Neh Neh Nehhh Newbie to France. There I said it. I'm a noob.
 

Waving you a big hello from the great state of Tennessee. I need some help. My wife is turning the big 4-0 in February, and she has never been out of the country except for Jamaica on a honeymoon. I have been wanting to take her to Europe. France to be exact if you will. I traveled a good bit overseas in my high school and college days, but that was mostly through a touring company. I want to do this one on our own and travel through the country for about two weeks. Eventually winding my way down to the beaches of southern France for a few days and then back to Paris to fly out. I have 14 days to do it, and a budget of around $150 a day for lodging. I would like to see Normandy and then go down the West coast or areas inland slighly to South. Please let me know of some suggestions for staying outside of Paris, Normandy, and other major places to see on my trip. I know I am a little vague for sheer ignorance of where to go, so please enlighten me with your wisdom.

By the way don't tell the wife. She is getting 2 tickets on her Birthday at the party.

Mathieu

You have to make a major decision early on in the planning.

How will you get around.

There are those who believe you cannot go anywhere without renting a car. We have been to Europe many times and have never rented a car. We travel 80-90% by train and some by bus.

Myer,
Thanks for the quick response. I should have probably clarified a few things. I plan on renting a car and driving most of the trip unless I can research more about the train situation suitability. We are also going around the first two weeks of June.

I am certainly not opposed to the train idea.

When are you planning on going? I hope not in Feb - esp if you are headed to the beaches in the south.

What time of year and how long do you want to stay in Paris? That info would help us with suggestions of what makes sense logistically in addition to Paris.

Nice prezzy.

First two weeks of June roughly. I just want to see Normandy on June 6th if I am going to be there anyway.

I figured about 2 to 3 full days in Paris is enough for us. Then to travel West and eventually South.

Do not go back to Paris to fly home; fly back from Nice or Marseille. It would waste time backtracking.

DebitNM, excellent idea!!!!

Without giving you advice on where to go here is some general info that will help you plan and research.

Get your hands on the Michelin maps. You want the ones of the scale 1:200,000 (regional maps) or 1:150,000 (departmental maps, more detailed, cover slightly less area) for whatever regions you visit. A nice feature of the 1:150,000 maps is they show the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green guidebooks. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.

You can buy the Michelin maps from their website and here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:200,000 scale maps of France: http://tinyurl.com/4bt96ev

And here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:150,000 scale maps of France:
http://tinyurl.com/6mt4n64

You could also buy them here but then you can't do research beforehand. The maps can be bought in many places such as bookstores, news stands, magazine stores, larger supermarkets, department stores, hypermarkets and in the full service rest areas on the autoroutes, just to name a few.

You need good guidebooks for whatever region in France in which you will be traveling. I like The Michelin Green Guides. If you need restaurant info then get The Michelin Red Guides, which cover restaurants.

And speaking of Michelin, you can go to the website viamichelin.com and get info on drive times and distances, toll and fuel costs and suggested routes (i.e. scenic routes). The drive times given do not consider stops (fuel, food, bathrooms) nor do they consider bad weather and bad traffic. I find the drive times very accurate when these factors are accounted for. The time estimates can break down when you are driving in congested urban areas, like in or near Paris, due to the unpredictability of heavy traffic or traffic jams. They can also be affected on peak travel days, specifically on autoroutes leading to/from popular destinations.

You should also acquaint yourself with rules of the road in France and road signs and such and this website will give you some useful tips:

http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchDrive.htm

Here is some other general advice for you. You should google some of the town/tourist office websites for any region, département, city , town or village you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites including hotel/accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the words "office de tourisme" followed by the name of your region, département, city, town or village and this will bring the place to the top of your search.

In regards to being near any D-Day sites on June 6th it is going to be absolutely mobbed at any major D-Day site in that region for the 50th anniversary so you better find accommodation there ASAP.

