Hello all. I will be turning 50 on April 8 and figure might as well do it in Paris with my family of four (kids are 9 and 13) and a glass of champagne. Complicating matters, perhaps positively, is that I've accepted a business trip in the South of France (Nice) spanning March 29/30. Our family has been to the South of France, but happy to go back. I have never been to Paris. Our family is into nature and hiking as much as culture and cities - kids are good travelers and we're all pretty fit and like to move around (despite my advancing age! ;)). We loved everything about our last trip to France, and felt we'd cut it too short (having spent one week there then one week in Spain). Last time there we visited Juan les pins, Eze (driving through only for the sights, without meaningful stop), Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (one of the highlights of our trip, and we hiked around a good deal) and Gorges du Verdon -- the trip was in October. We stopped through Marseille (en route to Spain). I guess in short, we feel like we didn't spend long enough in any of those places, but now have to decide whether to go back, or simply find other stunning places we'll like equally well. The only known determinants are that I plan to arrive in Nice on March 28 to shrug off jet lag then go into two days of business meetings ending late morning on the 30th and my actual birthday is April 8 (we'd likely travel home the next day). So pretending that the trip begins March 30 midday (when my business obligations end), I am trying to figure out a lovely itinerary that takes us from nice to eventually being in Paris. My family will all love the dining and culture in Paris and elsewhere, but for me personally, my favorite part of traveling is taking in breathtakingly beautiful villages, natural settings, etc, in places where you can still get great food within reasonable distance. We have very little of the agenda set. Because it is such an easy day trip, we do plan to spend one afternoon in Monaco, and at least one afternoon (but considering longer!) in the Ligheria region of Italy. I was originally thinking Sanremo but now am looking at Apricale (appeals as a village-y type of place), as well as Bordighera. I have all the guide books, and maps printed out and feel like I am spinning my wheels. My best trips ever have been recommended by others based on what they love. Would all of you travelers share with me, if you had 10 days to wind your way up the French countryside into Paris (by auto or plane, perhaps, but most likely will train at some point) between March 30 and April 9? And also I think April 9 is Easter Sunday, which might impact travel dates some and needs to be navigated. What sites would you hit? How long would you spend in each? What stands out about the recommendations? This is a lot to ask, and I will try to pay it forward by helping others once we return from wherever it is we go. I hope this is not too long of a post -- I'm obviously spinning my wheels a little bit. Thank you all so much!
Posted by
11569 posts
After a week in Paris we rented a car and drove to Beaune in Burgundy where we spent a week. Lots of charming wine villages to explore. Next we drove to Villenueve les Avignon in Provence for another week. We ended the trip in Nice where we dropped the car off when we arrived. We also spent a week there. It was a nice mix of regions and different cultures. We have returned to Beaune twice since that trip.
Posted by
OP
Washington, DC
8 posts
Thank you so much! I will look at those places. Sounds like you had a lovely long trip.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
Villages are not at their best that time of year. Closed up, lack of flowers and animation. Going north the skies are gray. If you loved the Côte d'Azur, that's still the place to be that time of year. You could enjoy the coast and then fly or take the train, which takes six hours, to Paris.
Posted by
Hermosa Beach, CA, USA
277 posts
One year we did a driving "Tour de France" basically using the itinerary in the front of Rick's France book. Tons of fun. But that was in summer when days were long, temps were warm, and everything was open. We also did a 9-day driving tour of Brittany which was terrific. Again in summer. For April, if it was me with kids that age, I'd head to Paris as much as possible. There are a lot of options - museums, cathedrals, parks, etc. And bad weather in Paris is still interesting. For sure, buy tickets in advance and go in the Eiffel Tower - maybe even have a meal there. The tower image is something you'll see almost daily when you return and you'll relive the experience over and over. If your kids are boys, a day trip to Normandy might be interesting as well as a day trip to Versailles.
Do a little research about art with the kids to make it more interesting. For me, I'm more interested in "why" the artist drew/sculpted what they did rather than "how" or sometimes "what." Getting into the artist's brain a little helped me appreciate what I saw.
Posted by
OP
Washington, DC
8 posts
Hello there again from OP. We have finalized the front and end of the trip — we will be in Nice from March 28-April 2. Two of these days are work for me so really only 5 full days. Then we will be in Paris April 6-10. (April 9 is Easter - I am aware this means crowds!).
