Jojonana

Hello all!

IT'S OFFICIAL! My husband and I will be taking a well-deserved vacation in France in May. We will be arriving in Paris on May 2nd, and plan on staying in the city for 5 to 7 days.

We are looking to rent an appartment from a reliable owner or agency for under 500 euros a week. I did find a couple from parisattitude. Am waiting for their reply. If anyone has good references, please share them with me! (we prefer neighborhoods of the touristy track!) ;-)

My question is this : we are wondering whether to spend the next week along the Dordogne, or visiting Medoc, Sauterne, Biarritz, Pyrennées (Pau), etc.

If we opt for Dordogne, is this plan good? : take train from Paris to Brive-la-Gaillarde, rent a car there, and slowly make our way to Bordeaux where we take the plane.

Or should we take a TGV to Bordeaux, rent a car there and drive around?

Since we will be staying in Paris for a week, I don't mind driving a couple of hours at a time on our second week, but plan on choosing 2 or 3 bases and exploring from there instead of driving every single day.

I have read Stu's great review of Dordogne and will be using that to plan our trip if we opt for Dordogne.

Any other thoughts or tips are welcome.

Merci!

ekscrunchy

I think you should either choose the Pays Basque which could include Pau and Biarritz along with Bayonne, Ainhoa, Sare, and all those beautiful Pays Basque villages. You could fly home either out of Bayonne or out of Bordeaux. If you choose Bordeaux, you could have a couple of days either in the city or nearby before your flight home.

OR choose the Dordogne. If the latter you would, indeed, be best off taking the train to Brive, renting a car and exploring the Dordogne before heading west to Bordeaux/Medoc and environs, where you could spend 1-2 nights before flying home.

ira

Hi J,

>take train from Paris to Brive-la-Gaillarde, rent a car there, and slowly make our way to Bordeaux where we take the plane.

Sounds good to me.

Enjoy your visit.

ira

PS,

Have you looked up the French Holidays for May?

Jojonana

Thanks!

I guess I will have to choose between pays basque and Dordogne!

Besides from the vineyards and countryside, I do want to see Arcachon, the sea and the sand dunes but from what I gather, it's not very far from Bordeaux.

So we might take train to Brive, do 1-2 nights near Sarlat, then 1-2 nights in St-Émilion area, then visit Médoc or Graves-Sauternois, go down the coast to Arcachon and stay 1-2 nights in Bordeaux.

Sounds good?

Should I be worried about certain holidays in May?

Michael

I don't think that you need to slowly wend your way to Bordeaux. Stay in one or two places, depending on what you want to see, and then drive straight to Bordeaux. It's only a couple of hours from the Dordogne. The only reason to rent the car from Bordeaux would be if the one way rental is considerably more expensive than a return to the same location.

StCirq

Naw, I would not just spend 1-2 nights near Sarlat, then 1-2 near St-Emilion (booooorrrrriiinngg!), then the Medoc, then Bordeaux and Arcachon and Dune de Pylat...not a good plan.

Take the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux. Spend the night in Bordeaux and next day pick up a rental car and zip out to Arcachon and the Dune de Pylat, then do an about face and drive back through Bordeaux to St-Emilion. Spend one night there and then zoom to the Sarlat area, which is where you should have been all along, and spend as many days there as you possibly can.

ira

Hi J,

Ditto St. Cirq, except that I would take the TGV to Libourn to get the car.

Alternatively, you might want to fly into Bordeaux and leave from Paris.

You might find my trip report helpful:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=34676645

Photos at http://tinyurl.com/sjch4
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&x=0&y=-pla2au

Arcachon in early May could be cold and windy, but the oysters are terrific.

Google "French Holidays". You will be there for Whitsunday, I think.

ekscrunchy

If the OP is departing from Bordeaux, and if she chooses the Dordogne instead of PB, she should begin the trip in Brive..

Why do a round trip?

Jojonana

Thank you all for your great advice!
I started reading guides on the Dordogne and have a better idea, but I do have some more questions for you.

Here's the plan so far :
Day 1 : arrive in Brive by train at noon. I found a great rate for a car pick-up here and delivery in Bordeaux. Just seems more logic to me. If I want to see places like Pech-Merle and St-Cirq, where should I stay on the first night? Is somewhere like Figeac or Cahors a good idea? I guess near this general area is better than in Sarlat per se.

Day 2-5 : Stay in Sarlat area, eat, drink, relax and leasurely visits!

Day 6-7 : Stay in Bordeaux or in surroundings, visit St-Emilion on the way as suggested, and take a day trip to Arcachon or Sauternes on the 2nd day if we feel like it.

Merci infiniment!

StuDudley

Your last plan sounds fine. Stay in St Cirq Lapopie to visit Peche Merle, St Cirq Lapopie, and then depending on what else you want to see, hit Rocamadour & Padirac on the way to the Sarlat area. Figeac would be a nice place to stay near Peche Merle also. I'm not a big fan of Cahors, but there are other interesting small villages in the area - but St Cirq Lapopie would probable be the most centrally located spot & many people (excluding the St Cirq that posts here) find St Cirq Lapopie to be interesting if you can avoid the mid-day crowds.

I was underwhelmed with St Emilion - kinda one-dimentional - but still somewhat interesting architecture. Visit it on the way to Bordeaux, but make sure you don't arrive during the lunch closings.

Stu Dudley

Jojonana

Thanks for your great info Stu! It's a great help.

We are thinking of opting for "séjours à la ferme". I've found some great spots.

Merci encore!

ekscrunchy

Please let us know about the fermes...I would like to see more details on those. Have a wonderful trip!