Quick Paris/Loire notes...and a thank you!
 

Upon our return from a two week trip to Paris and Amboise, I would like to thank all the kind people who use this board to help each other plan trips. We were helped in many instances by the tips found here or by direct responses to my questions. For all of that, thanks!

I am not eloquent enough to post a full trip report (and thanks to all the red wine, do I actually remember all the things that we did... just kidding!)

However, this trip was all about doing things that we had not done on previous trips so I will briefly mention a few of them.

Paris:
1. Fat Tire Bike Tours:
This company is professional, irreverent, safe, and informative. We took the Paris Day Tour, but as we were staying on the Ile St. Lous, we met many others who took the Night Tour (when they stopped for Berthillion ice cream) and they shared our view. It is just a cool way to see Paris.

http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/

2. Paris Walks:
Based upon the London Walks that are so great, this company does a very thorough job with their guides. We took the French Revolution Walk and our guide was excellent. Note: Fat Tire always does walking tours, called City Walks of Paris, but since we did not take one I cannot vouch for them.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pariswalking/

3. St. Chappelle concert:
We have been to St. Chappelle many times before, but going at night with the wonderful lighting, acoustics, and atmosphere was truly a treat. There are posters all over listing the concert dates/times, but get your tickets early (we purchased ours the morning of the show) at the tiny box office near the main St. Chappelle ticket window. We paid the couple of extra Euros to sit in the first section very close the the musicians (it is first come seating) and we were able to observe the smiles and facial nuances expressed by this particular group of very talented people.

4. Riding bikes to Giverny
On previous trips we have driven a car to Giverny or taken a day trip from Paris on a tour bus. Both were great, but this trip we were trying new things so we took the train to Vernon and rented bikes at the cafe right across from the train station. It could not have been easier and the ride was 30 minutes or so mostly on a bike/walking trail. After leaving Giverny, we had a picnic in Vernon while we waited for the train back to Paris (Gare St. Lazare).

5. Paris Apartment:
This is a theme discussed at length on this message board.
We rented from Guest Apartment Services. They offer mostly high end (pretty expensive) places on the Ile St. Louis and a few in the Marias. I know that many of you state that you are not in your room much because you are in Paris for goodness sakes so why spend a ton of money on your lodging. I agree completely. However, some trips require a bit of a splurge (this was an anniversary trip) and this company fills that need wonderfully. They were always very prompt answering all of my many e-mailed questions, they do require 50% down to reserve the apartment, but they handle everything with class and flair and their website is very well done. Besides, when you walk over the bridge from Notre Dame at midnight to your home on the Ile St. Louis, you will feel very Parisian! Highly recommended!

http://www.guestapartment.fr/

Finally regarding two often discussed issues on this board-Carte Orange and the Museum Pass, I would recommend both. Do a search on either and you will find numerous threads discussing these. The Carte Orange was very easy to buy and the Museum Pass saves you time which is even more important than the Euros that you will also save.

Loire Valley/Amboise
We have based ourselves in Tours on prior trips to the Loire, but I think that Amboise is a better choice. The central location is crucial, but beyond that it is much smaller and while it is a bit touristy it lets you feel a part of the town while you meander the tiny streets that surround the chateau. The wonderful market on Sunday is huge!

We rented bikes in town and rode to three other chateaus/chateaux?. The Loire region is in the midst of developing a wonderful set of biking trails for the day trip cyclist and while they are not done yet, when they do complete it, you will be able to safely cycle all over the region.
My final tip is to recommend the hotel in which we stayed in Amboise - Le Manoir les Minimes. This hotel truly made our stay in Amboise wonderful. It is a first class place, but with a very relaxed atmosphere. It sits at the foot of the chateau with great views of the river as well. The staff was extremely helpful, the hotel is immaculate, and the feeling that you get when you stay there is that you do not wish to leave. Check out TripAdvisor for other traverlers' views. Very highly recommended!

http://www.manoirlesminimes.com/

Again, take these notes as just a few ramblings from someone who loves to travel, loves to plan to travel, and is very appreciative of those who help others plan their travels.

Merci!

Hi tim,

Thanks fr sharing your useful tips.

((I))

Excellent! Just enough and thanks for posting the links. Those apts. are beautiful and I've bookmarked them!

Tim - thank you for the wonderful report (don't sell yourself short!). I looked at the apartment website as well as the manoirs. They look very nice and the prices were great too.

