Whetting my appetite for a France trip

Jean, are you the one who told me about the great B & B in Chartres. If not, I'll give you the name if you'd like. It has my highest recommendation. I, too, love Chartres, especially the lumiere. Have you considered seeing Josephine Baker's chateau? I loved that in 2023. Château des Milandes is in the Dordogne area which I also love.

Laurie Beth, thank you for those recommendations! I did stay in a very nice B&B last time in Chartres in 2019. It’s odd now that a current B&B uses the same name & some of the exact decor from mine, but they aren’t the same rooms nor exact location. Mine was a very quick 1-2 minutes from the cathedral. The current one is farther away & opposite direction from the train station. So, yes, please share the B&B you liked. : )

Jean,
Recent comments here mention Amiens. I am intrigued and hope to see it next time in France. You might search the forum here for comments about it. StellaB seems to know it well and has some excellent comments about it. I see you have it in your list of possibilities.

Bordeaux is not a small town, but has a great tram system for getting around and has the Bassins Des Lumieres light show, plus the Cite Du Vin, a nice cathedral, a lovely old town and art museum, possible day trips to St. Emilion, strolling along the river (with the locals families who make use of the riverfront park). Within the central core there is a small town ambience. The food and wine are excellent also. It is a 2-2 1/2 hr TGV train ride from Paris.

Without a car you will not be able to see much in the Dordogne, so that is out. Nice is very popular and a car is not needed, as frequent buses and trains get you to a lots of nearby towns and sights. I would put the Nice area on your radar. There are also flights to the US from Nice, if you wanted to finish your trip there and fly home from Nice.

Do you have a certain time of year for your travel?

Thank you, Judy, for your details! I am thinking next June or early September, depending on the timing of the cities’ light shows. I am retired, so there’s no requirement other than I like to eat outdoors and enjoy warmer weather with longer hours of daylight.

Jean,
We were in Bordeaux in June of 2023 and it was very nice, and I would hazard a guess that September would be just as nice. Two full days there would give you a chance to see as follows:
Day 1, cathedral and Musee d'Acquitaine (or Musee Des Beaux Arts), a stroll around the old quarter and across the Place de la Bourse to the river. Enjoy dinner in the old quarter and go to the Bassins Des Lumieres in the evening. The cathedral, etc are on a tram line, so easy to get to. This, believe it or not, is not a rushed day, as the places I mention are in a relatively compact area.
Day 2, perhaps a half day tour to wineries, either on the St Emilion side or the Bordeaux side. The Cite Du Vin is very large and comprehensive and we spent about 3 hours there, including our time in the viewing room/bar enjoying our free glass of wine and looking at the river from on high.
The Musee du Vin et Du Negoce is another option that is highly recommended (Ialas, I didn't get there...next time!), plus a good handful of other art museums and galleries. Bordeaux is surprisingly (for Americans, I think) full of art experiences. I would definitely add this to your possibilities.

That sounds perfect, Judy! Maybe I should just copy/paste it into my itinerary. : ). It looks like I could fly home from Bordeaux, also, with the Sky Team (Delta, KLM).

I am fine adding additional days for a city where it makes sense - no need to rush. I just didn’t want people to not mention small towns where it makes sense to just stay one night. I usually have three or more 1-night stops during a 3-week trip since short train trips mean I am at the next city out exploring by 10:30am.

ean, I just did a reread and see you have been to Nice, so, perhaps not this time. Other places that merit a couple of days are not on a major train line, but which I love are Quimper (Brittany), Bandol (Provence coast, just east of Marseille), Beaune (perhaps combined with a Dijon area stop), Aubagne (pottery, flowers, in Provence, also not too far from Marseille.)
Bonne chance!

I hope this is still under the same management because the lady was very kind. https://www.lesconvivhotes.com/en/home/ I think it is. It is down by the river in the old tanning district. Walking distance to cathedral is not great, but it IS all up hill. During the week there is a little free bus that you can catch and get off wherever on its circuit you want.

Jean

For your consideration …

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-tour-de-france-2-weeks-on-foot-and-by-train-2-weeks-by-e-bike. We started in Bordeaux and ended in Paris.

