cousinmeg

My husband and I love champagne, wine, food, architecture and culture. What do you think of the following itinerary?
Fly into Paris and immediately drive to Reims (we've already been to Paris for 5 nights)
2 nights Reims
3 nights Beaune
3 nights Sarlat-la-Caneda
1 night Carcassonne
3 nights Avignon
3 nights Nice
Fly home from Nice

StuDudley

Re-stated:

1 1/4 days in Reims
2 1/2 days in Beaune
2 1/4 days in Sarlat
1/2 day in Carcassonne
2 1/4 days in Avignon
2 1/2 days in Nice

2-3 days driving from site to site.
Paris to Reims 1 3/4 hrs
Reims to Beaune 3 1/4 hrs
Beaune to Sarlat 6 1/2 hrs
Sarlat to Carcassonne to Avignon 6 hrs.

I would drop Sarlat and Carcassonne. Sarlat really needs at least 4 full days to even skim the surface of the "things to do" there. This will give you a reasonable time in the other destinations.

Stu Dudley

kja

If there is any chance that you will have jet lag (and if coming from the U.S., you WILL have jet lag), I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation for your first night or two. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….

Michael

You don't need to get the car in Paris. Take the TGV to Reims and rent the car in Reims for the rest of your travels. If you buy non-exchangeable non-refundable tickets 3 months in advance, you might get a considerable discount on the train tickets.

StCirq

I agree with Stu. Forget Sarlat on this trip and add the days to somewhere else. You have IMO too many short stops punctuated by long drives. And you can easily just spend a half-day in Carcassonne - no need for an overnight unless you really want to. And yes, take the train to Reims and use the car from there when you leave.

bilboburgler

Great advice above
Your husband doesn't like Alsace wine? (cat, pigeons )

cousinmeg

Thanks everyone! That sounds like a great idea to take the train to Reims and pick up a car there. It also makes sense to drop Sarlat, but I really wanted to see the La Cite du Vin (largest wine museum in the world). Maybe I need to just explore more things on the path down to Provence, such as Lyon ...

cousinmeg

Actually, my husband does not like Bordeaux wines! I'll have to go to the wine store and buy some Alsace wine to try out, as I am not familiar with it.

kja

StCirq

La Cité du Vin is in Bordeaux, not Sarlat, and you didn't even mention going to Bordeaux. If you actually were contemplating a short stay in Sarlat that included a trip to Bordeaux to see the Cité du Vin, even more reason not to bother. Save the whole area for an extended trip sometime in the future.

Alsace is famous, like quite a few other places, for its wines, mainly whites (Riesling, Tokay, Gewürtztraminer, Eiswein......)

Michael

There is a wine museum/store in Bergerac, along the river; easier to navigate than Bordeaux.

bilboburgler

If he doesn't like Cab Sauv then Bordeaux and bits of Bergerac are going to be of no interest. Alsace has some nice Pinots just lighter than you'll get in Burgundy.

cousinmeg

My husband likes Cabernet Sauvignon but he said he finds Bordeaux wines to taste watered down. Maybe he just had a couple of bad bottles. We belong to the Wall Street Journal wine club and will be getting a couple of bottles from Bordeaux in their next shipment, so we will give them another try. I am the white wine drinker of the family and I prefer Chardonnay. I read that Chablis is made of Chardonnay grapes, so I'm looking forward to that region. we are still super early in our plans.

cousinmeg

oops, how do you delete a post?

cousinmeg

StCirq, you are right. I have come to the conclusion that we need another trip to France to see the Dordogne and to revisit northern Spain.