It's been years since I've been to France and didn't know about the concerts at Ste. Chapelle - thanks for the info. DH and I would enjoy it - are they a nightly event or only certain days?

It looks like we may have settled on France as our October destination so I may be picking your brain!

Thanks, Tim, we've rented a Paris apartment and a cottage not far from Amboise for May next year. Your report is full of valuable information for us!
Hope to enjoy as much red wine!!

Tim,
I was excited to read your trip report. We returned from a trip in June and did almost the same tours in Paris. Since we only had 2 1/2 days in Paris we had to use our time wisely. The tours you mentioned were perfect. It was my husbands first trip to France and my 5th. Our time in France started in Normandy with historic tours, then LeMans race in Loire Valley and ended in Paris for great food, drink & museums. It was a perfect trip for my husband. In Paris we stayed at the Hotel Therese in the 1st, affordable with very small rooms but perfectly located.

We loved the French Revolution walking tour. It was the easiest tour with no pre-booking, most tours meet at a metro stop. The tour was only 10 euros and they have great variety of other tours as well. We also arranged a wine tasting afternoon through Fat Bike Tours. Olivier does not work for Fat Bike but you meet him in a cafe and we really learned alot about French wines. His english is perfect, he grew up in a vineyard and knows his wines. We had 6 wines to taste starting with whites and ending with dessert wine.

We started in Bayeux. It was the ideal starting point for my husband who loves history. There is a large English influence and we had no problems with any language barriers. We went on a tour with Alain Chesnel, Overlord Tours. His tours are very informative and small. We had only 6 total in the van and Mr. Chesnel personally drives to many places off the major sites. The specific tour was Omaha/The Band of Brothers which follows the first few days of Easy Company's air landing in Normandy. We stayed at the Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux which was very nice with fabulous service from the concierge, Cindy.

In the Loire Valley, I started looking for lodging early I thought, but due to the LeMans race it was a challenge. I found a chateau to stay in Durtal which is half way between Angers & LeMans. It was the perfect place, a lovely elegant but comfortable chateau called Chateau de Chambiers. The owners Anne & Elie Crouan (see review at trip advisor) could not have made our stay any more perfect. Anne's breakfasts were amazing all homemade jams with fresh local ingredients and she also served our most memorable meal in France.

It was a breeze to hire a car in Angers and drive to Durtal with Hertz. The A-11 connects to LeMans through Durtal. The race itself was quite an experience, we are race fans of American LeMans and was happy to see some of the drivers/cars we follow in the States. However, to see this race was a once in a lifetime experience. One we will never forget.

Overall the trip was perfect for the two of us so much that we are ready to plan another next year. However, would consider an apartment in Paris with a bit more space. Thanks, Tim for sharing your report. It brought back happy memories.

ttt

We too are staying at the Hotel d'Argouges and will be visiting Normandy.
Do you recommend the Overlord Tours or can you do the touring on your own. We have two chilrdren ages 18 & 15 and have rented a car. How long does it take to get to the beaches and the cemetary and how long would the tour take?
We arrive in Caen and rent the car at 1:00 and must get to Bayeux by 6:00 then have the next morning to tour and return the car to Rouen by 6:00 pm. Thus we have one afternoon and a day to tour the area.
Thanks for the help.

To Aggiemom,

The St. Chappelle concerts seem to be nightly in the summer, but I do not know about in October.
Speaking of Aggies, the Fat Tire Bike Tours company was created by Texas A & M people and that theme is very evident from their office to their choice of tour guides.
You (or anyone) are welcome to ask any other questions via e-mail.
Thank you all for the nice responses!

Aggiemom,

If you are interested in October concerts at Ste. Chapelle, go to ampconcerts.com. There are several scheduled for October.

mrk,
I found out about Normandy--Overlord Tours here at Fodors you may want to search the board for further Normandy info since this is a Paris/Loire thread.

Mr. Chesnel plans a full day and we met first thing in the morning and did not return to Bayeux until well after 6. But it was so informative and he took us to many out of the way historic sites; there was no way we could have done this on our own. There was a family with 2 young teens on our tour, the younger perhaps 13 was a bit tired by days end. They do 1/2 day tours as well.

Good luck with your planning.

Hello,

I am adding a link to a few (13) photos from our trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timjstark/sets/645052/

Enjoy!

Great Eiffel Tower pic, tim.

((I))