So ive mostly filled out my itinerary. I will be flying from Canada to Paris then heading straight to Avignon as a "base" for a few days for the surrounding cities. In that post I was also not sure about where to go after there. I wanted to go to Nice. However the transit time was about 8 hours, which is basically an entire day of exploring. I also needed to get decent prices for hotels. The closer to April I get the more expensive they get and less options there are. I found rates from 80 to 120 a night in every city, and considering its France thats pretty good. They are all refundable until 24 hours before check in, so I do have the option to change them if something else becomes available. I also know I cant book trains until at least January ( to my dismay) but thats fine. I do need help filling in a few days though. The Itinerary is as follows:
Apr 4: land. Train to Avignon. Get there around 6pm and hopefullly have enough time to get to pont du gard
5 Nimes
6: arles (and back up date for pont du gard)
7: train to Marseille
8: Marseille
9: Train to Lyon
10: Lyon
11:?
12:?
13: Hopefully get to Paris around 2pm. Not sure the exact Itinerary there except the Louvre on the 16th for the entire day. I know the Eiffel, Notre Dame (which should be open in April) and the Catacombs are extremely important to pre book/get there as early as possible. I also completely forgot about Versaille. Which im NOT sure that I want to do. That is an entire day and in doing that, it forces me to do the Arc du triomphe, Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Catacombs and most other things/museums in a single day. And while I do like to keep busy and am a bit of an overachiever on trips, that is a very difficult, and even dumb itinerary IMO. So if I have to skip Versaille in order to do the other things im ok with that. That being said, after getting to Paris around 2pm (or so) I do have about half a day to do things as well. But that all depends on when/if I can check in, and trains (when I can actually get there) I hope to be somewhere within 2 hours away from Paris, which leads to the main question.
Im not too sure how to fill in the 11th and 12th. Id like to make my way towards Paris. The best place to do so would be Dijon. And there is nothing wrong with that. Great city, lots to see. Great architecture. But id love to see strasbourg. I also believe that it would be a crime to go to France and not see some of the WWII sites. But those would be at least 4 hours away from Lyon, and most trains would take be right through Paris anyways. While Id love to see the D day beaches, even getting to Vimy ridge would be nice. But again, thats a LONG way to go from Lyon and id spend a half a day just getting there bypassing cities that would be more ideal stops (time wise) on the way to Paris. The good thing is the WWII sites are roughly 2 hours away from Paris so that fits. Im not as into WWII history as much as I am into Roman/greek/ancient history, but Dday and Vimy ridge are extremely important events in Canadian history (not forgetting world history here) and it almost seems necassary. However missing such great cities as Dijon, Strasbourg, and even Nancy or Reimes seems just as importiant and im not sure which way to go.
Even if I didnt go see the WWII sites im undecided how I would head up to Paris. All the places are relatively even in regards to importance. And even seeing the WWII sites vs other cities before Paris are equal in terms of importance to me/priorities. I cant quite make the decision. That being said Im not going for 6 months. There is time to figure it out however I need some advice from more seasoned travelers/french travelers to get my head straight.