I am leaving for my first visit to France in less than a week

It's good to be poring over your plans. And congratulations on your son's enlistment.

Did you have a particular question about your trip?

Much of your plans make a lot of sense. I'm not sure why you want to drive into Germany. Nothing wrong with it, but there will be a lot to do in the Alsace. I'd pick a very specific destination, and make it a 1/2 day trip.

I'd further specify your plans by laying out specific things in each day. It's best to plan on 1 activity in the morning, 1 in the afternoon.

What about eating? Eat out all meals? Don't forget that French people have groceries and markets. One of the most fun things is to go to the market and buy bread, cheese and some kind of meat for lunch. Then get a bottle of wine and go to a place where eating is allowed (not everywhere, but surely in parks) and picnic. Inexpensive. In grocery stores, you can get a bottle of vin du table for cheap.

Your itin sounds vg. Enjoy your trip sept is terrific month to be in France.
U will see alot with your schedule espec with a car. Well done.
And congrats to your son on his upcoming opportunity!

No question, just general excitement. I hope I haven;t broken forum rules.

DH just wants to drive into Germany. We are staying in Strasbourgh so we could walk the bridge over the Rhine . We will definitely be buying supplies and picnicing a good deal especially on travel days.

I have very specific plans - including print outs and highlighted maps. Just wanted to thank the great folks here who have given me good ideas about our travels

Have a wonderful trip -- you've obviously planned it carefully.

The drive from Alsace to the Loire will take all day but it will be scenic and interesting. Stay well south of Paris.

Paris Walks does an excellent guided walk around Montmartre if you want to go with them. Their walks are generally excellent. Make sure you leave enough time for strolling and cafes and people-watching, especially in Paris.

What's a CV tour? New one to me.

If you are in Paris on a Sundaycheck to see if there is a concert at St Sulpice. I think it's usually after the 11AM service.

Also, if you haven't watched it lately, look for Midnight in Paris on Netflix. I'm neither an Owen Wilson nor a Woody Allen fan but I love this movie. The beginning photography is wonderful...adds nothing to the story really but wow, it's so beautiful. And yes... I went to sit on the steps of Saint-Etienne du Mont which is where he was picked up by the taxi.

Have a wonderful time!

Best of luck to your son. Many thanks for his willingness to serve and very cool that he qualified for an elite program.

KER,

I haven't looked at your Itinerary in detail, but it looks quite feasible.

A few important points to mention though. For driving into Switzerland, you'll need to obtain the Swiss Highway Tax Vignette as soon as you enter the country, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!

Also, each driver listed on the rental form would be highly advised to have an International Driver's Permit for driving in France. These are used in conjunction with your home D.L., are valid for one year and easily obtained at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee. Again, hefty fines if authorities ask for the permit and you can't produce one. The first paragraph from the Embassy of France in the U.S. covers this - https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article376 .

As always, I'd recommend packing along the relevant Rick Steves guidebooks on your trip as they're an invaluable source of reference. If you'll be travelling with an iPad or Kindle, the E-book versions are very easy to travel with.

Congratulations to your son! Just curious, is he going to Parris Island or San Diego for recruit training? I'm sure you'll find that he's a very different young man at the end of that.

hi KER
you are gonna have a great time. since you're in alsace your husband may want to check out the bugatti car museum, in molsheim. i'm sure you can ask your hotel/apt people or a tourist info kiosk in town. don't feel intimidated by montemarte, it's a fun place with lots of tourists, maybe less at this time of year. walked around all the artists, bought a small painting for sister and had a drawing done for me, had lunch, walked back down, had the best french onion soup at la maison rose with baguette and wine. stopped at the "I Love You" wall, written in some many languages, closes at about 6pm. walked passed moulon rouge and took picture, then taxi back to our apartment in the 7th. lots of shops, cafes, markets everywhere. we stopped in market bought cheese, meat, baguettes, wine (bring a corkscrew!! and glass), people watch in a park, we sat at luxembourg gardens. had yummy hot chocolate at angelinas, souffles, (check le souffle or le cuisine de philippe (savory or sweet, may need to reserve, yes it's a tourist thing but we're tourists), ate escargot for the first time, it was sooooo good. sat at a trocadero restaurant and great view of eiffel tower. took train to reims and did CV2 champagne tour, reims-tourism.com, a l' allure champenoise. was a great tour thru small villages, countrysides, vineyards. usually us 3 lady friends 60+ travels together, we always pack a bottle of wine and corkscrew and celebrate in the apartment when we arrive. you may wanna check tuktukinparis.com. don't be in a hurry and have things timed, you may turn right down a street and seen something not on your agenda. maybe take a cooking class, lefoodlist.com, lacuisineparis.com.
congratulations on your son and his training program, proud parents. enjoy have a blast let us know how it all went.
aloha

Adding to Pam’s suggestion regarding “Midnight in Paris”. If a fan of the movie or just good, traditional French cooking, have a meal at Polidor. I started going before the movie came out so was already a fan and, having dinner there tonight actually. Great atmosphere and food. No reservations accepted andno credit cards.

the only blip is that our 19 year old has enlisted in the Marines and
they moved up his ship date to boot camp to the day after we return.
He is qualifying for an elite training program and apparently this
slot opened up and he needed to take it ( originally scheduled for
November )

All I can say is THANK YOU for your son's upcoming service and selflessness. The very best of luck and success to him!!

Thank you all for your kind words. He had one year of engineering and a full athletic scholarship at a very good university. He told his father and I one evening that he wanted to serve. I wish he wasn't leaving the day after we return, but such is life.