Mark11

I'm planning a six week trip to France in May to celebrate my graduation from college!

I've rented apartments for a week at each of these places: Paris, Dinan (tiny medieval town in Brittany), Annecy by the Alps, Aix-en-provence, and finally Nice.

I do plan on doing lots of day trips from these bases.

I wanted to spend a week in Bordeaux as well, but it's been rather difficult finding an apartment there, besides the fact that I keep reading that it's not really that interesting.

So where should I spend my extra week?

Some tentative day trip ideas I have:

From Paris: Strasbourg and Dijon. Perhaps a day tour of the Loire.(I've been to Paris before)

From Dinan: Mt St Michel and the surrounding villages.

From Annecy, Alps towns and maybe a day trip or two into the Swiss border.

From Nice: Cote d'azur towns and Monaco

From Aix: I'm sure there lots of nice provancal towns to visit from there!

I've already booked all the apartments but have one more week that was originally planned for Bordeaux. Where should I spend it?

StCirq

In Bordeaux.

Mark11

How about Lyon or Montpellier?

zeppole

The pyrenees are beautiful in May. Really beautiful.

But what are your interests beyond seeing as much of France as you can? Are you a nature lover? An architecture glutton? A glutton for food? A glutton for punishment (Monaco will do you there.) Do I detect a bias for small villages? Do you need a little nightlife or the chance to hook up with other travelers?

vedette

Do you speak/read French?

Mark11

I've never called myself that, but yes I am definitely a glutten of french patisseries

I'm also a glutten of architecture; place de la comedie with its fine Renaissance buildings made me think of Montpellier as a potential candidate.

I do speak french though not fluent but I can communicate in french. That's one of the reasons why I won't be country hopping every couple of days like a lot of people like to do in Europe!

StuDudley

I'm assuming that you won't have a car, so the Dordogne, Auvergne, Cevannes, and the Pyrenees would be difficult.

I would suggest that you forgo a day trip to Dijon, and instead spend the week there. They have excellent train transportation to Auxerre, Beaune, Lyon (perhaps stay there), and may other places.

Likewise, you could skip the day trip Strasbourg & stay there & visit Alsace.

Stu Dudley

Michael

La Rochelle or the nearby Ile de Ré.

for pictures:

http://tinyurl.com/4d5blj

zeppole

Nobody thinks it matters what Mark likes to do? From what he read about Bordeaux, it didn't sound interesting to him, so apparently he has some ideas of his own about what interests him and what doesn't.

I just can't see the point of one-size-fits-all advice on a message board, when you can actually ask somebody -- who might be different from you -- how they dream of spending their rare time abroad.

vedette

I'm with Michael. The whole Charente Maritime area is lovely and interesting. Just spent a week there and had done so previously and will do it again. Anybody for oysters and mussels? Mark, if you can handle French, consider renting a place through gitesdefrance.fr. But you will need a car, as their places are not in cities.

Michael

Actually the Ile de Ré is very manageable on a bicycle, and at Mark's age, he might even be based on La Rochelle and find biking to the Ile de Ré feasible.

vedette

If he is actually staying on Ile de Re, yep he can get nearly everywhere by bike, though the island is quite long. I was thinking more of a mainland gite, likely to be good ways from La Rochelle or any major place.

Viajero2

Lyon is perfect.

Mark11

I've decided to stay in Strasbourg because it is so far out of the way and so it would be more difficult to visit it from other cities, whereas Lyon for example is very close to both Aix and Annecy, and so is Dijon.

So after I booked an apartment in Strasbourg and filled out the contract with my credit card last night, I received an email from the owner of a nice little apartment at the heart of Bordeaux wondering whether I wanted to confirm my reservation and pay the deposit after she had told me that her apartment was not available three days ago.

So if you were me, would you stay in Strasbourg or Bordeaux? I probably wouldn't be able to return to either one of them for a long time- could be more than a decade for all I know.

StuDudley

Strasbourg - one of my top 5 cities in France after Paris. It's an easy train ride to Colmar, Nancy, and Bescancon. The lovely Alsace countryside & small villages are right at your doorstep. Alsace is much different from the other places you're planning to visit. Consider taking the train to Colmar, renting a bike, and exploring the countryside & villages that way. Don't bike the "Route du Vin" - take the well marked bike route just west of the Route du Vin that takes you through the vineyards to many of the villages.

Stu Dudley

Mark11

Thanks Stu Dudley, I really appreciate those suggestions.

StCirq

zeppole:

Mark himself doesn't know that he won't like Bordeaux. He's read that it's "not interesting," and that's not surprising, because just about every guidebook I've ever picked up has a negative view of Bordeaux.

Which is fine with me - keeps it from being overrun with visitors.

I happen to think it's a wonderful city, with a whole lot of possibilities for things to do in the environs. And I know it quite well. It's entirely possible Mark might like it too, despite the negative reviews from folks who've never really spent much time there.

StuDudley

St Cirq

We've visited Bordeaux twice - once under not-so-great-circumstances when there was a gasoline strike & blockade. We had to leave Bordeaux, pick up my FIL at the airport, anxiety, and then sit on a freeway for 1 1/2 hrs around Bordeaux while the strikers disrupted/stopped all traffic.

Since you've always given it the thumbs-up, we're returning this coming June & staying overnight before we head off for 2 weeks in the Dordogne, 1 in the Cantal, and 1 on the western Loire.

Stu Dudley

Mark11

I'm still working out the logistics of the trip and I've decided to spend a few days in Bordeaux besides the week in Strasbourg, especially now that I found a "sympathetic" apartment there. BTW, I don't know why sympathetic means nice in french. It's normal in French to say "Oh that's a sympathetic car!" or "your outfit is sympathetic today!"

Anyway, I think I should see Bordeaux then decide for myself, especially because I don't know if I'll ever be back in France.

A couple of years ago when I went to Spain, everyone who's been to Spain kept telling me how much they love Barcelona and dislike Madrid. They were shocked when I told them that it was definitely the other way around for me.

Thanks everyone, you've been a great help!

bratsandbeer

We stayed at a nice b&b in Mt St Michel. Visited Omaha Beach and other places in that area on a day trip. You may want to check out Carcassonne and Vezelay. Both are interesting places.

Do you have to stay the extra week in France?