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France Itinerary in September

I am taking my first ever solo trip to Europe in September, 20 days into Rome and out of Paris. with the last eight of them in France. I will be in Provence (St. Remy) for four nights to explore the area and had planned the rest of the time in Paris. This is a trip to do/see places that I was not able to do in previous trips with my family, yet the more I research it I find myself including new things I haven't seen. For example, I have been to Paris twice, so I started thinking about Burgundy which I have not seen. I have also been to Normandy, but not to Mont Saint Michel. I'm trying to find a way to take the nights in Paris and go to those places, even though they are far apart. I have a rail pass and have no problem driving there. I'd planned to take the train from Avignon to Burgundy and then to Bayeux through Paris. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. It's OK to tell me I'm nuts if you think so. I'm a 70 year old guy with reasonable health and finances making my fifth trip to Europe, but I don't know how many more of these I have in me. Many thanks.

Jim

Posted by
7175 posts

Day 1-4
St Remy de Provence
Day 5
Leave very early.
It's about 3 hours by train from Avignon to Beaune in Burgundy with one change of train.
Day 6
Leave at lunchtime.
Just over 2 hours by train to Paris, again with one change of train.
Nearly 4 hours by train to Mont St Michel, agin with one change of train in Rennes.
Day 7
Mont St Michel
Day 8
Nearly 4 hours by train to return to Paris

Posted by
6713 posts

Will you have a car in Provence? If so, keep it and drive north to Burgundy, then across to MSM. We drove from Beaune to Caen in a long day, mostly on the newer autoroute that runs south of Paris. One night should suffice for MSM. That gives you time -- barely -- to drive across Burgundy and make a few stops -- Beaune? Fontenay? Auxerre? -- with another overnight at one of those.

I'm your age and hope I have at least a few more trips. If this were my trip I'd spend the time in Burgundy and let MSM go. It's too far out of the way. You'll be covering a lot of miles, to and back, to visit just one place. Unless MSM is on your lifetime bucket list, take the time to appreciate Burgundy instead.

Posted by
711 posts

I think I would spend my extra time in Burgundy, also. September is a wonderful time there as the vineyards are all in color. There is nothing better than driving around the small villages in the Fall!

Posted by
8552 posts

https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/
for Normandy and Mont St. Michel. You could train from Paris to Bayeux, stay at the Churchill Hotel and get their van day trip to Mont St. Michel. This is a small van and it gets booked up so if you decide on that be sure to book early. You could spend a couple of nights in Bayeux and do this on the full day and get by without a car and then spend the last couple of nights in Paris. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/

Posted by
8552 posts

https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/
for Normandy and Mont St. Michel. You could train from Paris to Bayeux, stay at the Churchill Hotel and get their van day trip to Mont St. Michel. This is a small van and it gets booked up so if you decide on that be sure to book early. You could spend a couple of nights in Bayeux and do this on the full day and get by without a car and then spend the last couple of nights in Paris. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/