what's your favorite region of france (besides Paris)?
 

What's your favorite part of France, outside of Paris?

My husband and I are planning our summer holiday right now. We'd like to spend one week in Paris, and the second in another part of France. We currently live in Beijing, China so we'd like our vacation to include clean air, beautiful scenery, and delicious wine and food. We'd also like to treat ourselves to a certain amount of luxury. In the interests of time, we're hoping to avoid regions that take more than 1/2 a day to reach by car or public transport. Places we've considered are Corsica and the Loire Valley -- anywhere else??? Merci!

petitepois
What about Provence-cote de Azur?
flying to Nice.

Alsace!

Its a toss up between La Dordogne and Normandy.

We love Normandy and the Loire Valley but I would choose Provence as my favorite. Lots of clean air, beautiful scenery and delicious wine and food.

Provence..

One of the most enjoyable and beautiful areas of France is Languedoc-Roussillon which is the undiscovered "Provence". It's essentially the area of just above Spain between the Gulf of Lion and the Pyrenees mountains. The land, people, food and wine were all fantastic. A town not to miss if you go there is LaGrasse, one of the "Most Beutiful Villages in France" designees. The double walled old city of Carcassonne is also well worth a visit. We stayed in very cozy little guest house called Lou Castelet in the town of Fabrezon. Give it a try, you won't be over run with other travellers and you'll feel like you found a hidden gem.

Of the parts I've visited (and that's not very much of the country), my favorites were Provence and the Dordogne.

<<we'd like our vacation to include clean air, beautiful scenery, and delicious wine and food>>

Dordogne, Dordogne, Dordogne...

Without a doubt, PROVENCE!
Beautiful flowers, abundance of sunshine, the smell of wild herbs, glorious markets, wonderful food, cheery colors and warm people.

Vive Cigalchante!!

My wife and I have gone to Provence in each of the last 11 years. It has all you ask and more. We stay in St. Remy de Provence. You can search earlier e-mails under St. Remy from many Fodorites for confirmation.

An honorable mention to Normandy.

I've never been there, but the French I've talked to consider Dordogne to be the Tuscany of France (for good and bad).

No it's Provence that is more like Tuscany. Look at photos of landscapes.
If you love castles, you'll like the Dordogne. Like Tuscany, Provence has fields of sunflowers, lavender and rappé and poppies in season. One day, I'd like to see one of my favorite flowers in bloom, the mimosa, on the cote dÁzur, but that's in January, February.

I supose I'm alowed to vote, despite being french.

I'd go with the Dordogne. Clean air, scenery and definitely good wine and food. You can also add great medieval castles, quaint towns and prehistoric sites.

By the way, IMO, the Loire Valley castles are certainly a must-see, but on the overall, the scenery in this region isn't that great. Still IMO, the less beautiful of all the regions already mentionned in this thread.

That is a tough question...my favorite, as well as the most beautiful area of France is the one I happen to be in at that time...I haven't seen anything I didn't like yet. For a country its size, it is incredibly diverse.

I agree with that wren, each is so different. I like Brittany alot, the coast line is so beautiful and the seafood, I'll never forget. But I also loved Normandy and return there often.
Alsace is so full of flowers and around perpignan the bridges are all decked out in flowery splender. But my heart commits to Provence, where we have made so many friends.

La Dordogne has it all-gourmet food, leisure activities, natural beauty. Can't say enough good about it.

Though I really enjoy the Loire Valley, you can only take so many castles at one time.

If you're looking for the sea, I prefer Brittany over Normandy, but I'm a fan of celtic culure/history. Both are pastoral, but Brittany has stronger ties to the sea, Normandy has WWII interest obviously.

It comes down to what interests you. Happy researching!

I agree with wren. I loved the Auvergne and Central Massif this past Spring. I loved Bretagne around Nantes and La Rochelle just a few weeks ago.

I try to tell myself I saw the Loire again and the Dordogne this past spring too, since I was at the headwaters of the Loire in Le Puy-en-Velay and Dordogne when in Le Mont Dore. :-)

As an aside, Paris is not my favorite part of France. I've grown to love the rest of France much more in the last 3 years. I love to visit big cities but after a few days I prefer the pace and price of the countryside.

The "Tuscany of France" meaning they thought that visitors believe the Dordogne embodies all that is France. Not that they are similar in landscape or population.

I would have to say Brittany, for its rugged coastline, and charming villages and ancient culture.

Tho' the area where we've bought our house- South West France; Hautes Pyrenees is stunning. Pau is a lovely city and the views to the mountains are tremendous.