Hi, we are spending 3 weeks in France in April 09. Any ideas of where we should go and best way to get around? We%26#39;re (two of us) flying into Paris and thinking of spending 4 nights in Paris, including a day trip to Champagne, and then train to perhaps Rouen and hire a car to drive through to Normandy, Loire Valley and maybe frop off the car in Orleans and train down to Bordeaux. Would there be any do%26#39;s and dont%26#39;s with this sort of itinerary??
Not sure if we should book specific accommodation for each place now or wait until we are over there??
Thanks
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OK, April is getting close, especially if you want to hire an apartment anywhere, so you need to firm up some things pretty quickly.
# Suggest you look at some French guidebooks to get an idea of what areas really interest you.
# After Paris, a trip to Normandy,(via Giverny for Monet%26#39;s house and garden) then the Loire sounds lovely.
# You may want to stay a few days in the Normandy area and branch out each day to a different place, maybe see Bayeux and the tapestry, the landing beaches (very charged emotionally) Mt St Michel, somewhere like Dinan with its lovely medieval, half timbered houses, river port and cobbled streets.
nickbooth.id.au/Images/…029Dinan-morning.jpg
nickbooth.id.au/Images/France08/Lynn/025Dina…
# Then on to the Loire for a central spot to stay. Maybe not too big a town, but somewhere convenient to visit a few chateaux such as Chenonceau, Chambord or Loches (not as well known but %26quot;unusual, noice, different%26quot;) I would say stay at Amboise but the Wiz (another poster on TA) will get cross with me. Nevertheless, it is central. We stayed at Chinon, which we loved, but it is a bit to one side.
Frankly I would drive to Bordeaux. If you want exquisite and posh around this area, cross the Gironde by ferry to the Medoc and stay at Chateau Pauillac, and eat at the two star Cordiellan Bages restaurant. Sublime and expensive. Worth every penny.
…blogspot.com/2008/08/cordeillan-bages-eatin…
Then perhaps stay at St Emilion. It is a lovely little wine town, lots of history and vineyards right in the town, plenty of cellars and a great commune wine place in the town. We stayed at the rather eccentric Auberge de la Commanderie which was very central, clean, good breakfast and had private parking.
You might then need to decide to work your way back to Paris.
I appear to be reliving our recent visit. Our website may give a few ideas though you time allowance is different.
Enjoy the planning but book at least key places quite soon.
www.nickbooth.id.au
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Your ideas for an itinerary sound good, but unless you want to see only the city of Bordeaux, keep the rental car and drive to Bordeaux. The toll road (autoroute) is expensive, but fast. If you have time, the smaller highways are more scenic, but time consuming, as there%26#39;s a village every few miles where you have to slow down.
As I%26#39;ve mentioned in a recent post, there%26#39;s a good B%26amp;B in Bléré, near Tours and Amboise called Le Belvedere, run by a very nice couple who both speak English. Near Bordeaux, I know of 2 very good B%26amp;B%26#39;s, but at these they speak almost no English. If you can speak at least a bit of French, you%26#39;d thoroughly enjoy them. Both offer the %26quot;table d%26#39;hotes%26quot; option of dining at their table, which is a very good value, and saves driving after a couple of glasses of wine. The French now have almost a zero tolerance policy for driving after drinking, so use caution. Should you choose to take the train to Bordeaux and stay in the city, the Bordeaux tourist office has half and full day bus trips to wineries on certain days of the week.
Feel free to send me a message for more information, if any of these options sounds good.
Hope you have a great trip. We%26#39;re going back to Paris and the Bordeaux area in February to visit friends.
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Thanks for all your suggestions, great help. Sounds like best idea to keep the car to drive to Bordeaux then.
I can speak basic French, my partner can speak none, but we are going to do a short course before we leave, so if you could send through information on the French-speaking B%26amp;Bs in Bordeaux that would be great.
For Normandy, is it best to choose one central spot to stay then do day trips, or are the distances too far to drive each day? Would we be better off spending a few nights in each town instead?
Thanks again for the help.
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