Hi, I’ve just been invited to France for a conference and would like to take some extra time to have a holiday. I don’t know much about France and I’ve only just started researching and it feels overwhelming.

i arrive in Paris on Saturday and have accommodation for the conference in Beauvais until Thursday. I will then be in Paris for two nights for work. My holiday will officially start the following Saturday.

I don’t want to be living out of my suitcase or spending half days travelling day after day, I would prefer to have bases from which to explore and dive into.

We will be there mid July. I am considering 10 days for holidays. We like history, books, art, gardens, old towns, food, nature, churches. Not so interested in wine or war history. Want to do the Eiffel Tower and Mont Saint-Michel. I know it’s summer season but don’t want to be in the south France with the crowds.

I welcome all suggestions thank you

There are four directions you might be interested in

Towards Alsace and Strasbourg, train

Towards Reims and the Champagne area, train

Giverney and the Seine going north (you can do a one day coach tour of Giverney from Paris)

Rouen, Bayeux by train and then a car to MstM.

each has their benefit.

With your interests, you could go almost anywhere. And there are tons of places in the south of France that are off the main tourist path so you would not have to worry about crowds.

The main question is how you plan on getting around. Will you rent a car? That would change what I suggest. My standard advice for two weeks In France is to rent a car, if possible, for at least three days to have the freedom to go wherever you want.

I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower until my 8th trip to France, and even then I wondered what all the fuss was about. I also find it curious that you want to avoid tourists in the south of France but would like to go to Mt St Michel.

As I see it, one very important decision will be how much time you want to spend in Paris. If, for example, you decide to spend 6 days visiting Pairs (not unreasonable for a first visit, IMO) and you want to visit Mont (not Mt) St-Michel, then you basically have time for Rouen or the D-Day beaches or Bayeux.

I think you would do well to consult some decent guidebooks. IMO, the Rough Guide and Michelin Green are among the best for these parts of France.

And FWIW, I love seeing the Eiffel Tower from a distance, or even close up, but am another person who thought going up the tower was a waste of precious time. YMMV.

I am not going to dissuade you from going up Eiffel Tower as I have enjoyed my visits up it. However, as you are going there in July, should the ET remain your must-see, absolutely pre-book your ticket on thr ET's official website.

For that matter, should you decide to partake in any of Paris's main attractions, you should consider pre-booking on any/all of them. July is busy.

Edit: did I misunderstand OPs post? S/he said was not interested in war history, which the D-Day beaches would fall into, I would think.

And, OP,, if you absolutely want to see Mont Saint Michel, prepare for massive crowds. I'd avoid MSM, personally unless there is something else in the Brittany or Normandy region might interest you to work it into an itinerary. Should MSM remain a must-see, consider planning on staying on the Mont overnight to see it when all of rhe daytrippers have gone.

As all of us jaded travelers will tell you, the Eifel Tower and Mont St Michel are for the viewing of, not for the viewing from. That has never deterred anyone from the former, however. For ideas of what you might like to see in Paris, guidebooks help, plus the personal idiosyncratic observations of travelers in trip reports on this site will help. Use the search function.

Yay! I got to use idiosyncratic!

for what it's worth, our first multi-day trip to France was by car, nightly stops, counterclockwise from Paris: Bayeux, Normandy WW2 site, Mont st Michel, Bordeaux area, Sarlat area, Avignon/Vaucluse/Provence area, Lyon, back to CDG
Simply to get a flavor of the areas, so as to know where our interest lay for subsequent visits
In retrospect, we wouldn't change a thing

It is indeed wonderful to see the Eiffel Tower from a distance. The best view is to climb the spiral staircase at Sacre Coeur and you can walk along the rooftop.

From there you see the Byzantine architecture of the basilica in the foreground and the Eiffel Tower in the background. The best of both worlds.

Being a sucker for costumes and cobblestones, I looked up Fêtes mediévales in July. Unsurprisingly, there are many, especially the weekend of the 19-20th. If Brittany is of interest to you, check Dinan, Saint-Renan and Malestroit. To the south of Paris there are Bressieux, Clamecy and Sagonne.

It is easy enough to get off the beaten track if you rent a gîte for a week, though admittedly pickings for July may now be slimmer. If car rental + self catering is your cup of tea, check gites-de-France.com in the area of your choice. If MSM remains a must and you are intrigued by Dinan, draw a rough circle 50 km radius around Rennes or Dinan or Laval and see what comes up. You won’t run out of the kind of things you enjoy.