Hi,

I need some help. Although our itinerary is not in the "order" that many of you would advise, we have arranged it this way for various reasons. Now I'm on to planning the rest of the trip. Here is what is firm:

5/25/04 Arrive in London (Heathrow)
Victoria Parc Plaza (4 nights - Priceline.com)
Theater tickets to Chicago on 5/27

During this time, we also wish to visit Stonehenge (Astral Tour) & Windsor Castle/Windsor. We are going to leave the rest of this time open to whatever we want and *can* do in London.

5/29 (our 7th anniversary) drive to Chipping Campden
8 Bells (Reserved for 2 nights)

We plan to drive a car to the Cottswolds, but where is it advisible to pick the car up & drop it off?

5/31 Canterbury
Cathedral Gates Hotel (Reserved for 1 night)

Plan to take the chunnel to Paris from here. Should I purchase the tickets now?

In Paris, I'm considering the Hotel Muguet for a few days. But I'm not sure how many days we should plan. It's obvious we won't "see everything," but we'd like to get a taste in the limited time we have.

We would also like to visit champagne caves in Reims (especially Veuve Cliquot). Would this be best as a side trip out of Paris or should we make it a stop over night? Do not want to drink & drive!

At some point after Paris, we would like to rent a car and drive to Burgundy. I have selected Beaune, in Burgundy as a good location to plant ourselves for touring the area, as we love wines & my research displays a charming, beautiful village. I'm considering Chateau de Gilly here. La Moulin des Ruats, in Avallon is also very beautiful, but I'm afraid it's too far from Beaune (market, restaurants, vinyards, again, don't want to drink & drive) and too remote, all in all. (No?)

We are also wide open to staying in additional or alternative, smallish villages, etc.. (We're in our early 40's & interests include wine, beautiful views & countrysides, people, art, food, some light shopping, relaxing, romance...).

I'm having a difficult time grasping the concept of how long it will take to travel from one area of France to another. Although the drive will be part of the pleasure & the journey, I'm concerned that I'll plan too much travel & not enough time to relax & enjoy. We do have a good level of energy & adventure, though.

Our flight home departs from *HEATHROW* on 6/12. I'm assuming we should stay near Heathrow the evening before we leave, so I'll need advise on travel the day of 6/11 (so where should we be around 6/10?).

By the way, our accommodation "budget" is up to about $150 (or less) per night.

Oy. This is hard. I'm beginning to think planning this on my own, rather than the tour we considered (but were talked out of on this board!) might have been the better decision.

Thanks in advance for your much anticipated & appreciated help.

Katiebug:

As I understand it, you have 9 days in France - arriving on 6/1 and departing on 6/10.

I'd spend 4 days in Paris, then drive to Reims and spend the night there (that would be the night of 6/5). Next afternoon, drive to Beaune. Spend the next four nights in Beaune. Leave Beaune on 6/10 and drive back to Paris. Ditch the car and spend the night in Paris. Leave for England by mid-day on 6/11, spend the night in London or near Heathrow, depart on 6/12.
Alternatively, ditch the car in Beaune and take the train back to Paris on 6/10.

You can find distances and driving times on www.mappy.com

I can only advise on one topic, and that is Reims. Given your schedule and all the moving around and traveling you are planning, I definitely would only go to Reims for a day trip. It is very easy to do, and pleasant. There is no need to drive, I wouldn't consider driving to Reims regardless; a train gets you there in 90 min. easily from Paris and doesn't cost much (around 30-40 euro RT as I recall).

I don't remember exactly where Veuve Clicquot is in Reims, but if it isn't within walking distance of the train station, it would be a short cab ride. Also make sure to see the cathedral (the stained glass is beautiful) and perhaps a museum, also. YOu have plenty of time to do all that in a day without moving there.

Regarding driving times, go to www.mapquest.com There are others, but I think this is one of the easiest sites to use. Click "driving directions" and then "europe". Click the country in the right places and enter city names. You will get the best route as well as driving distance and time. Of course, you can vary that by picking out more backroads, etc., but it will give you a good basic idea.

The rental car for two days in the Cotswalds? You could pick up and return somewhere in London, but the easiest might be to do so in Oxford -- easy train connections to there and easy car pick up near the train station. AutoEurope will have a three day minimum, so unless you're keeping the car later on the third day than you picked up on the first, I'd check Avis or Hertz, which in this case might actually be a better rate. I'm 99% sure both will have pick-up available near Oxford's train station.
Or are you planning to keep the car to drive to Canterbury? If so, you could probably drop it off there or at Ashford, which is where I'm assuming you are picking up the Eurostar to Paris.

About Chateau de Gilly it is a fantastic place with a great restaurant that has a vaulty, stone ceiling. Another suggestion nearby is Château de Saulon
Route de Seurre 21290 Saulon-la-Rue
[email protected]

A lovely Abbey to visit near there is:
http://www.citeaux-abbaye.com/

I posted a fairly long reply, but it didn't take. Please e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll be glad to send you the information. We've spent a fair amount of time in Burgundy, and I've ever written articles on it for the bonjour.paris web site, and I can send those to you; they're too long to post here.

ttt.

Thanks.

Sorry, but this doesn't seem to be "topping." I'll try again.

TTT