gwm

Three or four of us in our 50s and 60s are planning to fly to Paris late April next year, pick up a hire car, and spend a week in a cottage or unit in each of four rural areas. (Then a few days in Paris at the end after returning the car, before flying home.)

We have a few ideas, but would welcome suggestions as to nice areas that people think would maintain our interest for a whole week, doing some easy walking, driving to explore villages, and perhaps taking public transport to nearby larger cities. Probably four places in France, although there would be nothing to stop us crossing into, say, Germany, Austria, even northern Italy. We need to choose places within a days' drive, even if a long day, so we can transfer from one Saturday-Saturday booking to the next.

As I said, we have some ideas (and I spent a lovely week in the Perigord area a few weeks ago staying in a cottage in a village), but would like to hear other people's ideas. We don't want to end up somewhere where we run out of things to do after two or three days.

I look forward to reading your responses.

sheila

It's a huge question.

From my own experiences, I would definitely recommend Britanny, and Gascony.

I guess you need something like Langedoc or Provence and Burgundy to finish off.

AnselmAdorne

"We don't want to end up somewhere where we run out of things to do after two or three days."

I don't think you need to worry about getting bored. We've rented something like 13 rural houses in France and have never run out of things to do. As a general rule, you can make day trips to anywhere within 100 kilmetre radius of where you are staying, so there is a lot of ground you can cover: village markets, historical sites, natural scenery, walking trails (there are many in France), intriguing drives, interesting shopping, museums, ancient churches, architecture, and idling away a few hours on the terrace of a café.

I'm sure you'll get many recommendations about places to visit. You have enough time to cover a lot of France, but think a bit about the logistics of moving day: most rentals are Saturday to Saturday, so you will have to pack, load the car, drive to the new house, locate it, park, unload, get settled in ... (Moving from place to place is my least favourite part of this kind of thing, especially if it involves a long drive between houses.)

There are a lot of good Internet sources for places to rent. Try:

www.frenchconnections.co.uk
www.holiday-rentals.co.uk
www.vrbo.com
www.gite.com/gite.com/index.cgi
www.yourfriendsinfrance.org
www.henriettataylor.com/accommodation.cfm

I wouldn't necessarily suggest you visit Auvergne, but here's a link to a trip report we wrote that describes what it's like to spend two weeks in rural France:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34742279

Hope this helps get you started.

Anselm

bilboburgler

April is a chilly spring and may combine with some late french school holidays. Google will advise.

For me I would start in the Jura/Chablis which allows you to walk through narcissus filled meadows, visit Auxerre and drink Chablis.

Then Alsace (allows you to drop into Germany and possible up to Champagne.

Then Britanny/Normandy say basd at Caen gives you Bayeux tapestry, Mnt St Michel, battle fields and St MAlo, falaise etcetc

The finally either Loire or Bordeaux (depends on your driving times).

Down side of this is the weather may be a little too cool. so alternatively do a southern equiv but I think it will be a little duller

StuDudley

My wife & I have rented over 20 different Gites in France - staying anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks at a time. Usually we stay 2 weeks in 1 place.

We've stayed
20 weeks in Provence (6 different locations)
8 weeks in the Dordogne
7 weeks in the Cote d'Azur (2 locations)
6 weeks Languedoc/Roussillon (4 locations)
4 weeks in Brittany (2 locations)
2 weeks in the Auvergne
2 weeks in the Pays Basque
2 week in the Ardeche
1 week in the Loire
1 week in Alsace
2 weeks in Beaujolais
2 weeks in Burgundy
1 week in the Alps behind Nice

Every area was wonderful. As you can tell, we return to Provence, Cote d'Azur, the Dordogne, Languedoc, and Brittany the most (we'll be in Brittany for 2 weeks next month).

For an April trip, I would head south.

Fly to Perpignan and stay in the Roussillon area for a week (near Ceret). You'll have plenty to do there. A trip into Spain is possible. Scenic coastline south of Collioure into Spain

Dordogne - really too much to do for only 1 week

Provence - in the Luberon.

Cote d'Azur or Burgundy. You could fly from Nice, or take the TGV from either Aix or Dijon back to Paris.

