Early stage of planning, a month in France

Thoughts on May and June.

I did a loop through Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne last May and felt I was there too early in the year. I'd save that until June. I loved both Burgundy and Alsace. They are a different flavor, each has a unique feel and taste but I think either would be something you would enjoy.

I did a loop through Normandy, Brittany and Loire a year ago September. I'd also recommend this as a June location since it gets rainy and chilly on the coast. It was great in September but I'm not sure it will be in May. I'd suggest a location on the south side of the peninsula. Auray seems like a pretty ideal small town, and well located for both sea views and exploring the prehistory sights (try to see Cairn de Gavrinis, by ferry from Larmor Baden). Port towns like Concarneau, Lorient and Pont Aven are reachable by car as a day trip. Vannes has a very large medieval center and nice port. I didn't drive across the penninsula near here, so I'm not sure how long a trip to Dinan or St. Malo would be from there? If you go up there, I thought Ft. La Latte, an old castle overlooking the sea cliffs, was worth a visit.

In May, further south. Riviera or Provence, might be a good place to start. Fly and pick up a car. I liked Antibes best of the Riviera. It had the nicest combination of soft sand beaches, marina, medieval center and fortifications, art gallery and cafe/restaurants in a walk-able package. I based in Arles for Provence. I was happy with the choice but it's not the only option and depends on where you want to roam.

After that I'd go west to somewhere: Pyrenees, Lot Valley, Dordogne Valley, Bordeaux. If you want more sea views, you could go to Medoc or stay near the ocean in Languedoc or Basque country in the south. I did a loop through there this June and it was quite rainy but that seemed to be unusual and newsworthy. I think you could get comfortable weather there in May (maybe not right on the sea?). St. Emilion (part of the Bordeaux region) is very pretty. If you're anywhere close, try not to miss and take the underground tour. Other favorites from June: Foix, Carcassonne (at night), Courdes sur Ciel (wasn't overly crowded in June, should be fine in May), Najac, Conques (head and shoulders above Rocamadour), Pech Merle, St. Cirque Lapopie, Domme and Sarlat la Canada, both Beynac and Castelnaud castles were worth a visit. Some of these line up with Rick's recommendations. If I didn't list one of Rick's favorites (e.g. Albi, Rocamadour) it's because I didn't think they were that great.

The Ardeche is nice too. It's landlocked but pretty country.

Menton, at the eastern end of the Riviera, has a couple of quite nice gardens. The town itself is very picturesque but was very touristy even in mid-May. A third good garden in that area is the one at the Villa Ephrussi di Rothschild. I was told that the botanical garden in Nice, out near the airport, is good, but I didn't have time to see it. There is at least one significant garden in Monaco; I haven't been there either.

The weather along the Riviera in early May can be a bit unstable and overcast. Probably for that reason, May is definitely not high season in the area. Things get busy when there's a major special event going on (the Monte Carlo Grand prix probably being the best example), but some of the places are not as tourist-overrun in May as you might expect. In addition to Menton's Old Town, St-Paul-de-Vence was crazy busy the day I visited.

Could you tell us where you have been? We are leaving for five weeks in September to see places we have not seen before. All of these will be a minimum of five nights except for two locations: Loire, Dordogne (Sarlat), Carcassone (one night), slightly out of Arles, Lyon (2 nights), Burgundy, Alsace, and back to Paris for our last week. We have been to the Normandy area (including the WWII sites) for a week and really loved it. We are training from CDG to Loire, picking up a car and driving the entire time until we drop the car in Strasbourg (Alsace) to take the train back to Paris.

Awesome! Based on my experiences, I would do the following:

1. Train directly from CDG to Tours and rent a car and spend 2 nights in the Loire
2. Then spent 5 nights in Dinan
3. Then 7 nights in the Dordogne
4. Then 4 nights in Collioure
5. Then 5 nights in Arles
6. Then 3 nights in Chamonix
7. Then 2 nights Annecy, fly home from Geneva

I know this is a bit more moving around than you've implied. The Dordogne and Brittany are my favorite regions, with Catalan Country (Collioure) and the Alps right behind them. I have not been to Alsace, so I defer to others for that recommendation. I personally did not enjoy my time in Nice.

Just my opinions/thoughts.

Thanks,

Matt

@andrew.reis - I think you meant your reply for OP-afloridahome, not me-Kay. BTW, we like castles and gardens so 4 nights will hopefully be just right for us in the Loire. If we get tired of castles, we'll just kick back, drink wine, and enjoy our gite!

Well, you can't really go wrong. But here is some general advice, from someone who spent 4 weeks in France years ago.

It's nice to mix things up and vary the pace. A few days or a week of the kind of athletic fast-paced sightseeing you see on this forum a lot, followed by a solid week in a rental, followed by some city, followed by some country--the contrasts make for more vivid memories, I find.

Consider the strategy of serial car rental connected by high-speed rail.

Our itinerary for what it's worth:Fly into Toulouse and spend the night. Drive to Cahors and spend 2 nights. 5 nights in Beynac (Dordogne).
Drive to Albi with stops in hill towns and Peche Merle, best cave experience.
Overnight in Carcassone, drive to Coulliore (2 nights) w stop in haut Corbieres.
Ditch car in Perpignan, train to Avignon
Rent second car, check in to St. Remy rental for 7 nights. Pick up friends at the airport in Marseilles the next day. See: Transumance festival and picnic in St Remy, Les Baux, Pont du Garde, Avignon Fontain de Vaucluse, Orange, Pont du Gard (you can swim there), true Bouillabaisse in Marseilles, Aix, Luberon hike.
Train to Paris for a week.
Then for fifth week by train to Brugge and Amsterdam.

Pretty good trip. Have a blast with yours!

I agree with Adam - think of it as a portfolio and diversify as much as you can.

Thank you SO much everyone, what a wonderful start! I will look at all of the recommendations and do some more research on each area mentioned. Hopefully it will come together into a firm plan. Thanks again,