We will be traveling to Paris in 2009 for 5 nights, then take the TVG to Provence for 4 nights and French Riviera 4 nights. Flying home out of Nice.

We'll be using frequent flyer miles so we need to return before May 15 to each use 40,000 each on American Airlines, if we come back any later we'd have to use 60,000 miles.

I was looking at leaving April 25 and returning May 9, but now I'm wondering if it would be better to leave May 1 and return May 15 for better weather. Or, logically one week probably wouldn't make too much of a difference. Also, we'd be arriving in Paris on a Saturday if we leave on May 1 and arriving on a Sunday if we leave April 25. Does any of that make a difference.

I don't think 1 week makes a whole lot of difference.

Have you already checked to make sure there are FF seats available for either dates?

There are a couple of holidays in beginning of May, so you may want to research that and see how that fits into your itinerary.

I don't think you can predict that the weather is going to be any different in a one week period, either. So I'd choose for other reasons.

I'd definitely go with the second date, but not for weather reasons -- to avoid the May 1st holiday. May 8th holiday is in either one, but it's not as much of a problem in terms of things being closed.

Ariving on a Sat vs Sunday doesn't mean anything in particular to me, don't see what difference it makes. Both are weekends so traffic from airport shouldn't be too bad.

May 1 holiday, if we leave on April 25 after spending the 5 nights in Paris is the morning we would be taking the TVG to Avignon, will there be a problem? What holiday is it?


If the train is not a problem we would be traveling on this big holiday anyways.

Not answering your question, Suze1, but you answered a question I was going to call American to get the answer to. We are planning a FF trip under the same time constraints and I wondered if they allow open jaw flights on those tickets. Sounds like they do.

May 1st is Labor Day in most of the world.

It's a good day to take a train (once you have verified the holiday TGV schedule), as it is the day when just about everything is closed in France.

Don't worry -- many restaurants and cafés will still be open.

You should check and book w/ airlines soon. Your latter date dovetails with the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24, 2009). That may be the reason for black-out (higher priced) date to/from Nice. You could take TGV to another international airport city, even back to Paris, for return. You might experience difficulty getting reasonably priced accommodations for that span, at least in eastern riviera. You might investigate the west-St. Tropez-which has best beaches along the riviera.

Enjoy your trip.

suze1 - May 1 is a major holiday. Trains will be operating on holiday schedule (ie fewer trains). Will you be renting a car when you arrive in Avignon? The car rental place probably won't be open on May 1. Also, finding restaurants that are open on May 1 can be challenging.

lennyba - Yes, you can book open-jaw with AA but it can only be done by phone.

Suze1:

Just wanted to say that we were in Paris this year on April 23-April 29, and then again on May 5. The first day was cold and rainy; the remaining days were sunny bright and beautiful. On May 5, it was mid-70s, nice and warm.

Of course, who knows what the weather will be like next year, but I think any of those dates would be fine. It's beautiful that time of year.

We were in Rome over May 1 holiday, and really didn't have any problem with restaurants, etc. being closed. Not sure what it was like in Paris, but I'm guessing it's about the same.

The rental car places are open at the major train stations of France on May 1st, including Avignon.

With American Airlines you can make your reservation 329 days before the date of your return, if I return May 9 I can call for the open jaw ticket this Thursday June 19. Amercian will not take reservations any earlier.

Sounds like I should just stick to leaving as my original plan April 25 and returning May 9. The car would be picked up in Avignon. I really can't imagine trains and car rentals not being functional on a holiday.

Kerouac, May 1 might be Labor Day in most of the world but certainly not where I live in the US. Labor Day is in September.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/30/lab...830mayday.html

.. rather interesting "history of Labor Day"...

<i>May 1st is a national holiday in Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic,Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, M&eacute;xico, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, the Philippines (spelled as &quot;Labor Day&quot, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.

In Slovenia and Ukraine, May 2 is also a national holiday.

In Poland, while May 1 is a national holiday, it was renamed from Labour Day to simply &quot;State Holiday&quot; in 1990.</i>

Anyway, we have trash collection 364 days a year in Paris. Not on May 1st.

Just thought I'd let you know that I made my reservations this morning with my FF miles on American Airlines. We leave April 25 to Paris and return May 9 from Nice. I'm soooo excited even though it's a long way off.

I emailed the TVG and they said the train ran on May 1 so I shouldn't have any problems getting to Provence.

We were in Paris this May 1 and had some of your same concerns. Not to worry. With the exception of museums and some shops it seemed to be business as usual. The trains are on a holiday schedule but that is not a hardship. If you decide to stay in Paris on the 1st, there will be plenty to see and do. BTW we also use AA ff miles and returned on the 15th. We had to change flights in Heathrow on the trip home and were concerned what would happen if our connection (both legs made by AA) was missed because of delayed arrival. AA assured us that in that case, if they couldn't get us out the same day, we would not be charged the extra miles. That was good to know. We almost hoped that would happen for a bonus day in London.

Basingsotke 2, thank you for your input. We will be leaving for Avignon May 1 in the morning on the TVG. I plan to get the train tickets a couple of months ahead of time so I can get PREM tickets, hopefully the whole process will not be difficult.

We're also going through Heathrow on the way back home out of Nice. I know that's a crazy airport.

You could also look at www.wunderground.com for historical weather. They have a &quot;travel planner&quot; or &quot;trip planner&quot; page where you put in your dates (example April 25 and May 9) and then you can see the last few years actual whether for that period.

suze1 - enjoy your trip. Our transfer at Heathrow was painless. Our flight to Heathrow arrived on time and the 2 hours between flights was more than enough without rushing, even including the shuttle between terminals. We even had time to shop a bit.

Suze1, your post is very timely as I'm planning almost the exact trip using AA off-peak miles. I haven't called AA yet, and I can't see the Lyon flight options online. What airline does AA use from Lyon on the return trip. My best guess is British Airways connecting with an AA flight in LHR.(?)