Suggestions for pre trip travel in France

I’m guessing you might be flying in via Paris, then making you way to Bayonne - is that right? You could do like we did on the way, and stay a couple in the Loire Valley in France, and enjoy chateaux. We a tree a a yes in Amboise.

Bordeaux is a classy city in southwestern France, and I’d certainly like to go there again. We had a small place up the road in Saint Andre-de-Cubzac, birthplace of Jacques Cousteau. It’s premier wine country, and St. Emilion is worth visiting while you’re in the area.

Otherwise, is Barcelona someplace you’re considering, before or after the Tour?

Hi,

If you're flying into Bordeaux, I'd suggest you stay there or visit Toulouse or Carcassonne. Bordeaux is a great city with plenty of culture (a nice MFA), some nice churches, great architecture, nice river views, and of course, some of the best wines and food in the world at reasonable prices. I really enjoyed Carcassonne, too, as it has that beautiful, walled medieval city that is gorgeous to view, day or night.

If you're flying into Paris, I agree with the earlier poster: head to the Loire Valley and see some of the chateaus, or to Chinon and see the the chateau there and drink some great Cab Franc. I used Tours as a base and really enjoyed that city, too. Even if you travel by train, you can still take mini-tour buses out to several of the chateaus, or hop on a bus and visit Vouvray (15m away) and drink some gorgeous Chenin blanc.

Good luck

Hi Marion, if you visit the Loire Valley consider sleeping in Tours that’ll make your connection to Bayonne faster and easier. You can take a train from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport to Tours (2h 30m) that involves one connection. To get from Tours to Bayonne, it’ll take 4h 45m with a two connections.

They need to go to Bayonne, not Bayeux.

Some very good advice already; I will just warn you that despite the relative proximity, going from Carcassonne to Bayonne is actually quite cumbersome: train connections are slow and bad. Barcelona to Bayonne is even worse.
My vote goes for Loire Valley (if you land in Paris), as I find that 2-3 days is too long for "just" Bordeaux, and not long enough for "Bordeaux + something else", whereas it is the perfect length of time to sample a few chateaux and the Loire landscape.

They need to go to Bayonne, not Bayeux.

Thank you Kim, I edited my post.

Dear Forum Friends,
Thanks to all of you for your assistance and recommendations. You have been most helpful. Our latest thoughts are along two tracks-(1) fly to Paris, then train to Loire Valley or (2) train from Paris to Lyon for a few days, then fly to Bayonne. Certainly, going to the Loire valley is a more straightforward trip but we have heard so much about Lyon from a friend of ours. Do any of you have comments to add regarding Lyon? It does seem that train travel is more available and convenient when traveling north-south as opposed to east-west.
Thanks in advance.

Lyon is my favorite French city outside of Paris. It's very different from Paris, it's much less visited by tourists, and it's noticeably less expensive. Rick has a very good Lyon chapter in his France book. Of course, if you're not looking for a city destination, it won't be suitable.

Hello from Wisconsin,

If Bordeaux is not on your Basque tour, then go there and rest up, relax. It is a marvelous city. Beautiful. Cafe Napoleon might reopen. The college district for nice night life. It is just beautiful. Nice cathedral. A great flea market on Mondays. Modern mass transit. Great food!!! If you must leave this city, they have wine tours.

wayne iNWI

Lyon is fabulous! There’s the old town and also the upper Croix Russe section, where silkworkers lived and weaved 200 years ago. A newer community has been developed, too, at the convergence of the city’s 2 rivers. A half block from the modern, fancy cathedral is an ancient Roman theater, and accompanying museum. The delightful Lumiere brothers museum - the creators of moving pictures, with their cinematic equipment, and lots of old movie footage, plus a pleasant small park across the street from the entrance, a great spot for a picnic lunch. Rent a bike for a short ride around the city park. There’s the phenomenal and very underrated Musee des Tissus displaying a wealth of fabrics through the centuries, and spectacular dresses. Oh, Lyon’s the food capital of a food-focused country, too.

If you want a cooking class in Lyon (plus a potential guided outdoor market visit) look no further than Lucy Vanel’s Plum Lyon https://www.plumlyon.com/ .