nostrum

Hi StCirq, sorry to hijack the thread, but we will also be travelling to France soon and share many of Byron's indecisions about where to go. We however don't mind winding roads at all as I love to drive. Very curious to hear your list of wow places to visit.

StCirq

Hi, nostrum.

Well, there are so many, but a few of my favorites are the Dordogne, the Lot, Pyrénnées, Bouche-du-Rhône, Cévennes, Lozère, Brittany, and alps.

Byron1

We really appreciate everyone's help. The Loire Valley it is for us. We are now starting to zoom in on Paris for our 7 day stay. Everyone has been very helpful. Thank you so much and Happy New Year.

nostrum

Thanks! This thread has been very helpful, we were considering the Loire as well but we loved reading your 'take' on it StCirq, definitely made us rule it out. I'm from the London originally and I've done my fair share of 'castle touring', although this will be my wife's first time out of Canada. We are definitely looking for more of that 'wow' breathtaking factor, and we really connected with your descriptions, so thank you!
Will look up some of the areas you mentioned. We only have 2 weeks in June this trip, and of course my wife has to see Paris. Perhaps 5 nights in Paris, and not sure how to divide the rest in the south. Would love to squeeze in some time in the Brittany area as well though, it sounds beautiful.

Byron1

Nostrum, have fun planning your vacation. Remember one thing that a lot of people told us. Less is More. Don't over do it. We have done the 16 day vacations (see the whole country) trips. By far we prefer not zooming in a car. That is why we landed on this area. Big time windy roads was an issue for my wife so that is the only reason we ruled out the south. We are also stopping in London for a couple of days on our way back to Canada. London is one of our favourite cities. Have a great trip Nostrum!

nostrum

Thanks Byron! You have a great trip as well! We are very excited. We have heard the same, less is more, and definitely agree with that, no question about it, but it is so hard to resist the urge to see everything. Are you from Canada? We are in the Toronto area. This will be my wife's first time in Europe so she is very excited.

StuDudley

On our first trip to Europe in '77, we tried to see everything. 1 night/2 days for Amsterdam, 1 night Cologne, 1 night Mosel, 2 nights Rhine (only because my mother refused to get in the car & travel elsewhere immediatly), 1 night Baveria, 1 night Lucerne (Saturday afternoon, when everything was closed). My mother & sister bailed out at this point in the trip & headed to London for some R&R (sister was a flight attendant - could get free transportation). My wife & I recalled very little of this first trip - except my mother & sister in the back seat of the car smoking up a storm.

Next trip, we returned to almost the same exact places, this time spending 4 nights in Amsterdam, 3 nights Mosel, etc. We retired 10 years ago, now spending 2 months each year traveling in Europe - about 75% in France, 15% in Italy, and the rest elsewhere. A short stay in one location now is 1 week - we normally spend 2 weeks in one spot. Last year we spent 3 weeks in Paris with a "do nothing" itinerary. Same thing with Provence in '07 for 4 weeks (our 13-16th weeks there total) & this year in the Dordogne for 2 weeks (9-10th weeks there).

It is incredible how much stuff there is to see in Europe. We're still finding new & interesting things in France - and we've already visited there for around 2 years. This June/july we'll be in the high Alps for 2 weeks It is impossible to "see it all". The value of the first couple of trips is to discover what you like most in Europe. What we liked the least was useless driving from A to B or loosing an entire day in transit (my wife refuses to spend more than 4 hrs in the car - unless it is a slow & scenic drive close to our Gite).

Stu Dudley

klondike

We have used the A75 to get from the Languedoc region to Paris; it is a beautiful, easy drive. Your spouse may want to close the eyes to go over the Millalu bridge! Very impressive.

St. Cirq mentioned Le Caylar, which has a fantastic rest stop, but I would recommended instead going the couple of kilometers down the road and stopping at La Couvertoide, a Knights Templar walled city. It is definitely worth a stop.

Byron1

Thank you everyone. After careful review of everything, we have decided that this trip we will focus on Paris for 12 days and see what we want at a reasonable pace so we can enjoy the culture. We will take the train one day to Versailles. We are also considering the train to Chartres. Thank you to everyone of you and special thanks to StuDudley for all the information he sent to us. All the best for 2010 everyone.

PS - we are staying in an apartment in Marais. Any great value good food restaurant thoughts are appreciated. I have ordered a book that someone mentioned on another thread about Hungry in Paris. We like all kinds of food. Our budget is pretty flexible too.

There is always another trip to see the south of France.

Gina_07

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