Can anyone recommend some nice weekend side trips during a 2 week Paris visit? Going alone in September<BR><BR>Thanks much...

The Loire Valley and/or Normandy. In some ways you could almost use the same base for either one (though not the perect location for EITHER one) - - www.chateaudejonvilliers.com - - I have never been there, but high on my wanna-try-soon list. Conveniently located - - especially for Versailles or Chartres.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

I have a day trip file that I will e-mail upon request.

In six weeks we will be on a return trip to Paris. This time I will visit Giverny and Vaux le Vicomte, both of which I'm told are not to be missed. Here are some websites:<BR><BR>http://www.fondation-monet.com/uk/plan/index.html<BR><BR>http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/eng/accueil.htm<BR><BR>If you've not been to France before, other "must sees" are Versaille and the Invasion Beaches and museum along the Normandy coast and Caen.<BR>

Monet's home in Giverny is a wonderful day-trip from Paris. You take the train to Vernon. Outside the train station there will be buses going to Monet's home in Giverny. The gardens are incredible. We went in May, and it was the highlight on our trip. The flowers were gorgeous.<BR><BR>Another good day-trip would be to go to Versailles. We saw the palace and the gardens, and liked the gardens better than the palace. Great place for a picnic. If you can, Sunday is the best day to go because that's the day they turn the fountains on. The fountains do not run year round, so you might want to check and see if they will be on when you're in France. <BR><BR>Both of these locations have websites.<BR><BR>Please e-mail me if you want more information.

Auvers sur Oise where Van Gogh spent his last days is on my next Paris trip itinerary.

When we were there, we did a day trip to Londone thru Paris Vision Tours on Eurostar. We really enjoyed it, although we wished we'd had more time there.<BR><BR>We also did a day trip to Versailles which we navigated easily on our own via the rails in Paris.<BR><BR>Good luck on whatever you decide!<BR>

I enjoyed my daytrip to Rouen the best. I left at 9:00am and returned at about 6:00pm. You could go on to Le Havre on the same train line. Rouen had more to see in a whole day than other places I visited. If I had 2 nights, I would consider the D-day beach areas. I can send you my trip report on Rouen if you e-mail me directly.

Auvers-sur-Oise is one of my all-time favorites.<BR><BR>But I have to add, as a half-day trip out of Paris, the Ile des Impressionistes, and lunch at La Maison Fournaise, where Renoir painted the "luncheon of the boating party" or "d&eacute;jeuner des canottiers." It's a classic guingette on a small island in Chatou, about 15 minutes outside Paris by RER (line A). There's a very small island with a museum (that was closed when I was there two weeks ago but which will open up after April 26). You can eat in the very same place the luncheon took place, and the food is good (menu at 24 euros, &aacute; la carte more expensive, as always) and the atmosphere incomparable. There's not much else to see on the island, but just to be there in the spot where the painting was conceived and watch the river fly by is a great experience (especially so if you've been to the ch&acirc;teau at Auvers-sur-Oise and rented the headphones and learned about the technology and influences that allowed the Impressionistes to experience new things and incorporate them into their paintings).

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