Hello!
Every other year we take our 3 kiddos to Europe. We started when my baby was nearly two years old. She's 10 now and loves our adventures! We have not yet booked our July flights yet but do plan for open jaw. We wish to see Mont St. Michel for possibly one night, we want to spend a week in the Sarlat/Aquitaine area (rural downtime at a gite/villa for biking, fishing, kayaking on the Dordogne) and are looking for the best stop over in between. I cannot recall the name right now but thinking we should do the huge sand dune on the western coast. Also, just starting to check into whether or not we could rent a Locaboat for part of the trip south. We have about 15/16 days, including flying time across the pond and we did spend four days in Paris four years ago, so we will probably eliminate that.
My 13 year old son is helping create the itinerary and using some research for his French class extra credit. Any fun "thing to do" you suggest? I'm sure as our itinerary grows I'll reply to this site for further opinions. Thanks in advance for any inspiration and helping me narrow down ideas, because it's very hard to do as you know. :-)
Lori
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
You're thinking of the Dune of Pilat, biggest in Europe, just south of the entrance to Arachon Bay near Bordeaux. Somewhat off the direct MSM-Sarlat route but would still be fun for the kiddos, maybe a side trip from the Dordogne area.
The obvious choice for a midway stop or two on the direct route would be along the Loire somewhere, if you're into chateaux and haven't been there already. Amboise is a good base for exploring the area, and has a couple of nifty chateaux of its own, one overlooking the river and the other where Leonardo da Vinci died, with a park that has working replicas of some of his before-their-time inventions. Kiddo fun and educational too.
Also in the Loire area is the Zooparc de Beauval, supposedly one of the best zoos in Europe. We spent a kidless day there after several days of chateau-hopping, in need of relief. Nearby St-Aignan is a pretty town on the Cher River with an interesting old church and chateau (occupied, no tours).
Lucky kiddos (kiddeaux?). :-)
Posted by
Somerville, MA
653 posts
Hi Lori,
You may have already read it, but the book linked below was a fun read and had a couple of pages on the Sand Dunes near Bordeaux, which her kids loved.
My family and I went a similar trip last summer. In the Dordogne we stayed here and loved it:
Thanks,
Matt
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
141 posts
Thank you for the replies already!
Lori
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
If you do go to the Dune du Pilat, also visit the nearby town of Arcachon. So pretty and sparkling in the sun.
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
141 posts
Looking into those suggestions - thank you!!
Also, would love advice on wonderful areas to purchase paintings. We typically buy a piece of artwork since coming to Europe 15 years ago - mostly smaller pieces. Now we have a wall where we would like either a smaller collection to fill the wall, or one larger piece. Does anybody love an area either central or western France that they love for paintings?