weather or crowds re France trip
 

First off, let me jump to "sorry" if this is not specific enough or too long.
We are going on our first trip to France next year. Exciting and overwhelming. We have tickets on AirFrance already booked from a trip we had to postpone. I could only extend out to March 1st of next year at the time. I am considering paying the difference to change the tickets to March 29-April 18 or May 20-June 2. Do you think the chances for better weather in May outweighs the likeliness of more crowds than the April dates? Thanks for your feedback.

With the small time difference (only a few weeks) I would not base your choice primarily on weather. Paris weather is very fickle. Early April could be clear and in the 60s (being lucky) and Late May could be rainy and in the 60s (being unlucky). If it were me I would probably do early April. This is a popular time in Paris mind you and you will still have crowds, but you may not be dealing with the travel congestion in the Airports as much! But, I think in this case you should go with what best fits your personal schedule.

Try to avoid the Easter period itself, which is the beginning of the travel season.

Easter falls on April 16th next year, right smack in the middle. When you say avoid Easter period do you mean time before or after or all of the above? Do school kids get a break at that time?

Thanks for the replys

My girlfriend and husband were in Paris for Easter last year and everything was crowded. Couldn't even go to Church on Easter sunday. The weather was cold and wet. She didn't have a very good time.

PS She was told (in France) that Easter week is the busiest tourist time of the year.

on the other hand...

i was in france the first half of April 2002 - until the day before Easter. spent Palm Sunday in Sarlat. we followed people carrying branches of greenery and found where they were gathering for the start of the procession. a young man gave us a few pieces of his greenery, so we had some to hold up for the blessing and then carry to the church. i pressed the greens and still have them as a special memento of our trip.

on Good Friday we were back in Paris and sat for part of the mass at Sacre Couer, before heading down to the Place du Tertre. we had ice cream as we strolled in the sun, and found an artist to draw my son's picture. he spoke English with a French/Irish accent, and explained he learned the language from Irishmen in the pub around the corner.

i understand that many French people and Europeans do travel during the school holidays (you can find out which week in a current travel guide). we didn't find it to be a problem at all. we had museum passes in Paris which helped us bypass any lines there. if you are going to a resort, it might be harder to get reservations and the price of accomodations may be higher. i didn't see that in Paris or in villages in Normandy or the Dordogne however. and April was especially wonderful in Normandy, with the apple trees in bloom.

so there's one positive perspective for you.

to tell you the truth, i don't see how you could have less than a wonderful time whether you go in March or April or May, as long as you take a light-weight rain jacket, clothes you can layer if it gets cool, and a spirit of adventure.

have a wonderful trip, kate

Hi

you don't say where in France, although some have assumed Paris !

You could ski in the alps or sit on a Med beach in March / April.

Probably worth breaking up your trip to get down to the South for better weather ?

Peter

Hi L,

Where in France?

((I))

I think from mid March right on thru May it will be hard to tell in advance what kind of weather you'll have. I go to Paris in March fairly often (this March will be my third March trip in 5 years) and the weather varries from freezing (literally) to sunny and 70. Sometimes in the same week! I've also been there in July when it was in the 50s and rainy for several days at a time. By mid March the grass is green, there is forsythia and daffodils, etc. Very nice, but definitly not the abundance of flowers (or leaves on the trees) that there will be in May.

I prefer March to July in terms of the crowds. But that's only around the big tourist sites. Paris is a large city and easy enough to get away from crowds. I was there on Easter one year and don't recall it being particularly crowded. Notre Dame was packed for good friday mass but that was about it for real crowds.

Thanks for all your replies. As you might have guessed I am a weather wimp. Yes, so. Cal. spoiled. Thin blood... 90 degrees no problem! I have a particular fondness for flowers so May is sounding wonderful. I'm sure it's all going to be great and I'm just stressing for no reason.
We are planning on Paris, The Rhone, Burgundy and Provence and hopefully Loire if we can. I figure we'll do one side and then the other at another time.

While May might bring better weather, it will also bring quite a few holidays. That can affect your planning; so be sure to take them into account. You can get a list at the Paris American Embassy web site.

We were in Paris last June, the first week. It didn't seem crowded to us, and the weather was moderately warm with just a few showers.