My 16 year old daughter and myself are going to Paris next week for 10 days. The first 4 days we will be staying at the Ritz then I would like to take her to the beach. Any suggestions on the best place to go? Hotel or ??? I do not want to move around too much...this is for relaxation and of course shopping.

Do we fly to the South or take a train?

Thank you!

Paris where? Paris, France or Paris city in a state in the US? Please specify or you won't get any useful replies.

I see you are a first time poster. Two mistakes you made.

First, you flagged it as a Trip Report(like you had been there already and were going to tell us about your experience there).
Second, you posted on the US board. There is a Europe Board. You can find that under "change forum". Repost your questions there. You will like this site and find it very useful.

Paris France!

Wish you had asked earlier, because now you appear to have your tickets, hotels, etc. I think some of us would have suggested you get an open jaw flight; into Paris and back from Nice, for example. Now you will have to back track from the south of France, and with only ten days will waste precious vacation time doing that.

There are other beaches that are within reach of Paris, of course, but it is a bit late to do your planning, as many of the accommodations will be booked for the French going on their traditional August holidays.

There are lots of beaches in France so I would get a map and do some googling to see what intersets you.

Some examples:

La Rochelle
Normandy
Brittany
Cote d'Azur
Area by the Spanish coast
Biarritz

Whether you should fly or train depends on the location and what the transport links are like. These certainly wouldnt be day trips from Paris so you will want to stay for at least a few nights.

The weather in France has been somewhat cool and rainy this year so I would go to the Cote d'Azur to try for the warmest weather available. The beaches in the south of France are not soft sand but more usually rocky.

If you are going south, I would fly to Nice from Paris although taking a train is also an option, just a longer trip.

What beach are you aiming for? France has thousands. How best to get there depends on where you're headed, and you're awfully late in making plans. If you ARE headed to the Côte d'Azure, it's a shame if you're holding a return ticket from Paris, because you'll have to get back there.

Taking a train to the south of France takes about as much time, overall, as flying. So if that's your plan, get TGV tickets. You're already 2+ months late to get any bargains, though.

I'd say that you'll be going wherever you can find a hotel room. It's a bit late to be booking for next week.

Click on "hotels" at the top of the screen and start looking for a place to stay.

Don't forget to check for responses to both your threads.

BTW I would fly to Nice.

thankyou!

I don't think this trip is that concerned about budget, it appears irrelevant. The Ritz is hardly for penny-pinchers, so missing out on online advance purchase train fares doesn't matter, I don't think. But the complicated thing is having to get back to Paris, if that is the requirement, that is really the bad part.

I would veto the whole beach thing myself, I just think it's a complete waste of time and money to go to Paris and then want to go to a beach for a few days. Besides, you can't do shopping at the beach, resort areas aren't good for that (nor is Nice).

However, I'll suggest Barcelona instead of France. YOu can fly Easyjet from CDG to BCN for around 100-150 euro one-way and Barcelona has a beach right there and terrific shopping.

Hi E,

Are you aware that Paris creates beaches for the Summer?

http://www.paris.fr/english/visit/hi...146_port_18969

Agree that most of the beaches in the south of France are not very pleasant - many are rocks or pebbles versus sand. However, some of the deluxe hotels right on the water do have sand beaches - but you would need to search for that specifically.

Shopping is much better in Paris - unless you want to go to Monaco and blow you budget on the ultra exclusive designer shops.

Consider paying the change fee on your flights and rearrange your plans.

Check into the Amalfi coast in Italy. You can go to the Florida beaches when you get home.

Nice.

good advice thankyou

Oh I just posted on your other thread.