Finishing Touches

Anyone have any ideas for me? Is my question clear?

Thanks!

I wish I was going with you.

Normandy is great and then you could hit the Loire Valley for a few days of chateau sightseeing before going back to Paris.

Before Normandy, might I suggest the Alsace region. We LOVED Colmar and we did several day trips from there.

We did a day trip to Basel Switzerland, a half day at Haut Koeningbourg Castle.....(Spelling??)
and Loved the little wine towns of St Hypolite and Eguishem.......sooooooo pretty.

We then drove north to Luxembourg City for a day then through Namur Belgium on our way back to France and onto Normandy.

There are so many places. I envy you so much.

Thanks you guys...but I may not have been clear.

We will drop the son in Marseilles for HIM to fly back to Munich...while we continue on for 2 weeks without him. We will have spent about 6 days in the Paris area...and then fast train to Nice - app week in S. France with the kid...and then on Sept 10th we will find ourselves with 2 weeks left...leaving back to the States on Sept 25th.

So...we definitely want to spend time in the Normandy area....so what else would you do during this time...keeping these parameters in mind. (Forget about Munich...that's just a human interest piece of the story so you get to know our family better) :-)

Does this make sense?
Thanks!

I understood. I would drive from Marseilles to the Alsace region of France and visit there then onto Normandie and the Loire valley. We did this type of trip last fall and 2 weeks was perfect.

Your question is hard to answer -- there are so many possibilities. You could easily spend a week in Provence -- pick a base and do day trips. Then do a week in Normandy. I think you should do some research and see what appeals. It's hard to guess what you would like.

Ok thanks!!

Which would you choose in the alps area...Chambery? Annecy? to stay maybe 3 days and go to the other areas near from there?

Lucky you! As others have noted, it really depends on what your particular tastes are, and maybe what you think your other destinations won't provide...
I've seen a fair bit of France, and based on my own travels, I'd suggest adding on several days in Brittany -- spectacular scenery and lovely villages...
You don't say how much time you're allotting for Normandy? I'd recommend at least 5-6 days. If you have 2 weeks, that would take up most of it, with perhaps 2 days for Loire on way back to Paris.
Btw, I've also been to Annecy and while it is lovely, it didn't grab me as much as Brittany and Normandy do.
Have a great trip!

I suggest looking at the itineraries of Rick's tours Paris to the heart of France and Loire to the south of France for ideas. I am taking the heart of France later this year, it includes Normandy, a night at Mont St Michel and ends in Paris. You may be able to make your own itinerary based on where the tour goes. In the details of each tour, there is a description of the sights they See. That also may assist you with plans. Enjoy!

A journey like this would be approx 800 miles driving spread over about 10 days ... perhaps too much.

Sep 10 Train to Loire Valley - 3 nights (pick up hire car in Tours)
Sep 13 Drive to Mont St Michel - 1 night
Sep 14 Drive to Bayeux - 2 nights
Sep 16 Drive to Rouen - 1 night
Sep 17 Drive to Reims - 2 nights
Sep 19 Drive to to Strasbourg - 2 nights
Sep 21 Drive to Colmar - 1 night
Sep 22 Drive to Beaune - 2 nights (return hire car in Dijon)
Sep 24 Train to Paris - 1 night
Sep 25 Depart Paris

It may be less tiring to choose ...
Either, Brittany >> Loire Valley >> Normandy
Or, Burgundy >> Alsace >> Champagne

I spent 8 days with a car last year, end of June. I started in Chamonix (where my RS tour ended), drove through Beaujolais in a day, then Cluny, then 4 days in Burgundy based in Avallon, then 3 days in Alsace based in a village outside Colmar. It was a great trip.

From my experience and those of others I've read here, it would be hard find an area of France that would not be worth seeing. . . charming villages, beautiful chateaux, scenic driving, medieval abbeys and churches . . .

Pick 2 places that call to you - maybe the alps, maybe the Loire Valley, and plot a course through the country to the north.

viamichelin.com is a good tool for driving distances, times, and costs.

You can go directly to Normandy and combine it with the Loire Valley, they are within reasonable travel distance. If you ask me, there is enough to do to spend the two weeks. If time left you can think about other regions, so make a backup plan. Also to think about that as the weather can be very bad in one place, the last few months have proved that.

You can do two things: Chasing hotspots all over the country and not really come to rest as the offer of interesting places is overwhelming. Or (comparable with what Chani suggests) you can select a few regions (or one) and take time to learn it better (discovering the more hidden gems too), come to rest and enjoy it as much as possible. Getting used to the local rhythm is a good way to enjoy a place / region, hard to imagion behind the drawing board, but worth to consider if you ask me. If you have the feel there having time left you can ofcourse add another region, September is not a bad period for finding places to sleep, so enough room for flexibility.

I spent 10 days in Normandy last fall and felt like there was still a lot more I didn't get a chance to see. So if you ask me I'd say spend the 2 weeks in Brittany & Normandy.

I'm going to endorse Wil's advice although I think he said it better than I can. In 2 weeks you can spend a few nites all over France, taking fast trains between regions and getting a taste of many places. And for some people that's the right thing. Or you can pick a base area or two and try to really see the region. This allows for serendipity, fun experiences you probably couldn't have planned in advance but have time to enjoy. On one day, for example, I was driving down the Granite Coast in Brittany with the idea of enjoying the views and visiting a few towns; there was a market going on in Erquy so I stopped and got to try lots of cheese from the local area and a crepe.

The RS book is great for what it covers, it is good for Dinan, St. Malo, Rennes, Rouen. Many more places to see Normandy & Brittany get only a brief mention or are skipped entirely, so you need more books for this area. I like the Rough Guide to the region. And for detail on just about any town in the area the Michelin pair of books is worth getting.

If you are interested in spending most or all of your time in this area I can give some suggestions as to towns and durations for a starting point.

I'm currently planning something similar.

A two week (17 night) loop - still deciding which order to go - in September.

Essentially it's Paris, train to Rouen, car to Normandie and Brittany, drop car in Saumur/ pick up bicycle, bike through Loire for three days, train to Chartres, train back into Paris - or the other way around. It's likely to be seven nights in Paris, four nights in Loire and six nights in Brittany and Normandy (Chartres and Rouen are day stops enroute).

I'm not as much into WWII history, so my big Normandie stop will be Bayeux to see the tapestry. I'll also stop to see Mont St. Michel. Rather than visit Honfleur, I plan to spend more time getting further west in Brittany. I expect I can find just as quaint of towns there but much less touristed because they're further off the beaten path.