For car rental info many people recommend using www.autoeurope.com, a brokerage agency that deals with many of the large rental companies. Never used them myself but I understand it may be possible to pick up in one location and drop off in another with no charge.

A brief itinerary suggstion would be something like Normandy and D-Day sites, then do Mont Saint-Michel and the area around Saint-Malo and Dinan then head down to the Dordogne region then to head further south to Languedoc-Roussilon / Provence. You should understand that any of the regions I mentioned is worth several weeks of exploration in its own right so you'll only get a sampler in each region. IMO, it is better to divide up two weeks into spending at least 3-5 days in each place using your lodging as a base to explore the area. You'll cover less ground but you'll have more time to explore and you'll enjoy those things you do see more fully and at a more relaxed pace. Every time you change bases you lose vacation time to travel logistics. Get a map of France that shows the regions and départements and then get guidebooks for the regions/départements you are considering and study up to find out what is of most interest to you.

I would go directly to the south upon arrival (TGV from CDG), then work my way north and west, to take best possible advantage of weather (and also, since you're already on a long-haul flight anyway, to get to your farthest destination while you're already a jetlagged mess). Plus, ending a trip in Paris is always nice.

I wouldn't attempt Normandy on June 6. It will be a mob scene.

Agree about June 6 for Normandy, plus paying a premium for lodging and everything else.
Also like St.C's idea of starting south.
Two weeks sounds like a long time-but as others point out, changing a lot costs money AND time.
What is the rest of your budget/per day estimate. that will also make a difference in where you go.

I would try to add a few days to Paris. 2-3 days for someone who's never been out of the country seems like very little.

I found tickets to Marseille and home are around $3086 for two peeps. My car will run me $403 for 13 days with unlimited mileage. I am budgeting $500 to $600 in fuel to be safe. I am also budgeting $200US per day for food and fun give or take $50US. SO all in all I am thinking $550US per day.

I plan on making lunches most of the time and eating a repectable dinner our in the evening for 12 days of the trip. I figure a light dinner or some smaller eateries to fill in the blanks. All in all I am budgeting a hair over $10k for the whole trip. I hope to come in less than that, but I do not want to sacrafice a lot of the fun for us.

The advice you have received above is all good stuff. In case you are not familiar with air fare structure, the kind of flight you want is called "Open Jaw"; you fly into one city and back from another. When you search the airline sites, click the box that says "Multi City", rather than "round trip".

My advice would mirror the earlier posters. You are leaving too little time for Paris, and I think you are planning a very harried trip with too many stops. I think it better to concentrate on two cities, and take day trips from there using public transport.

Nukesafe, My dilemna is my wife loves the beach. So I want to try and give her ample time to stuff those toes in the sand for a few days. That is why I wanted to go South. Thinking through this and more thinking when I buy the Michelin maps might be to do day trips from Marseille and then take the train to Paris. From Paris I can run some day trips by train is your thoughts?

Before you decide on a car for the whole trip, spend some time on http://www.seat61.com/index.html getting up to speed on train travel in Europe. (Hint: it's nothing like Amtrak.) You will be better off having a car for Normandy, but you certainly don't want one for places like Paris or Nice.

Before you get too far down this planning path:

1. You do NOT want to rent a car for 13 days.

2. You should probably forget Marseille and spend your time in the south in Nice. You won't need a car there - great public transportation hub. That ticks off the wife's beach requirement, too. You could get on a train to Nice upon arrival at the airport.

3. After Nice, you could rent a car and drive through central/western France until you reach Normandy, do your touring there and drop the car off in Paris, in Normandy, or somewhere between Normandy and Paris if you wanted to visit, say, Versailles, Giverny, Chartres...OR you could take the train back to Paris from Nice, then rent a car and do Normandy.

4. I completely agree that 2-3 days in Paris is insufficient.

The consensus is Paris is a 5 day event so I will budget for that right now. I have heard it is fine to stay outside of Paris a little and take the train in for sight seeing and general stuff???

No, don't go to Paris and then stay outside it. Go to Paris.