Week in France -- itinerary/destinations that are not Paris
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Anonymous
| My husband and I have an anniversary coming up and we would like to spend a week in France (sans kids!). We have both been to Paris multiple times before for business and would like to go outside of Paris. Any recommendations? Would like to go to multiple destinations if possible |
Anonymous
| What month? |
Anonymous
We're flexible but targeting April (yes, last minute trip) before the Olympics craziness |
Anonymous
|
Lyon is a lovely city with plenty to do and amazing food.
The French Riviera is also lots of fun: Nice, Eze is charming, Cannes, Montpelier is a cool city close to the coast but not on it, I don't love Marseille and wouldn't bother, but others may disagree. |
Anonymous
| Normandy! we based ourselves out of Bayeux and it was great. |
Anonymous
| Lyon and Taize nice trip too. Taize is a spiritual center. |
Anonymous
| Lyon is very nice--I lived there but at that time of year I would go south since it won't be tourist season there yet but still nice weather. You might consider Corsica, which would be an easy flight from Paris. Otherwise, Cote d'Azur or Basque country. |
Anonymous
| Consider Reims for a day: you can see the cathedral, WWI history, and champagne cellars. |
Anonymous
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I would do a few days along the NW coast- like PP said, Normandy, but also a seaside town like Dinard, and visit Mont Saint Michel.
From there you could head to the Loire Valley for some chateaus and wine! Montresor is a cute village, or stay in a city like Tours. |
Anonymous
| We loved Provence -- the Luberon villages plus Avignon. So much to do -- antique market in L'Isle Sur la Sorgue, Palais de Papes in Avignon, amazing wine tasting (Chateauneuf du Pape), stunning hill villages (Menerbes, Roussillon, Gordes), Abbey de Senanque. We stayed here: https://www.hotelcledeschamps.com/en/ (fairly simple, good location, had amazing dinner by the pool one night) and then moved to St. Remy https://www.chateaudesalpilles.com/en/5-star-hotel-saint-remy-de-provence. I still dream about this hotel, it was incredibly gorgeous -- also had a fantastic dinner outdoors on the grounds. St. Remy is lovely -- don't miss the very moving St. Paul Asylum where Van Gogh stayed and painted as well as the Roman ruins at Glanum and the town market. My least favorite stop on this trip was Arles, but could have just been an off day for me. Have a wonderful time!!!! |
Anonymous
OP here. Thank you! Provence is at the top of our list. This hotel looks gorgeous. Do you have a recommendation as to where to "dock" in Provence location-wise? Or is it worth going around a bit? |
Anonymous
| Bayeux. See the tapestry, drive/tour to the Normandy beaches. |
Anonymous
| DP but I spend every summer in Provence with my family. I love it but April may be too early (unless you are going right at the end of the month) because a lot of things - restaurants, shops, markets, hotels - close over the winter and do not re-open until the last week of April. If that’s where you want to go, check hotels and restaurants carefully to be sure. |
Anonymous
| Provence poster here -- I liked staying in both areas. Great being close to all the little Luberon villages, and then moving to St. Remy/Avignon region. I think we spent 2 nights in Arles, but in retrospect I would have allocated that time to exploring more around St. Remy/Avignon instead. We did a wine tour with Mike of winesafari.net -- he was wonderful, and it was a relief for my husband to have a break from driving -- you definitely need to rent a car to explore Provence. |
Anonymous
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Aix en Provence is a good base if you want a larger town
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