travel3773

My husband and I are really looking forward to our first trip to France this May. I really enjoy the planning as I know many of you do...my only problem with this trip is I have been SO overwhelmed by all the wonderful choices I haven't booked anything just yet! I could really use your help.

Here is the plan so far (I think):

We will be starting in Paris with 4-5 nights at either Villa D'Estrees (double room) or Hotel Brittanique (junior suite) and combining this with a 3-4 night stay in Provence at either Les Mas des Carassins or Domaine de Boursinnac in St Remy. I've read reviews of these and MANY other places (I've been on this laptop all day!) but if anyone can share their thoughts on the hotels I've narrowed it down to I would really welcome them.

My concerns about combining Paris and Provence are the amount of time we have for the two destinations (8 nights) and whether it makes sense as we probably need to fly into and out of Paris. A direct flight into and out of Paris from NYC would be significantly cheaper than a direct flight into Paris and out of Nice (well over $1000 more for the dates I want to go).

Does it makes sense to take the TGV from Paris to Provence and then back to Paris after our stay in St Remy only to spend a final night at the airport before returning home? Can we take the TGV right to CDG?

My other thought was to forget St Remy this trip and combine Paris with the Loire Valley instead (at Manoir Les Minimes). We would then rent a car and drive there. We love to explore new places by driving (we did this in Italy but we had two weeks) and if we could drive to Provence with a stop along the way we would. I realize this is too far given the amount of time we have to spend there.

If we are visiting beautiful new places with good food and wine we will be very happy. A unique, nice place to stay is also very important to us. We are not of the mind that a hotel is only a place to sleep...some of our fondest memories from traveling have been the wonderful hotels we have been able to stay in.

I appreciate any help you can provide! Thanks.

RonZ

Take the TGV from Paris to Avignon. Avignon has an early one direct to CDG.

Schedules here:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Robespierre

If my plane ticket is non-changeable/refundable, I always have at least two ways of getting from where I sleep to the airport. I leave it to you to ponder the reasons why.

Christina

The itinerary sounds okay to me, but I wonder how you found that adding one simple leg on that flight would add on $1000 to the fare. I've done that, and it only added on about $100 or so to that flight segment, as it should. Of course, many flights from Nice to the US will go through Paris and may require a plane change, but that shouldn't cost an extra $1000 to depart from Nice rather than Paris, that's kind of amazing.

travel3773

Hi,

Thanks for the responses so far. The price was for a direct flight from Nice to NYC. I could connect to Paris from Nice but if that is the case I would rather just take the train back.

nbujic

I would stay in Paris and visit Loire Valley.
4-5 nights in Paris gives you 3-4 days (jet-lag may influence your first day)in one of the most beautiful and charming cities in the world .Why not enjoy it and take a nice drive through the lovely Valley.
You may even find that just a few day trips from Paris may be enough.

grimmy

We normally fly Air France and have often landed in Paris and returned from Nice (in our case to and from PHL). It's never cost us any extra to fly out of Nice??

Sue_xx_yy

I'd reverse things and go to the south of France first, finishing up in Paris. In that case I'd give 4 nights to St. Remy and then head back for 4 nights in Paris. Makes for a long first day, but better that, then a frenzied last one, racing for the plane.

Judy

I'd do the reverse as well. Book an open jaw, flying into Marseille and out of Paris....or, better still, round trip to Marseille with a four day stopover in Paris.

ira

Hi T,

With only 8 days on a first trip to Paris, I would stay in the city and take 2 daytrips.

Why rush through Paris? Why worry about how to get to/from another destination?

France will still be there on your next visit.

travel3773

Many thanks for the replies. Flights into Marseille and out of Paris or vice versa are still significantly more expensive then flights directly into and out of Paris. I'd rather not spend the extra money on airfare. They are also connecting flights which I'd like to avoid.

I think we'll probably spend more time in Paris and maybe two nights in Loire Valley or somewhere else that isn't too far that we could drive to fairly easily from Paris. I do like the idea of mixing it up a little bit and staying in different places.

ElaineFrance

Having been to France many times, I would suggest doing Paris and The Loire. As much as I love Provence, 3-4 nights will not give you an opportunity to get a feel for the area. The Loire is driving distance from Paris and you can accomplish more there in 4 days time. Visit: Blois, Amboise, Tours, Chenonceau, Chambord.

RonZ

Europcar has an office on the Avenue d'Italie. The garage is right across the street, and it's a very easy straight shot to the highway. For mappy or viamichelin driving directions use "Porte d'Orleans" as the Paris starting point.

Another alternative is a train to St Pierre des Corps [Tours outskirts] and a rental from Avis.

nbujic

We took a train to Blois - I think it was an hour and half, spent a day there and were back in Paris for a late dinner .
Rouen is a nice day trip - an hour by train ; again, back by the evening.
You will be surprised how much there is to see and do in and not too far from Paris

travel3773

Hi,

Another thought...what about combining Paris with Dordogne or Burgandy? Too far?

JEStraveler

I'm also looked into the NY - Nice thing and it's absurdly more expensive than Paris - alas. If you still want to work Cote D'Azure/Provence in, EasyJet had VERY cheap flights back and forth to Nice. If I recall though, you had to fly at odd times of the day -- early morning or later in the evening. If you have flexibility, it might shorten the travel time and still stay within your budget....

Christina

It isn't absurdly more expensive to fly from Nice to JFK on the return, rather than do a RT Paris flight. Even if you want a nonstop flight back, it doesn't make it $1000 more coming from Nice rather than CDG. I suspect the OP was pricing one-way flights rather than a RT ticket and that was the problem.

I just checked for two hypothetical dates in May, but both SUndays so not cheap dates (5/20 going and 5/27 return), the RT JFK-CDG and return was $1162 on Air France, but going JFK-CDG and return NCE-JFK (both nonstop on Air France) for the same dates was only $1227, about $60 more.

ira

Hi 37,

(May I call you 37?)

>what about combining Paris with Dordogne or Burgandy?<

See my previous post.

Why are you trying to turn a very pleasant visit to Paris into an expedition?

travel3773

Many thanks to everyone...the trip is booked! I went for the roundtrip flight to/from Paris (a Continental flight for around $675/RT) and decided not to make this an "expedition" as Ira suggested. We have 9 nights and will be starting in Paris for four nights (at Villa D'Estrees) then spending two nights in Amboise at Les Mas des Carassins and then probably back to Paris for another 3 nights before heading home.

Sue4

I think your plan sounds perfect. However, I assume you meant Le Manoir des Minimes in Amboise, not Le Mas des Carassims, which is in St. Remy. I stayed at Les Minimes and loved it. The Loire Valley is a great area to drive around, and easy driving. I took the TGV down there and rented my car in Tours. I stayed 10 days and never got tired of it! Of course, not in Amboise the whole time - split it up with Chinon and Saumur.