Paris-Vineyards-Provence
 

My fiance and I have ten full days in France (travel days on either end) end of June/beginning of July. From reading this board, my preference would be five days in Paris, five days in Provence. But Sweetie wants to drive through and visit vineyards. So now I'm thinking 4 days Paris, 2 days through Burgundy, 4 days Provence. Also, I'm thinking that we'll take the train out of Paris to Beaune/Dijon (?) and then rent a car and return it in Avignon.

Transport: Where should we take the train to? What is a good price for an economy 7-day rental? I checked out Avis and it was about $330.

Lodging: Paris: 100E hotel - Hotel Mayet? any suggestions with A/c? Burgundy - ??, Les Mas Des Carassins in St. Remy

Places: favorite vineyards to visit?

See the message I've posted under this same title when I couldn't get to come up in a search.

When you are in Beaune be sure to see the Hospices de Beaune. I also had a fantastic lunch at a Restaurant that was called "The Cellar"(I think), you go down some stairs and the dinning area is in a cellar.

A beautiful very old vineyard that I would recommend that you tour is the Château du Clos de Vougeot. I also have a friend who has a Chablis vineyard near Chablis and I am sure he would give you a personal tour. His name is Jean-François Bordet, he lives in Malingny and his phone number is 03 86 98 20 36. Just tell him Randy suggested that you call. He produces a fine Grand Cru Chablis.

If you have time I would also recommend you visit the church at Vézelay and not far from there there is the Château de Vauban. This château still has much of the furniture and it looks like someone still lives there. We also had a fun lunch that day in a small village near there at a cafe called "Le Tire-Bouchon" and it is located in Bazoches-du-Morvand and the woman who ownes it is from Montréal and speaks english well. The food was not anything exceptional, but her personality along with the small village atmosphere made it special. The phone number is: 03 86 22 11 66

The price you pay for a car rental can be inflated by the insurance that you buy from the rental company. Some tips to keep the insurance cost down. 1) talk to your own car insurance company and consider adding to your policy to cover rentals, sometimes this can be monumentally cheaper. 2) in addition most credit cards offer rental car insurance as part of the freebies to lure you to use their product. Use one card for car rental only that has this coverage and if there is an incident the costs will be posted to that card and then reimbursed by the card company. It is generally very expensive to pay for insurance from the rental company. I have been quoted approx 200E for a Hertz car in Paris for a week with no insurance.

There are many vineyards in Provence that are quite good. You are adding a hotel move and LOTS of extra travel for 2 days in Burgundy. If it were me I would take the TGV from Paris to Avignon or Aix. You can be there in about 2h40 minutes. Then rent a car.

I like the vineyards around Les Baux de Provence for both wine and olive oil (Mas de la Dame for example). Also you are not that far from the Chateaux Neuf du Pape, Vaqueray (sp?) and Gigondas vineyards when you are in Avignon. Chateaux Neuf du Pape is the premier Rhone wine.

If you are booking via Avis be sure to look under special deals on their web site. They often have AWD discounts for Europe. They also give discounts for many frequent flyer programs.

Vacqueras is a very nice vineyard area to visit, with good tasting rooms.

My response under a duplicate topic title seems to have been lost in cyberspace, so here goes for the third and final time.

I think that you probably want to visit wine producers and taste their wines rather than just look at the vineyards, which are not necessarily close at hand. Burgundy has a great many small producers, and visiting their domaines usually requires reservations. However, some of the larger operations have their own tasting rooms, such as Château de Meursault; the small town of Savigny-les-Beaune also has a nice tasting room, and there are several in Beaune itself. Also, along the wine road most wine villages have tasting rooms for the appellations of their area.

Taking the TGV to Dijon and renting your car there would work very well. You could then head north to the Côte d'Or region, have lunch, and drive back down to the Côte de Nuit. That night you might stay in the hamlet of Bouilland (it's in what's called Swiss Burgundy) at the Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin, a charming small inn with a 1-star restaurant. The restaurant has an excellent wine list with many half bottles, and both hotel and restaurant have a/c.

On our own first stip to the South of France we drive from Paris through Burgundy, taking several days, and loved it all. We then stayed one night about halfway to Provence (at the Château d'Igé) and visited a few vineyards in the Rhône Valley on our way south. It was a wonderful trip.

Wow! Thanks for the replies - the personal recommendations, the names and numbers, the rental tips, taking the time and effort to make multiple post attempts. We went to Napa this past summer and are really looking forward to comparing/contrasting our experiences. Hmm...maybe S. Africa next!

ttttt

hi, also check the prices from europebycar.com (based in new york). i've rented from them twice now and they had the best prices and they don't charge for a one way return. it also helps if you and/or your fiance can drive a manual transmission, as the rental rates are much lower.

burgundy is a beautiful region and you could definitely spend your whole time there (or in provence for that matter). make sure you take the walking tours in dijon and beaune.

and once in provence, if either of you like muscat, make sure you visit beaumes de venise. and visit gigondas and do the tastings at the cellars in town of their robust reds.

We live quite near the Napa Valley, and I can tell you right now that Burgundy is nicer!

Thanks for the recommendations. I checked out the rental site and it looks great! My fiance drives manual...I've only done it once for a cross-country road trip. :)