Stu Dudley

Frances

A different view of France and to make the most of the time you have, add in a week in Corsica. I defy you to say you won't have enough to do in a week there! Pick up your car when you arrive in Paris on a one-way drop -off, use it for the first three weeks then turn it in wherever you cross or fly to Corsica. Then at the end fly back to Paris.
Corsica has the most amazing mountain scenery as well as the climate of a mediterranean island, lovely beaches(although it may not be warm enough early in the year). The culture and history is not the same as any of the rest of France but the food is as memorable

gwm

Thanks for your ideas, everyone. They have certainly given us food for thought. We're arriving right at the end of April, so most of our time there will be May, and we're hoping the north won't be too cold then.

dgassa

We enjoyed the area in the Lot around Cahors. We stayed in the small village of Albas at this Gite (We stayed in the B&B, but they have two apartments). This is wine country and close to sites like Rocamador and St Cirq-Lapopie.

http://www.lotfrance.com/

Read our trip report here:

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1259

Photos here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...p;conn_speed=1

StuDudley

>>May, and we're hoping the north won't be too cold then.<<

Just remember that Paris is farther north than anyplace in the Continental US - about the same latitude as Calgary. Most Gites we've rented (over 20) have been a little cramped, and I would have not have wanted to spend a lot of time inside with 4 adults, if I had to because of the weather.

Stu Dudley

bvmcginnis

Dear GWM,
When we go to France we spend a month at a time exploring the outskirts. If I were to pick 2 areas to spend some time at, I would pick the Dordogne & Provence. It has the best of food, wine, herbs, scents, old world & new. We are the same age & we loved them all, but here is an excellent start. A very close third would be the south of France/Cote d' Azur. 3rd only bec it can have some hectic areas. Just stay (accommodations) above the lower corniche and visit many, many wonderful places. Cheers!

hopingtotravel

t

AnselmAdorne

dgassa, your link to your photos has so many characters that it widens the page and makes it more difficult to read the thread.

Try using TinyUrl.com to shorten it, comme ça:

http://tinyurl.com/29vaxz

Anselm

dgassa

Thanks AnselmAdorne, you learn something new everyday

AnselmAdorne

dgassa, you took wonderful photos, by the way. We spent two days in the Gorges du Tarn; your pictures bring back great memories!

Anselm

debl

My vote would be Provence. In Sept 2002, DH & I drove from Paris to Loire Valley, Cahors, Carcassonne, Carmargue (sp?), then east to Provence, staying in B&B's along the way. Once we got to Provence, we rented a gite in Apt about 1 hr. east of Avignon. It was an ideal location for day trips to Gordes, Roussillon, St. Remy de Provence, many other Les Plus Beaux Villages de France & even Marseille. There wasn't an additional fee to leave the car at the Avignon train station, so from there we took the TGV back to Paris.

Last May, mom & I picked up our rental car outside of Paris, stayed at two B&B's in the Loire region for 4 nights, one night in Burgundy, 3 nights at a B&B 15 minutes from Chamonix & then south to Provence for 3 nights. Chamonix may be a bit chilly in April but was quite nice at the end of May. The French Alps are beautiful. Again we left the car at the Avignon Train Station before taking the TGV to Paris.

If you are worried about finding things to keep you occupied for more than 2-3 days in one location, don't be. However, there's always the option of staying in B&B's for 3-4 days in a number of regions rather than renting places of one week. Some B&B's even supply an evening meal for an additional fee. We have found B&B's to be more reasonably priced in France than in the U.S.

We bought a rather thick book (2-3 inches), with a yellow cover (the name escapes me & I am not at home) it lists hundreds of B&Bs. It rates them by sheafs of wheat, gives prices, indicates which serve meals other than breakfast, distances to local attractions, etc. I believe the same organization has a website. We bought our first book in Paris & the updated version at a bookstore in Montreal.

Whatever you choose, you will have a great time in France.

hopscotch

Great photos Dana. Thanks.

As mentioned above, http://tinyurl.com/29vaxz would have saved us a lot of trouble.