Next year, end of May, we have RT tix to Paris. We'd like to spend a long weekend outside of the City before we return there for the 2nd week of Roland Farros / the French Tennis Open. In the 2 past years we've taken the TGV down to Provence, and now we're exploring where else to go for the weekend. Perhaps a not horrendously long drive from CDG upon our arrival that Friday morning, that we can do return trip of on Monday. The Chateuax of Loire Valley? Champagne region & Reims? I'm looking for suggestions, even as I thumb through the Relais & Chateaux book. Many thanks!

Loire..Stay at a chateau, go for wine tasting, visit the famous Chateaux of the region- Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny ...

Alternately, yes, Champagne is great, but not nearly as much to see. Eperney is just a small town (with lot of surrounding villages and champagne caves) and I find Reims provincial and run-down, not nearly the one you'd expect from its former glory. It is good if you love champagne wine and you plan to take some back home, but for maximum tourist impact- stick with Loire..

Alternately, you can go all the way to Belgium and visit its late-renaissance cities like Bruges and Gent.

Relais and Chateux book is wonderful if you are looking for a bespoke, overpriced hotel where you will be pampered now and drop names later.. Those are not, however, the only chateaux to stay at in France. In fact, France is replete with them, many still in private hands of families who rent their rooms for under 100 per night..Many of those often have fabulous restaurants, pools and all the other trappings of the "branded" chateaux-hotels...

Do visit:

www.chateaux-france.com or
www.chateauxhotels.com

for similar, but cheaper, experience...

The Loire Valley is lovely and would make a great choice. Amboise would make a good place for a weekend.
Last year we were in Normandy at the end of May - the weather and the countryside were simply beautiful. If you have never been to Giverny, that is a beautiful stop on the way from CDG to Normandy.There are lots of good choices.

Hi,

Bruges is a good suggestion.

You might also want to consider Dijon or Beaune or Bordeaux.

I might go up to Normandy or Bretagne. Honfleur is a lovely spot. I believe there is a hotel near there called "La Ferme" or something close to that which is supposed to be wonderful. My boss when I lived in France used to rave about it. Also a trip out to Monet's garden in Giverny is a day's trip. Not really enough for a weekend though. Of course the Loire is wonderful and so very different from here.

Hi-

I agree that Normandy and the Loire Valley are wonderful, but if you have been there, you might try Poitiers.
we spent time in the Poitou-Charentes region two years ago. It is a delightful area with charming small villages. The main city is Poitiers, but the villages of Angles-Sur-L'Anglin and Saint Savin are lovely. We stayed at the Chateau Du Clos De La Ribaudiere in Chasseneuil-Du-Poitou which is pretty centrally located so that you can explore a different town each day, if you want. You can get information on the area at the website: www.ville-chasseneuil-du-poitou.fr

A nice place to stay near Poitiers is the Chateau Curzay.

As you thumb through the Relais et Châteaux guide, stop at the Auberge des Templiers in Les Bézards. We stayed there twice, and the hotel (more like an inn, really, but very, very comfortable) has our very favorite room anywhere. There's a fine swimming pool, complete with a glider, and the food is excellent.

Some of the Relais et Châteaux hotels are more expensive than others. If you seek those outside the main tourist region you will find excellent lodgings that are not overpriced. An example of the expensive would be the Château de'Esclimont, which we did think overpriced. But for considerably fewer Euros there's the Château d'Igé in lower Burgundy. And of course not all the hotels are châteaux by any means.

As you thumb through the Relais et Châteaux guide, stop at the Auberge des Templiers in Les Bézards. We stayed there twice, and the hotel (more like an inn, really, but very, very comfortable) has our very favorite room anywhere. There's a fine swimming pool, complete with a glider, and the food is excellent.

Some of the Relais et Châteaux hotels are more expensive than others. If you seek those outside the main tourist region you will find excellent lodgings that are not overpriced. An example of the expensive would be the Château de'Esclimont, which we did think overpriced. But for considerably fewer Euros there's the Château d'Igé in lower Burgundy. And of course not all the hotels are châteaux by any means.

Besides the Loire Valley you could take a nice trip into Brittany; in late May the flowers would be bursting into bloom, and there are delightful places to stay and to see.

I could give you the information on an absolutely lovely spot about 1 hour east of Paris, the edge of champagne country. You could go to the mideval village of Provins, Belgium to Bastogne, or many othr places.

If interested drop me a note.