.
Ile de la Cite; Berthillon for ice cream
River cruise
Eiffel Tower picnic

Day 3, Tuesday
RER to Versailles

Day 4, Wednesday
Musee D'Orsay
Notre Dame
Ile St. Louis

Day 5, Thursday
Husband and kids do the Catacombs; I go to l'Orangerie
Walking tour of Montmartre or the Marais

Day 6, Friday
TGV to Avignon; pick up rental car; drive to Roussillon; dinner and walk about town

Day 7, Saturday
One kid and I will go truffle hunting while my husband and other kid are going to investigate Roussillon further (since I'll have the car).

Day 7, Sunday
Market at Isle sur la Sorgue - seems to be my main opportunity to pick up souvenirs for friends; my husband is not a big shopper
Possibly stay all day and have dinner there per a friend's recomm. Or perhaps go to Pont du Gard and then return for dinner.

Monday
Visit hill towns on the way to Cereste for ice cream at Scaramouche.

Tuesday
Back to Paris

Wed
fly home

Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

I recommend against the HOHO bus tour. You'll spend your time stuck in traffic and you just drive by iconic places. You are better off, IMO, to choose areas to walk in (as you have on the other days), as there is always something to see/do/experience.

Looks like a good pace to me.

Just a few thoughts:

Paris for 3 1/2 days

I would do Notre Dame, Ile de la Cite and Ile St Louis on the same day. Less walking. Maybe La Chapelle also.

Are your kids (and you) going to enjoy two huge museums - plus Versailles???

You have a lot of "inside" stuff planned. Versailles, Catacombs, Louvre, Orsay, Orangerie, Notre Dame. Are you sure you want to spend that much time inside instead of wandering the Quays, Luxembourg Gardens, poking around St Germain des Pres/St Sulpice area.

Provence for 3 1/2 days

We've visited the Isle sur la Sorgue market perhaps 10-12 times - almost always in June (we shop for food there). It's shoulder-to-shoulder people by 10:30 - and we always leave by then. Friends have stayed longer and complained about it the next day. If you'll be there in July or August - I hope you really love huge crowds if you stay the day.

Truffles in summer? I always thought the Provence truffles were a spring thing??? Where did you get info about a truffle hunt in summer?

You are going to drive 80 mins RT to get ice cream?? The drive there is OK - but there are many drives that are much more scenic. Just visiting the hill towns and beautiful countryside in the Luberon is an all-day event.

Roussillon is only a 1 to 1 1/2 hr visit MAX. It's not an all day event.

Stu Dudley

We always like to go to our furthest destination first. I'd start out in Provence and have all of your Paris time after that. It saves having to waste a day traveling back to Paris, checking into hotel again, and flying out the next day.

I think it's a good itinerary. I stayed in Roussillon once for several days, as a base. You can spend more than one hour there. It sounds like you are staying there, anyway, so you'll have time to see things the day you arrive, you don't need another day for that. It's a good place to stay as it's pretty central for touring in that area, but it's not as crazy as places like Gordes (meaning full of tourists and that you can't even drive into it).

Now I am not a big Isle-sur-la-Sorgue fan at all, but I have zero interest in antiques (especially on vacation) which some people seem to mention as a reason to go there. I have been to that market a couple times and it is so crowded you can barely move in spots, and you may not get a parking spot within 1 km of town. I know I couldn't, I had to walk probably at least 2 km from where I could park. I didn't get there at the crack of dawn, though. I cannot comprehend spending all day there myself, not sure what you will be doing. There are no sights of any interest in the town (even Roussillon has more). YOu could spend a half day there if you like shopping, and take a break, have lunch, whatever. So your idea of leaving and going to see Pont du Gard sounds good to me.

