paris plus 8 nights, before our daughter's wedding in the south of France
 

Our tentative plans are 3 nights in Paris, 2 nights in Normandy, 2 nights near Tours, and 1 night near Bourdeaux before we arrive near Perpignan for the wedding, followed by 2 nights near Cahors on the return trip to Paris. Other than Paris, we prefer smaller towns, but must be accesible by train! We are interested in 2-3 star accomodations, and bed & breakfasts are great! Any ideas?

Have a look at the Hotel Prince Monceau, a nice 2 star hotel in Paris, which in the 17th. It is not far from St Lazare station, probably the station you will take to join Normandy, isn't it? The hotel is in a little and clam street..I particularly appreciated this hotel because the decoration give an aspect of freshness..and in Paris, it is great!
http://www.hprincemonceau.com.
Have a good trip in France...and all my wishes to your daughter!

If you read poster Elaine's current trip report from Paris
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34554042
in which she describes the differences b/w her original 2 star hotel (Grand Hotel des Balcons) with the 3 star hotel she wound up in (Hotel
Delavigne) you may prefer to give a budget for recos rather than a star level. Her point was there was little diff. b/w the price of the 2 and 3 star but a lot of diff in quality. A 3* in Paris that's often touted here the Bonaparte. If you don't know Paris, most people prefer staying in the single digit arrondisements. While Donaldus' reco looks nice (esp. the bathroom), it doesn't look all that central.

Donaldus are you a travel agent? I notice you recommend lots of different hotels?

Hotel Bonaparte is a 2*....

Hi pb,

It is going to be difficult to go anywhere from Cahors without a car.

If you go to http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
you will find that it is 4+ hr from Perpignan to Cahors.

www.mappy.com shows that it can be done by car in 3 hr.

More important, you can't get to places like Puy-l'eveque, Grotte du Pech Merle and the Tarn Gorges by train.

Sarlat-la-Caneda is 3hr from Cahors by train and bus, but only 1 hr by car.

However, good ole Michelin map 337 shows a scenic railway along the Lot river from Cahors to Capdenac.

Oh dear. They stopped service.

See http://perso.wanadoo.fr/quercyrail/sommaire.htm

I think you should consider renting a car for your stay in Cahors.

Many people have recommended the Hotel Terminus.

We will be staying there in Sept.
60E for a double
12E pp bkfst
1* restaurant.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

PS,

You might want to stay in St. Emilion for your night near Bordeaux. There is train service.

((I))

This may seem like an odd question, but are the wedding arrangements finalized -- expecially the legal arrangements?