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South of France Travel

Posted by on

This is the first time I've used the forum so I'm looking forward to see your comments and how this all works. It seems like there is so much to do and it gets overwhelming at times. So any advice would be welcome.

My wife and I will be traveling in France, Italy and Sicily for a couple months starting in April next year. In France we have one destination where we will stay and hang our hat for an extended period and that is Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (SCSM) where a friend is letting us use their apartment for as long as we wish. It is located about a hour south of Marseille along the coast. We've been to Paris a few times but never to the south of France so we don't plan on doing any sight seeing in Paris even though I'm sure there is more to see. At SCSM we plan on making it a base to make daily excursions. ** (1) WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS "DON'T MISS SIGHTS IN THIS AREA FIGURING A RADIUS OF 2 OR 3 HOUR DRIVE"?** We will either take the train and see the country side, or fly to Marseille from, CDG airport. I'm not sure how to check train schedules to Marseille. (2) WHAT IS A GOOD WEBSITE TO CHECK TRAIN SCHEDULES? Our flight arrives at CDG airport at 12:55pm on a Wednesday. There is a flight from CDG to Marseille that leaves at 3:30pm and arrives in Marseille at 4:45pm for $66pp. In Marseille we would rent a car head and to SCSM. I believe that upon our arrival in Marseille it will be dark or close to dark. I'm a first time driver in Europe and don't think we should drive to SCMS to look for the apartment. (3) DOES IT GET DARK THERE THE SAME TIME AS IT DOES HERE IN SEATTLE? (4) WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS IN MARSEILLE? When we complete our time in France we will head south to the Cinque Terra area. We plan on dropping the car off in Nice and take a train to Cinque Terra. (5) OTHER THAN THE POSSIBILITY OF PAYING TOLLS DRIVING TO NICE IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF? This is a broad brush approach for our stay in France. (6) DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A REASONABLE PLAN OVERALL?

Thanks for any comments you might make.

Posted by
8889 posts

(2) WHAT IS A GOOD WEBSITE TO CHECK TRAIN SCHEDULES?
http://bahn.de This is actually the German Railways website, but it has the timetables of all the major railway companies in Europe loaded, and is very user friendly. The French railways site is http://sncf.com but that is not so easy to use.

There is a station at Charles de Gaulle airport which has direct high speed trains to the south of France. I looked at some train times. It would take about 5 hours by train from CDG to Marseilles, arriving about 19:00 or later, so if you can find a suitable connecting flight that would be better.

(3) DOES IT GET DARK THERE THE SAME TIME AS IT DOES HERE IN SEATTLE?
I've no idea when it gets dark in Seatle, I've never been there. But in the south of France, in April, I would expect it to start getting dark around 18:00. There are websites where you can look up more exact times.

(6) DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A REASONABLE PLAN OVERALL?
Yes

Posted by
3594 posts

According to what I remember of geography class (a VERY long time ago), the times of sunrise and sunset depend on the latitude. Surprisingly enough, Seattle and the south of France aren't at terribly different latitudes. In April, however, especially early in the month, you'll be close enough to the equinox that the difference would be insignificant. One other minor twist is that by April, we in the U.S. will be on daylight savings. I don't know about Europe, but I bet someone around here does.

Posted by
8889 posts

Summer time runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, so in April France will be on Summer time.
France is due south of Greenwich, but is on Central European Time (=GMT+1). So in winter, it is already approximately +1 hour up on solar time, and when it is on Summer Time it is approximately +2 hours up on solar time. So the sun won't go down until about 20:00. But it will start getting dark some time before that.

Posted by
16893 posts

It sounds like you have already booked the flight to Paris, is that correct? When you mention the flight connection options to Marseille, are you talking about connections on the same or code-shared airline, so that your luggage could be checked through and you could possibly book it all on one flight record? That is the easier plan. If you book CDG-Marseille on an unrelated airline, then you won't be able to check luggage through and the airline won't take any responsibility to put you on anther flight if there is a delay.

Simliarly, most TGV train tickets purchased in advance are not refundable or changeable, especially after the departure of the scheduled train.

Driving the autoroute (with tolls) is otherwise like any other divided highway. See also some tips and road signs at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/driving-europe-tips.

Posted by
12 posts

(1) Sites to see in radius of 2-3 hour drive: Pont du Gard, St. Remy, Roussillon, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Eze….many more towns. Just drive the coast! We also stayed in Carcassonne, which is a great walled city west of Marseille, you would find it to be a nice day trip for you. If you drive, take a bus into Monaco! Would not do that city again in a car! whew! Yes, there will be tolls, all through France. No problem, just carry some Euro's! Enjoy sounds like a great trip!

Posted by
32 posts

Avignon and Aix en Provence which I consider to be one of the prettiest French cities after Paris. Also, visit Cassis (which we did while staying in Marseille) and take the boat ride from there to view the calanques (massive while cliffs). In Marseille, we took a ferry to Chateau d'If, but that's not a "don't miss sight."

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