komi

We just booked our trip this morning for our twentieth wedding anniversary . It was a last minute desicion, so don't really have any set plans.
We've been to Paris onced before and loved it but want to get on the road for this trip. We want to spend 3 nights total in Paris. Either 2 nights when we land and one before we leave or vice versa. Want to rent a car and drive the whole way unless taking a train along the way works better.
We fly in and out of Paris . We arrive in late September.
Things that are a must see are Mont St. Michel and the beaches of Normandy.
After that wanted to drive through the Loire Valley to Bordeux and the Dordogne for the foie gras, truffles and caves. Then back up to Paris stopping somewhere along the way.
We are open to staying anywhere along the way. So please give me your favorite towns , hotels, and restaurants. We basically want to eat our way through the country while seeing some cool stuff along the way.
Also want to stay 2 nights some where a little extra special to celebrate our anniversary. It can be anywhere along our route. Doesn't matter what day. Maybe at a vineyard or chateaux or castle.
Is that to big of a loop to drive.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Safe travels,
Komi

annhig

komi,

somehow i just knew when I clicked on your thread that it was going to be one of THOSE sorts of threads. by that i mean one by someone who has looked at a map [hopefully] of France or Italy, and thinks - those are the places I'd like to see, and i've got 10 days, so let's make it fit.

Sadly, IMO [and there are those here who will tell me I'm wrong, but not that many] you will sell yourselves short if you try to pack so much into just 11 days. in fact to do that itinerary justice, you'd need closer to 3 weeks.

However, you could have a very pleasant anniversary trip [congratulations BTW] if you just stuck to the northern half of your route.

to descend to details, as you are starting in and leaving from Paris, it would be a good idea to group all your Paris days and nights at the end of the trip. That means that you don't break it up and get maximum time in Paris, and that you are in the right place for flying home.

and as your musts are Mont st. Michel and the beaches of Normandy, going there first from the airport would be a good idea. That would use up your first 3-4 nights. Then I would then head south to the Loire and spend a couple of nights in a really nice hotel, visiting a few chateaux en route. i can't recommend one for your big splurge as we don't tend to stay in places like that [sadly] but I'm sure that there are those here who can.

finally, return your car [this is a trip that you're really going to need a car for] to a station convenient to where you are staying and to a fast train into Paris, and spend your last 3-4 nights there before going home.

bon voyage!

StCirq

Eleven days minus three is eight, just over a week.

You don't have nearly enough time to take in everything you've mentioned. If you drop the Dordogne and Bordeaux you could have an enjoyable, though somewhat fast-paced, trip.

I would get right on the train to the Loire at CDG after landing (I'm proposing this instead of anhhig's plan to go straight to Normandy because trains to Normandy involve going into Paris first; trains to the Loire zip right straight out from the airport). I like getting to the farthest point on my itinerary right off the bat and not splitting up my time in Paris, which involve more logistics than are necessary. Go straight to the Loire, rent the car, tour the Loire, drive to le Mont-St-Michel, spend the night, then drive to Normandy, base yourself in Bayeux but keep the car to visit the D-Day sites, etc., then either ditch the car in Caen and take the train back to Paris, or drive to Chartres, visit the cathedral, ditch the car, and take the train back to Paris.

komi

Annhig and StCirq, thank you for the quick replies. I had originally planned on doing just Normandy and the Loire. After reading about Bordeaux and the foie gras in The Dordogne ( yes looking at a map annhig, lol) thought I would see if it was feasible.
I don't want to be running everyday so I'll take your advise and drop Bordeaux and Dordogne.
I like the idea of going straight from the airport to the Loire and saving paris for last.
Anything else you can think of would be great.
Thanks, Komi

klondike

To see where Mont St. Michel fits into the plan, you might want to check the tide tables for around the time of your visit...it is extra special to be there when the tide comes rushing in, especially the fall equinox.

Have visited MSM 4 or five times but only caught the tides once.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I'll give you a couple of threads you can look at that will give you a lot of info you might find useful for researching either the Loire region or Normandy.

This thread will give you links to all the major tourist office websites in the Loire:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-de-france.cfm

This thread will give you lins to thr major tourist office websites in Lower Normandy:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#39058384

Mont Saint-Michel:

http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/index.htm?lang=en

http://www.bienvenueaumontsaintmichel.com/

If you want to buy tickets from CDG to Tours you should buy them up to 3 months in advance for the cheapest prices using www.voyages-sncf.com. Here is a website that will assist you in using that website:

http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchTrain.htm

For car rental info use www.autoeurope.com. I believe those trains that depart from CDG to Tours will arrive at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and that the car rental agencies are right next to the train station. Never done it myself though.

annhig

komi - thank you for taking our advice in the spirit in which it was meant ie to help you have a great trip!

you will find that specialities of the south-west of France like foie-gras and confit de canard are available pretty well anywhere in France, and both the Dordogne and Bordeaux will be there for your 25th anniversary. St Cirq's route looks like a good one and puts Paris at the end, which will make your trip much nicer, IMO.

for tips about touring Normandy in particular, you may find this TR by an american fodorite living in the UK amusing as well as informative:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-uk-stops.cfm

as for the Loire, opinions are divided as to the best base for touring the chateaux - some people favour Saumur, others Amboise. We've stayed in both and preferred Saumur, but that may be because it was our first trip and we had such a good time that everything about that trip is remembered with affection. which you choose [or indeed somewhere else!] will depend on which chateaux you want to visit and where you can find a hotel that you like.

Saumur is convenient for Saumur, Angers, Chinon, [another potential base] Villandry, Azay-le-rideau and many others; Amboise for Amboise, Chenonceau, Blois, Chaumont, and still more.

The Michelin green guide to the Loire would be very useful in helping you plan, I think particularly its proposed touring itineraries and maps!

bon voyage!

komi

Thanks for the links FMtours, very helpful. Klondike, we will be there for a full moon and will try to catch the tide coming in, thanks. Thanks again Annhig . Going to look into the green guide.

Komi

FrenchMystiqueTours

The tide chart is on the MSM website I gave you the link for. Enjoy your trip.

RonZ

Good suggestion a train direct to the Loire. You should go to St Pierre des Corps [outside of Tours]. The station is small and the cars close by in the lot. Schedules here:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?

We rent our cars from Europcar through Autoeurope, using the toll free number.