A friend and I have ten days to spend in France... only by train, beginning with Paris. What places would you visit? Any suggestions?

first decide what you want us to respond to. Churches? Food? Ambiance? History? Favorite sights?
Once you know what you want we are all here to help.

I'd spend the whole time in Paris taking day trips. Paris has so much to see that a week wouldn't even crack the surface. You could day trip by train to Rouen (1 day), Versailles (1 day), Chartres (1/2 day or more). I stayed for a month in Paris and if you would like my trip report just to get ideas, e-mail me at [email protected].

I will repost to say, even a month in Paris will not give you enough time to see everything

I can only reply with a French cliché: "Mais Paris, ce n'est pas la France" (Paris is not France)

I love Paris, but it's just one tiny piece of France, quite different in atmosphere and style from so many other places.
Doing day trips from Paris every day in my opinion would be tiring and frustrating (relying on Paris-Ile de France public transport *every* day for my holiday? no thanks).

I would suggest you spend five days in Paris, and then choose an area to base yourself in for the rest of your time. For example, from Paris you could visit Lyon, then take a train to Annecy in the Alps. Or you could head to Avignon and enjoy a few days in Provence. Or head to the Loire valley (although this area is less accessible without a car)...

I second Nancy's idea. As for "every day", you don't have to do that. I find not having a car in the other areas would be a big drawback, particularly in Provence and on a time crunch. The charm of Provence is the small towns. I might suggest Lyon for a day trip--or even Brugges. For a long day trip you could even take a Cityrama tour of the D-Day beaches.

Thank you all very much for the great info. I think that we will spenjd around four days in Paris, and possibly do a several day walk in Provence or the Alps...visiting small towns and stopping along the way.

Gee, 10 days in France, what would I do? I'm a newly retired 62yr old grump so do you really want to know what I woud do? Why don't you get a real good guidebook and try to discover the answers for yourself. Then come back if you need specific help.

"What would you do if you had ten days in France?"

i'd go to italy.

My first suggestion would be to stay as far away from grumpy people like uh_no_ying1.

Second suggestion would be to avoid jolly drunks who can't pass a certain tropical beverage!

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How dare you call me jolly, but I did like the retort! Touché, Mr. Grumpy!

I am sans the shades today, though, as Los Angeles has become Seattle for the past few days.

uuhhhh stole my line

that uuhhhh is a quick critter! He's jumped in to jingle nerves before I even got the chance!
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I agree with hanl, Paris is not France, and as an aside, the left bank is not Paris. I'd spend just 4 or 5 nights in Paris. Paris will always be there and there will always be something left to do there. For your 10 days you might as well see some of France. Another reason to stay outside of Paris is you can stay at hotels for about half the price of Paris. If you stay in Paris to do day trips you'll be spending a lot more for a hotel that you aren't using. The food can be much more reasonably priced too.

I don't like to travel more than 3 or 4 hours in a day and I rarely stay only one night in a hotel. I prefer to stay put a bit and not feel like I'm packing and unpacking every evening & morning. I prefer to take the trains too.

The Loire valley might work out nicely for you. You could spend 3 nights in Tours, 2 nights in Angers and head back to Paris.

Tours is a pretty big rail hub so it would be easy to take a day trip from there to a nearby town like Chinon or Chenonceau. There are also bus tours you can take to some of the chateaux that are not accessible by rail. Tours has a Gemmail museum and museum of fine arts, both are excellent. If you find examples of the illuminated glass art Gemmail on the web, the photos do not do them justice. They are much more spectacular in person.

Angers is a beautiful city that has a big castle that has a purpose-built bunker to house a set of revelation tapestries. The old church converted to a museum for sculptures by David d'Angers is pretty too. The liqueur Cointreau is manufactured on the edge of Angers.

Other possibilities for a couple of nights are Amboise and Blois.

I would split my time between Paris and one of the regions. The problem is that any of the regions are difficult without a car. Why not spend 6 days in Paris and then rent a car and go to one of the regions. I would not stay in more than two hotels as running around gets exhausting. You use your hotel as your base for your day trips.

"can't pass a certain tropical beverage"?

Tom, that can't go on forever, even if you had a hollow leg! All things, in time, must indeed, pass.

uh_no_ying1,

>>a newly retired 62yr old grump <<

no kidding, you a grump? I can't believe it, you're always so jovial...my only hope is that since you are a such a pain on this board, you leave people around you alone. They must have had a party for your retirement...after you left!

I suspect some who post here, if they had 10 days in France, or anywhere else, would probably spend at least some of their time posting and trying to outdo each other on this board!

Hi rcronin, I'm recalling my first visits to France years ago, and I'm remembering that on those trips, my friends and I did move around quite a bit -- unlike my preference to stay in one place now. We traveled by train and bus only. Here are our favorite base towns (other than our mandatory several days in Paris each time): Dambach-la-ville in Alsace, Annecy at the foot of the French Alps, Dinan in Brittany, and Blois along the Loire. All were dandy towns with plenty of daytrip possibilities. Have fun planning, and keep saying to yourself "I'll be back, I'll be back, I'll be back." J.