Touring in June

SalB

Hi. First suggestion and you may already have thought of this . . . don't pick up that car until you are ready to leave Paris. Cars are an expensive nuisance in the city and Paris public transportation is excellent. We usually plan a few days in Paris at the beginning or end of our trips and make sure we only have the car when we are out of town and touring the countryside.

Also suggest you get the smallest car you can cram yourselves into since streets are narrow in villages, parking places are tiny and fuel is very expensive. We use a Peugeot 207 and it works fine for us. If you drive a standard transmission, they are cheaper. We prefer an automatic and you have to order them ahead of time. You should book the car before you leave home anyway since it's much cheaper that way.

When we're on the road, we try to stay at Logis de France. These are a chain of small family-owned and run hotels that often have excellent restaurants. You can check them out and book them at http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/

We usually book a week to a month at a Gite de France and use that as a base for touring the area so haven't much experience with B&Bs. Some of the Gites do offer B&B capability so it might be worth checking the web site. http://www.gites-de-visitfrance.travel/gites/uk/rural_gites

We once stayed a gite in the Loire that had B&Bs and the owner took us through them. They were utterly charming and the couple who owns them are very nice young Brits. You can look at it and see what you think. I would highly recommend it from our experience. We stayed there for a month in the apartment. http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/France/Loire-Valley/holiday-house-Loir-et-Cher/p57320.htm

As far as the rest of your question, I'm not sure what your interests are, but if you are driving, you don't want to travel too far in only two weeks. France is the largest country in Europe so although places may look nearby on a map, they often involve long drives.

If this is your first trip, I'd suggest starting in the Loire Valley. It's only a few hours from Paris, has great food and wines, stunning scenery and an incredible amount of things to do. There are chateaus around every corner to visit and in June many will have sound and light shows and historic reenactments going on for vacationers. (That B&B above is central Loire Valley.)

You might head from the Loire north to Lower Normandy (Basse Normandie) and visit Mont St. Michel, an unbelieveable sight in the bay. Cut across land to Bayeux, visit the cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry. If it's a Saturday, there is a great market in Bayeux.

Then head east along the shore. Great beaches at Cabourg and Deauville. The Grand Hotel is at Cabourg and would be a great place to spend a night or two. It overlooks the beach and is a hotel in the "grand old style" of all the French novelests. Proust stayed there. It's very gingerbread and has a lovely tearoom and restaurant.

Then you could stop at Giverny (Monet's Garden) on your way back to Paris. It's a busy trip but you could do it and get a feel of both the Loire and Normandy. Type the names of places that interest you into the Search Window here and see what you find. There should be articles, links and photos. You can also try typing Gites or Logis into the Search Window.

Another idea is to do something similar in Burgundy but it's a bit harder to fit the seashore into that trip.

 Good luck. You should have a lot of fun.

pigman

thanks for the excellent – and rapid! – response.

I know we will do little more than skim the surface in 2 weeks, but as I have booked flights into Paris and back from Nice, the outline of the trip is fairly fixed. Current plan is (probably) to travel south from Paris down through Languedoc and then have a view of Provence before getting the last few days on the beach.

Advice on the car, both on size and not bothering until after Paris is very helpful – thanks again

SalB

Wish you had told me you were flying out of Nice. That makes a huge difference.

On the trip south, try to visit Beaune in Burgundy. It is a lovely, historic town and has great wine tasting.

Lyon is also on your way and is known as the "second city" of France (after Paris). That might be worth a stop.

In Languedoc try to visit the castle of Carcassonne. It is a double-walled castle-city and was the setting for one of the Robin Hood movies. It's spectacular . . . and have some cassoulet for dinner while you are there; it's a regional specialty.

The beaches in Nice are stone and uncomfortable. If you like sand, go to Juan les Pins or Antibes on the train line from Nice. Don't drive as the traffic is awful on the coast road.

Near Nice, you might enjoy the perched villages of Vence and St. Paul de Vence. St. Paul is an artists village, of cobblestone, and the Maeght Foundation is there. It is the premier modern art gallery of southern France and well worth a visit.

Just a few suggestions . . .

Enjoy your trip.