linda

We will be flying into Paris in September then going to Bitche for a few days. We want to take the train and get as close to Bitche as we can then rent a car. Is Metz or Strasbourg closer? Is it possible to take a bus from Metz or Strasbourg into Bitche and rent a car there? (And NO - I don't play the banjo but my husband does. And he is a nut. Don't tell him I said that.)

Betty

Bitche is pretty small, about 5700 inhabitants. I doubt you would find a car rental office there. Besides it's cheaper to arrange a car rental before you leave the States. Although Strasbourg is just a bit closer to Bitche, it is further from Paris and takes about an hour longer to get there by train than if you stop at Metz. If I were you I would arrange to pick up a car in Metz and just drive from there to Bitche - looks like about 60 mi.

Ann

True, but Strasbourg is much nicer, unless you plan to be in Metz on a flea-market Saturday. I'd go from Strasbourg for the scenery, stop in the pottery villages enroute, have a wonderful Alsatian lunch (perhaps at au Boeuf in Bechdorf).

Ann

Linda, sorry, I was just in the pottery villages this weekend and realized that I meant to recommend the Restaurant au Boeuf which is one village over, in Soufflenheim. I think you'll love the scenery enroute to Bitche through this area.

xxx

I find tha village of Hore far nicer than Bitche, it is located near Slappy, in the region of Hass-ol.