We have not yet decided the in between, but were thinking of doing parts of the route Napoleon. But then viamichelin suggested Italy/Switzerland route driving up to Annecy, and I’m intrigued by this. Now thinking of doing some of the Italian riviera/hinterland, such as Apricale or stop near the Barolo wine region for 1, then taking a slow drive up North, perhaps staying 2 days in Annecy (with next morning in Annecy), 1 night in Beaune (or Dijon or Lyon? Then trading the car for the train to Paris to end our trip for 6 days 5 nights there. A few commenters mentioned the villages will be closed, but it seems many will be waking up by then; we are not afraid of some rain, as we hike year round in different clients. I understand that I could spend a week in many of these places alone, but the idea of a slow road trip with a few meaningful stops rather than hitting tons of stops, but also not staying for long times in the stops, appeals. Again, we’re much more interested in nature, scenery, just being in the moment, than constant structured things such as museums (not that we wont hit them, our kids are very into art so we will be doing lots of this in Paris). I’m so grateful for the help and have found some great ideas from you all.
Posted by
Washington DC
28069 posts
I haven't been to France that early in the year or taken a road trip there at any time, so I can't really comment on your route. However, since you mentioned your kids are into art, do review the list of art museums in Nice (there are at least six) --so you can spend your time in a way that is most appealing to your group. I especially liked the museums of naive art and Asian art, which are not often mentioned by others here.
There are also some good art museums in nearby towns, the Fondation Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence, the Picasso Museum in Antibes and the Leger Museum in Biot among them.
A lot of fhe sights in that part of France have more limited off-season hours than you might expect. In April some of the museums might be open only 4 days a week. To avoid wasted time and disappointment, check websites ahead of time for late March/early April.
Posted by
Paris
10193 posts
Leaving Nice on the 2nd and arriving in Paris on the 6th (if I have understood your date parameters correctly) gives you four nights -- certainly not enough time to backtrack to anywhere in Italy.
Posted by
OP
Washington, DC
8 posts
Thank you for the caution, however, perhaps I wasn’t clear. We are in Nice, and mapped viamichelin which identified the fastest route to see the French alps is actually the “haute des alpes" route, which travels along the Italian/Swiss border. Although it “backtracks” via Italy it is 1) faster and 2 includes visits to places we would like to see. Without stops the trip would be 7 hours. Done over 2 days that is no problem - the drive is scenic and part of the appeal as we want the views and country as much or as museums and so on. Anyway, we have decided! We will depart nice in morning of April 2 and drive to Alba, with some stops along the way in Italy, ultimately arriving in Alba in evening in time for dinner (it is about 3.5 hours drive but we will add scenic stops and lunch) then spend 2 nights there. Morning of April 4 we drive to Annecy with scenic stops along the way. Arrive Annecy We will spend 2 nights in Annecy. Then we drop car at train station April 6 and get direct train to Paris. When I am back I will share itinerary! Still happy and grateful to receive advice as well as for all of the help and tips here.
Posted by
OP
Washington, DC
8 posts
Hello to all, I wanted to update that we had the most wonderful trip. We stayed in Nice for a few days with a side trip to Monaco to see the aquarium. Otherwise, because we have been to the South of France a few times we stayed mostly local in Nice and walked and hiked around. We next drove to Alba, Italy and on the way visited and hiked Eze (my second time visiting) on the way out. We drove through Italy next and stayed in Alba for 2 days 2 nights staying in the city center and exploring the beautiful landscape in piedmont, where it’s easy to see why this has earned UNESCO world heritage status - simply stunning. We had a tasting one afternoon and marvelous dinners. towns with a stop at two wineries. This was the most “out of the way” part of our trip, and I worried we were packing too much in but I am so glad that we did it because we had our second favorite day of the trip there. Up next was Annecy. The drive between Alba and Annecy was extremely scenic and our kids enjoyed the two rest stops. I have to say I wish U.S. rest stops had food like this. The town of Annecy was charming and Lac Annecy was worth seeing but the best thing we did there was drive to the top of Mont Semnoz and hike to the peak where snow was still everywhere and where we could see Mont Blanc, and many other peaks in the Alps. Stunning. We spent two nights and two days in Annecy then turned in our rental car for a train to Paris (though we had a strike day our route was unaffected) where we spent five full days then flew home. As many of you predicted, we did wish we had MORE time in Paris, and yet I’m not sorry that we added these side trips. For our family, driving between towns is not a chore but part of the experience. That said, we ended up not seeing some things in Paris simply because we either knew in advance it would be too much (Normandy side trip was going to take too long) or out of time (we sadly missed the musee d’Orsay). In part this is because we initially tried to go on foot, as metro was impacted by strikes, then decided to Uber, which was better in many cases. We’ll be going back to Paris when we aren’t trying to go elsewhere (or maybe Paris / London sometime).I wanted to add this because we did pack a lot into this trip, and take some chances on weather, but I’m so glad we took the chance on doing it the way we did rather than sticking to just Paris and Nice for our 14 day trip. Happy traveling to all!