Beginning to plan for next summer and feeling a little overwhelmed. We’ll be spending 2 weeks on a small group Seymour tour which begins in the Loire Valley and ends in Normandy. Would like to add on 4-5 days to the front end and 2-3 days at the end to create a 3 week trip.
I’m guessing we should either start or end in Paris? We’ve been there once, at the end of the RS BOE 21 tour 11 years ago, and have also already visited Versailles. Although we have loved spending time in many European cities (Rome! Also London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Vienna, Prague) we haven’t yet found the magic of Paris (we were there during a heatwave, which didn’t help) so I’d love to hear stories from people who adore Paris — where have you gone, what have you done? How long would you recommend we stay?
Suggestions for where to spend a few days else at the start of the trip (or spend the entire beginning of the trip somewhere else and visit Paris after the tour)? We’d prefer not to rent a car and that might limit our options. We love history, walking/hiking, natural beauty, and food. We’re not especially interested in seeing a lot of religious sites (we saw enough churches on the RS Village Italy tour to last a lifetime) or shopping.
I’ve just purchased the RS France book and will be looking there as well, but additional suggestions from those of you who know and love France would be super helpful as I start the planning process. Thank you!