Three Months in France

I've been reading about the Gascony region lately and it sounds appealing. Lots of small towns in a comparatively untoured area.

Just returned home from Provence after being there in May. We flew into Paris, trained to Avignon TGV, rented a car there and based out of Gordes for 4 nights and St. Remy de Provence for 5 nights. We did have a rental car and that made traveling around from Provençal market to market very easy. We found Isle de la Sorgue, Menerbes, Loumarin and Roussillon to be very charming and fun to explore. These places may be too small for your taste but they were a joy to visit.
Hope this helps!

Just remember it is 90 days and not three months. That small difference could be very expensive.

And you must count both the day you arrive and the day you depart. It's not a good idea to push your time to the 90-day limit, because stuff ha ppens. Like transportation strikes, etc.

Don't be intimidated by Aix or Rick's description of "fancy" people which may not ring so true when you get there. It's markets are excellent, as are opportunities for café-sitting. But I would not stay there the whole two months.

Aix is also a university town, so a lot going on. It's a very good place to base. However, beware the Mistral winds that blow out of the Alps and down the Rhône Valley to the Mediterranean Sea. They blow about every third day in March, slightly less in April. We spent six months in Cassis, so can vouch for the winds and weather.

I love the Dordogne; you would have to have a car for that leg of the trip. The honey gold villages are just magic e.g.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/south-of-france/
There are so many wonderful places to visit. March is not the best time though -- night markets, festivals etc tend to be in the summer and the weather in late spring or fall is a lot better for what it has to offer. There are so many beautiful towns, chateau, gardens, abbeys, churches, hikes and of course the pre-historic caves. I have canoed on the Dordogne in May -- not sure if that is available in March or April but it is wonderful if you can do it. It would be a good time for the caves as your odds of getting a ticket for the Font du Gaume for example would be easier than in high tourist season. The food is wonderful in this part of the world.

I also love Burgundy but it is another area that needs a car. Same with Brittany. These are all enchanting regions and I love your idea of staying a month as a base in 3 places. (and for rentals you should pay about 2.5 to 3 times the weekly rent for a monthly rental)

As someone mentioned if you are Canadian or American or from Oz you are limited to 90 days in Schengen so manage your dates with this in mind if you don't hold an EU passport. This is enforced these days. We got held up an hour on exit having to prove our date of entry because the agent in Rome didn't stamp our passports; the guy who got pulled at the same time as we did couldn't prove his dates and missed the plane. (I had read on TA about this problem with lazy Rome agents and so was prepared with copies of E-tickets for entry, hotel receipts etc; I had alas not read it before the trip or I would have insisted on getting a stamp). We were on our 89th day and the border controlled would not let us leave until they had arranged a retroactive stamp in our passports.

I have spent a month in Aix on a language learning trip through AHI travel. I enjoyed it. I was with a group; we stayed at an aparthotel, so a kitchenette and laundry in the building for a fee. I enjoyed it. There are many great restaurants and cafes. The market is fabulous. We had 4 half days of language classes and some organized meals as a group.

I also spent a month in Villefranche sur Mer at the Institut de Francais. I loved the town so much I have returned as a tourist 5 times and will go again, on the bus and train line to Nice and Monaco and more towns. A smaller town and I love it.

I also love Paris. I could stay there for 90days easily!

A few years ago I spent 2 months in France. One month was in an apartment in Paris, the other month was traveling around the country by a combination of trains and rental car, including several days in Normandy & Brittany and a week in Provence. If I had another month I think I would have been happy to spend it in Rennes (Brittany) - good transportation connections with lots of towns in different areas of Brittany by train, bus, or with a rental car, including St Malo, Dinan, Dol de Bretagne, Fougeres, Quimper, Concarneau, and Carnac - some of those are close and some may require an overnight to avoid a long day of driving or train riding. It's a big city (215k) with a large university campus so lots of stuff going on, restaurants, theaters, etc. and it has a nice historic center to explore. I could easily spend a month in an apartment there.

So, you could do 1 month in Aix or Avignon or somewhere else in Provence, 1 month in Rennes, and then 1 month in Paris.

I stayed in Arles and had a car and did day Trips to the Camargue,Gordes,Roussillon,Loumarin,Nimes,Uzes,Les Baux,Pont du Gard and Avignon.I liked Arles for the good restaurants and the viev from our hotel of the Rhone River and the Roman Coliseum.
Mike

Thank you so much for all the replies. I will do some research on each and every suggestion. I guess I can't go wrong no matter what choices I make!

Amicalement,
Susan