You need something to do Saturday, take advantage of it to see something else in the area, like Abbaye de Senanque http://www.abbayedesenanque.com/

or visit Apt, in fact, they have a very good market that is on Saturday (I prefer it to Isle sur la Sorgue). I did also have to park a bit aways from center of town for that one, these places are small and the markets are very popular. But that one isn't quite as jam-packed as Isle-sur-la-Sorgue which seems to be the one people know most. I mean, you could move. You could do both on Saturday (Apt market and Abbaye), easily. That sounds good to me, actually. here is some info on Apt
http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/markets/offer-18-1.html

http://www.luberon-apt.fr/index.php/...ir/les-marches

Please keep the answers coming. This is all helpful! And yes, in Provence, we will be renting a house in Roussillon.

Do you have my 31 page Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary???? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. We've vacationed for over 20 weeks in Provence & 20 on the Cote. The itinerary describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, markets, restaurants, etc. We spent 2 weeks in the Luberon in Goult last year. If you would like a copy of the itinerary, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we leave for France later next week.

Stu Dudley

Also, prayers or knocking on wood for us may be in order - we booked the house through TripAdvisor and it has only one review! Yes, this is insanity, but we had to reserve on fairly short notice, so there wasn't much left that met our needs. Worst case, if we arrive and "there's no there there," I suppose we could try to determine how to search for any hotels or gites that have had a cancellation. The house is here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationR..._Provence.html

Go to the Tourist Information in Roussillon if you need help.

Stu Dudley

Kathie, your point is well understood; thank you. The thing is, I am grateful to my father and stepmom, both avid travelers, who insisted and purchased the tickets for us. Also, when we arrive, the kids will be tired and jet lagged, so just being driven around without having to do anything is about their speed for that day.

Stu, yes, I have your guide. Thank you! It has fascinating discussions, touched on some towns in the area, and gave practical advice (see my other thread today - I purchased a map you recommended). Although I have a slightly bad back, my kids are energetic, so we are focused on activities: walking a market; checking out the ochre mines; hiking around ruins; etc. I did consider the Abbaye, although am not sure if the family would enjoy driving to look at lavender as much as I would- perhaps we shall see. Maybe if I portray it as an opportunity to film the fields, they can think of it as an activity.

Thank you for the info about truffle season - I may have to cancel that. : ( So sad.

Judy, our reservations are all made, so Paris first it must be. Next time!

Christina, I will think about that. My husband has a friend who liked l'Isle sur Sorgue, and I have a friend who enjoyed a marvelous dinner with view there. The truffle hunt is Saturday morning. If we cancel that, that day frees up to attend a Saturday market such as Apt. Other Saturday markets I'm told include Pertuis, Cadenet, Pierrerue, and Lauris. Thoughts on whether Apt trumps those would be great. My goal is not just to stock our fridge for a few days but also to find gifts for friends - soaps, herbs, salts, napkins, olivewood spoons, or whatever the market will bear. No need for antiques.

We intend to visit Cereste because I have read Elizabeth Bard's books (Lunch in Paris; Picnic in Provence) and enjoyed them immensely. My girls and I also had fun making her recipes (and her husband's yogurt cake). This is a pilgrimage to their ice cream parlor. I did map it and appreciate that it is a long drive, and they themselves probably won't be there, but we will survive. It's a goal.

I think the Pont du Gard would be a great addition to your trip. I've been there several times and it always amazes me.

You are going to Versailles one day. You might want to look at Blue Bike Versailles tour. Riding a bike is a great way to see the Grand and Petit Trianons as well as Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. And you ride through the forests. You also get yo skip the line for the chateau entrance with Blue Bike.

I think your agenda sounds good!

You are 15 mins from the Saturday Apt market. It is one of our 4 favorite markets in Provence. Why go elsewhere???

Stu Dudley

Stu, where in France are you headed this year? We ultimately decided to spend the week in Paris when we go this fall.

June/July trip - 2 weeks near Carcassonne, 2 weeks in the Gorges du Tarn

Sept/Oct trip - 3 nights near Epernay, 2 weeks in Lorraine/Nancy & 2 weeks in Paris.

Stu Dudley

Thanks, Stu; that fact (one of your four favorite markets in Provence) is helpful.

Powhatangal, I'd considered bike tours, but my bad back makes long rides problematic. We do have a pass that will enable us to skip the lines. Thank you for your thoughts and recomm of Pont du Gard!