France in May

Gee, you have a tough problem . . . where to go in France. Ah, all of us will cheerfully tell you our favorite places.

For starters, if you are going in May (or June), you will have no trouble finding a place to stay. We usually stay at a Logis de France because they are usually right in the middle of town and are in all the little villages we like to visit. Check online at http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/(in English) and you will see what I mean. Some are pretty spartan and other quite luxurious so choose according to your tastes and your budget. If you get stuck, there is always Campanile. It is a motel chain akin to Motel 6. You get the basic clean room, bathroom, parking and attached restaurant. These aren’t great on atmosphere and are nearly always beside a busy highway, but if you’re stuck, it’s a clean, inexpensive place to spend the night. There are lots of other options too. If you are tired and don’t have a place to stay, go to the nearest Tourist Information Bureau and they will find a place for you.

Now, where to go? That’s more fun. You’re planning some time in Paris. That’s perfect. We usually start and end in Paris. Arrange to pick up your car as you leave Paris because then you won’t have to deal with a car in town. Parking is expensive and the traffic jams are legendary.

Leaving Paris, you don’t mention the Loire, but it would be nice to spend a few days exploring. You could stop at Chartres on the way to the Loire. The cathedral and town are lovely. On to the Loire . . . My favorite chateau is Azay-le-Rideau. After that, I love the gardens at Villandry. Langeais is very fortress-like and well furnished. Amboise is in an interesting little town. Chenonceau is the chateau built across a river and is magical. There are many others if you want to spend all your time in chateaux.

Driving south, consider Bourges. There is a huge cathedral there with magnificent stained glass windows. Beside it is a lovely garden and the town itself has quite a large medieval section. There are an amazing number of half-timbered buildings and lots of neat shops and restaurants.

Continuing south, stop in Lyon and spend a few days there. It’s a fabulous city. Hopefully several people here who know the city well will give you advice.

Continuing south, head for Provence. It is such a storied place I don’t know where to begin. I’ll tell you our favorite spots and you can find your own. You might base yourself in St. Remy or Arles. They aren’t huge cities so are a bit more friendly to parking a car. Try to visit Avignon, the Pont du Gard, Aix en Provence, Orange and the Camargue. That will probably be enough to keep you busy if you want to relax and enjoy the trip.

Heading back up north, consider going through Grenoble via the N75. It is a gorgeous drive. On the way you’ll want to stop in Sisteron and visit the Citadelle. It is interesting and the view is magnificent.

From Grenoble, go north to Lac Annecy. It has to be one of the prettiest lakes in France. It is in a picture postcard setting surrounded by mountains and is touted as the cleanest lake in Europe. I have no idea if that is accurate, but it is clear and beautiful. The historic town just off the lake is fun to visit. It’s full of little shops and restaurants and the park along the lake is ideal. You can also take dinner on a boat cruising the lake!

Depending on where you are headed in Germany, you might want to try to continue on to Strasbourg, visiting the wine villages in the area. We like Colmar and we love Strasbourg. We always stay in one of the wine villages though. They are utterly charming and very friendly.

It’s an easy trip across the Rhine into Germany and you will have had three wonderful weeks in France.

BTW, I hope you click on the "Travel" and "Culture" buttons at the top right of the home page of France.com. They will give you lots of information.

I hope everyone else will tell you their favorite places to go. I know LVB will tell you all about the Jura and she knows whereof she speaks.

Have a wonderful trip.

echoy: I think a lot would depend upon whether or not this trip is with the same boyfriend. crc95, what do you think? In any event, don’t miss Paris or Burgundy or the Rhone Alpes. Do lots of reading and studying and check out the "testimonials" that visitfrance.travel has for much of its lodging partners. Donerail

SalB and Donerail,
Thanks for your replies. I did forget to mention that we were driving out of Paris, but you picked up on it anyway SalB 🙂 We made the mistake on our first trip to Paris of driving *into* Paris and I actually navigated my boyfriend around the Arc de Triomphe(!) I can’t believe our relationship survived that! We did visit the Louvre and absolutely loved it and we’ll be going back again for another visit as there is always so much to see there. I have also read some of the postings from the ‘travel’, ‘lodging’and ‘culture’ forums but the additional information is great. Especially on the different chateaux – there’re so many and we won’t be able to see all, so your info (SalB) on which you like is fantastic.
We are hoping to visit south of Germany (by the way, has visitfrance.travel thought about creating a similar site for germany?) and go all the way to Vienna. 🙂 It’s a bit of a drive, but we don’t get many chances to go to Europe (we’re from Australia). Thanks again for the help!

SalB & whoever: Someone asked a while back about camping in France and source material related thereto. Michelin has just come out with a softbound book "Camping France Selection 2004." Lists 3000 campsites (motorhome, tenting, etc) with up-to-date prices and facilities, tips, etc. Includes a free map of France showing the sites and services. $16.00 retail. http://www.michelin-us.com
Donerail

Thanks. That’s the book I mentioned in my reply to the original post. It’s called Camping and Caravanning in France. They come out with a new one every year. If you hang on to it, they are good for a few years. You just have to realize the price will go up. It’s a wonderful resource though because it gives addresses and phone numbers, amenities available, sorts the sites into categories, e.g., fleuri, municipal, etc.

It’s funny, I looked it up on Amazon.com to make sure it was the same book and they have made a mistake in the price. It’s listed at $102.35 . . . a bit expensive for a camping book. I hope nobody believes that price! Think I might order it from the Michelin web site instead.

SalB: Supposedly the Camping France book just came out this year. It is possible to get discounts but at $16 it should be a bargain for anyone thinking of camping or motorcamping LaFrance. Nothing can beat the Michelin maps for detail. Donerail