Looking for places to stay in France. More specific details of our trip.

Normandy and the Loire Valley are large areas. You need to tell us what towns/chateaux you want to visit to receive useful responses. And Paris is a large city; what sort of environment are you looking for?

A nightly budget in euros is also important, and how many is "we"?

Note that if Paris is your first stop after an overnight flight, you are likely to be severely sleep-deprived and jetlagged on your arrival day, so spending 3 or 4 nights in Paris will give you only 2 or 3 real sightseeing days in that city. I'd be cutting back on the time in the country to see more of Paris, but that's just my priorities talking.

Hi Rick,

What is your price range in Euros? Will you be using a car or public transportation? When is your visit?

What is your focus in Normandy? Do you want to be on a farm or in Bayeux or somewhere else?

This thread might help:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/french-farm-stays

Two years back Le Rayon de Soleil in Bas Courtils, nice hosts, spacious clean room, good breakfast, really good value for the money. Worth considering in case you have a car.

For B&B's I use Gîtes de France. Think the largest organziation in France, it's members have to meet certain standards and I never had a disappointing experience throughout the years. https://en.gites-de-france.com/

You may have to bump up your budget for Paris, but you can make up for it using Gites de France in the provinces, as suggested by Wil.

For Paris at 86 euros per night($100) starting Nov. 7th, booking.com said 7 hotels were available out if a total of 4,292 hotels. Can you move up the budget or move to the edge of the city beyond the ring road (périphérique)?

In Paris, 85€ ($100) per night for two people translates into very spartan accommodations. You might be able to find a shared room in someone´s apartment for that price. Consider checking Booking.com which only lists legal rentals. For two people, basic hotels typically start around 100€ to 110€ per night.

That´s a very ambitious itinerary with a lot of driving. I assume you are planing nothing less than 2½ weeks for this visit. Once you leave Paris, your budget of 85€ per night should make finding quaintness more likely. I would also recommend Gîtes de France for chambres d´hôtes (B&B is not a French term) and might add a few more sources you should consider:

Fleurs de soleil

Chez nous

Gîte link

Chambres d´hôtes de charme

Use ViaMichelin.com to estimate point-to-point driving times. It does not account for any stopping. getting lost, looking for parking, walking from parking place to your hotel or what you actually want to see, etc.

I don't think you're allowing for the amount of time it takes to check out of one hotel, get to a new city and get settled there. The behind-the-wheel time alone for the Beaune-Annecy leg would be over three hours. Chamonix is farther away, and the shortest route cuts across a corner of Switzerland, almost certainly requiring you to buy a Swiss highway vignette--about $40 even though you'd only spend a very short time in Switzerland.

Consider how short the days will be in November and how little daylight time you'll have for sightseeing if you spend so much time in a car, moving from place to place.

Caulincourt Boutique Hostel in Montmarte. Private Ensuite Double room for 72 euros. My niece has stayed here and recommends it. Good location to the metro.

In Paris' latin quarter close to transporation and within walking distance to Notre Dame, Louvre, etc. is Hotel Familia. It is a very Parisian looking building, some rooms have balconies. It is very modest, but clean and the folks are nice. I've stayed there three times.

In Amboise we stayed at Chateau de Pray. I think it may have been about 100euro because we were there four days and one day was free.

In Beaune, we stayed at Hotel de France. Again, reasonable, modest, clean, great people and the restaurant is a good value and quite good.

In Normandy, we stayed in Arromanches. We loved that little town with the remnants of a WWII artificial harbor and a great little museum. We stayed at a small inn, Le Mulberry Hotel. It again was very reasonable with a cute room. They have a WONDERFUl restaurant which we highly recommend and breakfast is included in the room rate.

In Saumur in the Loire, we stayed at the very great value, super clean, but sterile, Ibis Styles. It is in a great location across from the train station and a very nice breakfast was included.

I can second the recommendation of Le Mulberry (and its restaurant) in Arromanches -- we stayed there three nights for a visit to the Normandy beaches and Bayeux after about a week in Paris. (Picked up the car at Orly airport.) Drove to Amboise for another three days (stayed at La Grille Doree in Amboise, room in private house.)

Agree with prior posters that you need to review the time each driving trip between cities will take -- and the cost of fuel and tolls; make sure you are allowing enough time to actually see and experience the places you are visiting, even if you have to cut back the number of places.

Even Hotel Familia is going to be above 87€ per night in November. I just checked and the rate is 129€ per night for a room for 2. Is there any room in the budget to increase the amount per night in Paris? If not perhaps one of the hostels might work. Take a look at the two Auberge de Jeunesse hostels in Le Marais. I don't know your age and I don't know if they have age limits.

I don't think you would find a double in Paris going for 85 Euro. In the summer I pay 85 Euro at a two star hotel for en suite single located in Gare du Nord.

Hotels should be reasonable in November.

I've stayed in Ibis hotels in Paris for 100 euro per night. They are decent business traveler oriented hotels. I was single, but I believe it was booked as a double room (I wasn't sure if my girlfriend was coming when I booked). I stayed near Gare de Lyon, because my next stop was Lyon, but there are probably Ibis hotels everywhere. Tripadvisor is another commonly used search engine for hotels in Europe. My French girlfriend used it all the time. I think a typical "good" price for a double in Paris was around 135 euro.

If saving money is a big deal, look at Airbnb. I rarely paid more than 50 euro per night all over France, usually half that for a room in someone's home rather than a small apartment.

I save in Paris by staying at hostels. They may be a good bet for a low priced private double room too (but won't be fancy).