One month in France -- Paris and the French Riviera

Hi Mary,

I do not mean to turn you from your intended path, but a month minus 5 days is a long time, and there are some wonderful sights on the way to Nice. You have time to visit at least some of them if you like.

Two nights in Beaune would give you a taste of Burgundy. Lyon is a fabulous place, worth 3 nights if you can spare them. Arles, Avignon, or Nimes, each close to the other and connected by rail, would be great candidates for a place to base some trips to sights in the Rhone Valley region of Provence.

No car would be required.

There are a great many small art museums in southern France, so you need a comprehensive guidebook covering that part of the country to be sure you don't miss something of particular interest to you.

I agree with Adam that Lyon would be a wonderful stop for a few days. We stayed in one of the apartments through Booking.com (Mon Hotel Particulier) located in the Vieux Lyon (old town), and it was such a fun experience staying in the traboule area! If you're open to a quirky but fantastic location, I highly recommend it.

"..walking, boating, small hotels/apartment rentals, and a relaxing pace with time to sit and sketch." Have you considered Annecy? If you go, pick up your morning pastries from Pan & Gatto - yum!

Hello Mary S,

I'm jealous of the amount of time you get to spend on your trip and I would second (or third) the idea of perhaps seeing more locations. You mentioned sketching - if art is an area of interest I might make the following suggestions.

In Paris aside from the obvious big museums there is also:
Rodin Museum: Sculpture museum set in his old house in Paris with rose garden
Picasso Museum: Paintings, sculpture and ceramics set in a villa
Marmottan Museum: Monet museum and you can also visit one of his muse gardens at Giverny
Luxembourg Park: If you are looking for a quiet spot in the city this giant park is always busy but also always has some unused section
And while I haven't been (yet) every art lover who has visited L'Atelier des Lumières raves about it. (I'm going in Paris and and plan on going in Les Baux as well.)
https://www.atelier-lumieres.com/

Lyon would make a great stop - you're going through it on the train anyway and while it is a big city there is plenty to see and do. A great old town to explore and the Musee des Beaux Arts. (Also Great Roman theater ruins above the city.)

You'll also be passing right through Provence.
If you stop in Arles you can see where van Gogh painted and they have metal "easels" set up where you can compare the painting with the current view. (More great Roman ruins in Arles and a good Ancient History Museum.)
Avignon is pretty, charming town although most of the art museums are smaller personal collection style.
There are a ton of tiny charming, quiet hill towns in Provence - especially in the Luberon hill towns but getting to those on public transportation can limit your options. But Isle-sur-la-Sorgue should be reachable by bus if that interests you.

On the coast don't miss Antibes and the Picasso Museum set on coast there.
I've never been but Aix-en-Provence has many art sights including Cézanne’s house and art studio.
In Nice don't miss the amazing Chagall Museum hanging just above the Roman Bath sight there.

I can't recommend a really good guide book(s) and research before you go to maximize seeing what you want. There are a lot of little art centric sights scattered on the Riviera and you'll have time to see as many as you like. Search Art Trails of the Riviera for more guides and site suggestions. (I think the Pilot one is a good start: http://www.pilotguides.com/articles/art-trails-of-the-french-riviera/ ) But you'll need to tailor any suggestions to your interests and, schedule, pace and accessibility.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

If you can possibly drive for a week or two out of this time I would plan to do so. I would if you are new to Paris spend at least a week there. Longer would be well spent and there are a couple of dozen great day trips to chateaux, villages and small cities in the Paris region. but at least 7 nights/6 days for Paris. Then I would consider a week in Burgundy with a car and a week in the Dordogne with a car (two of our favorite areas) or one or the other. Then a week in Nice having dropped the car as the Riviera has very good train transportation along the coast and it is a pain to drive there.

If you cannot drive or don't want to (that is where we are alas these days since my husband can no longer drive and I don't want to). then I would still think about a base or two the way south. You could spend a few days in the Loire region and do tours to local chateaux; while the Dordogne needs a car, you could head for Sarlat and do tours from there. If you cannot drive though I would seriously consider doing a couple of weeks in Paris with lots of regional day trips and then a couple of short stops for a day or two on the way south in order to visit some other regions and then the remainder of the time in Nice with day trips along the Riviera -- or you could even do some 2 or 3 night side trips from there.

We did a similar trip over 3 weeks with another couple a few years ago.

I would spend about 10 days in Paris.
I would seriously consider renting a car for at least a part of your time in Provence and the French Riviera. There is a great deal available to see, much of which is most accessible by car.
Driving a car in that area of France is little different than driving in America. They drive on the same side of the road, follow basically the same traffic rules, and the traffic in small towns and the country is not bad.

There is plenty to see if you take this route. Two of my favorite experiences in Provence from our trip were visiting the market at Isle sur la Sorgue on a Sunday morning (but I like visiting markets in general, they are an excellent place to mosey around and people watch), and visiting a town called Moustiers Ste. Marie (not mentioned in Rick Steves), at one end of the French "Grand Canyon", where the mountain behind the town literally climbs vertically up for more than a thousand feet (and if you are active, you can climb up it to a church located well up on the mountain). But these were just two things that stand out in memory right now, there are plenty of little hilltop towns, Roman ruins, seaside vistas, all around that area that are well worth seeing.
So, 10 days in Paris, 10-15 days travelling in the car, and the last 5-10 days in Nice. (You can easily day trip on public transportation as far as Monaco and into Italy from Nice, and I would definitely recommend doing that day trip).
Buy the Rick Steves books on both Paris and Provence and the French Riviera if you haven't done so already.
Anyway, that's my two cents.

The French Riviera has stunning scenery. From Nice you can easily take a train or bus to several towns - Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Eze, and our favorite - Villefranche-sur-Mer. Villefranche is very picturesque and the harbor and beach and narrow streets are lovely! There are some beautiful walks on St. Jean Cap Ferrat also.