I know you’re not the cyclist that we are. But the Loire Valley is quite level, so it’s great with an e-bike, if you can find someone to accompany you. [LATE ADDITION - or join a guided tour.] You could probably find a so-called 5 or 6 day trip, i,e., 4 or 5 nights with 3 or 4 days on e-bikes. See https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/directory/self-guided-tours/Loire%20Valley-Centre/page-1/?1=1&theme=&ability=&cycling_type=Leisure%20%2F%20touring%C2%A0%7CRoad%20cycling. No hillier than your cycle day in Puglia between Locorotondo or Martina Franca and Alberobello.

Cycling the Dordogne is hillier and more of a challenge. Train travel there is also a challenge, I believe, in terms of getting from village to village. But we had a great time, even if we did have to push the bikes uphill, twice. The villages, the history, the cro-Magnon sites, the food.

Anyway, perhaps something here will strike your fancy and work for you.

BTW, you might enjoy reading up on Ailenor of Aquitaine. Perhaps one of the five most remarkable women of the last millennium.

You sound like my kind of traveler!

If you've read some of my other posts, you know I lived in Amiens for several months as a student at UPJV. I can highly recommend that as a place to spend 2-3 days between Lille and Paris. I'll be only too happy to tell you all about it if you've never been there before and want the scoop.

Recent comments here mention Amiens. I am intrigued and hope to see it
next time in France. You might search the forum here for comments
about it. StellaB seems to know it well and has some excellent
comments about it. I see you have it in your list of possibilities.

You have a good memory! yes I know Amiens quite well and I'm always happy to talk about it if anybody has any questions.

I guess I don't have to recommend Bordeaux anymore, but I will even if it doesn't fit your criteria for a smaller place. We wish we would have spent a couple of nights in St Emilion. I regret that we missed the underground tour. To bad you don't want a car because the Dordogne was one of my favourite trips. I think the train goes to Bergerac though. It's very pretty but not what I'd consider the impressive part of the Dordogne.

Jean,

You may want to take a look at the Passion Monuments Subscription for some ideas. I found it to be of value during my April trip to Paris. In addition to free admission at Monuments around the country, there are sometimes reduced admissions to cultural events.

Enjoy the research!

Jean, if you are available the morning on June 29th we will be discussing France outside of Paris during the International Travel Group Meeting.

https://www.louvrelens.fr/en/

I haven't been here, but one of my daughter's favorite paintings is currently there (she was so disappointed it wasn't at the Louvre in Paris) but it's in northern France, so perhaps it would work?

Have you read Little Duke? It's a child's story about Richard the Fearless, but we were so excited when we saw one of Monet's paintings of the Cathedral at Rouen realizing that's where his father was buried.

You've likely already been the Monet Marmottan museum, but we really enjoyed that in Paris.

Thank you for the helpful replies! Extended family is visiting, so I will read these in detail & respond. Initial scan through them looks like wonderful ideas.

Jean--What about returning to Nice, and then you could go to Eze and/or Antibes which are very close by. When we were in Nice, I ventured out on my own to these other two places and loved them. Also, what about the Normandy region? Caen, Bayeux, etc. We have been to this area a few times and there is so much to see.

I saw a recent comment on how lovely Amiens is to visit, I had saved it as a note. Sounds just lovely, sorry I can't credit the Forum member, perhaps it was StellaB -

Amiens. Fairly close to Paris, straight shot from Gare du Nord. Super
easy city to navigate. Most beautiful cathedral I've ever seen. Little
canals winding through floating gardens. Jules Verne historic home
museum. Musée de Picardie art museum. A youthful vibe (due to it being
a university town - UPJV) .And almost
NO tourists.

When we were last there several years ago, there was a very impressive light show at the Amiens cathedral. I don't recall the name, but we stayed at a small hotel (nothing fancy) just across from the train station, which was also very close to the cathedral. There are numerous restaurants just next to the cathedral also.
Based on your description of your preferences, I might skip Lille. It's more of a "big city" vibe, and the historic things to see are very spread out.

I saw a recent comment on how lovely Amiens is to visit, I had saved
it as a note. Sounds just lovely, sorry I can't credit the Forum
member, perhaps it was StellaB -

Yes, it was me. I lived in Amiens for several months in 2014-15, and have gone back a few times since then, so I talk it up every chance I get.

Based on your description of your preferences, I might skip Lille.
It's more of a "big city" vibe, and the historic things to see are
very spread out.

Have you already been to Lille? I have friends who live there, so have spent a few weeks there altogether and it is...."okay." Not my favorite city in France, but it's a transportation hub for going on to Belgium. (The last time I was in Amiens, we "backpacked" it to Ghent for a two-nighter. I loved it!)