Morez France to............?

Where would your daughter like to go?

• Mountains? (+/- with a car)

Seashore, like along the French Riviera?

History-filled city, like Florence or Rome?

Country-side, like Provence? (+/- with a car)

You could pick up a car in/near Morez in France and return it to France, like in Nice or Aix-en-Provence/Avignon.

That would enable you to maybe loop through the mountains a bit in Switzerland, down into Italy through Torino and end up in a beach town in France. Or drive straight down through Grenoble and loop around the Aix-en-Provence/Avignon area.

I'm sure others on this forum will recommend going to the area around Beaune (it's a reflex on this website)... but personally, I think that your daughter may enjoy heading south more, IMHO.

Have fun!

A lot of where you go will/should be determined by from where you are flying home. You mentioned that you are flying into Paris and given the places you listed I would suggest you do an open jaw ticket which allows you to fly home from another city in Europe. You can search for options on just about any airline by checking the multiple city or multiple destination box before you start your search. If you have already booked a round trip tickets and cannot change them without a big fee, consider Provence. I just spent 8 days there in a B&B in St. Remy, rented a car and explored most of the towns/attractions Rick talks about in his guidebooks and DVDs. I don't know about the trains from Morez to Avignon, but I did it from Paris and it takes 2:45 minutes on the TGV. If you have to go back to Paris consider a France Rail Pass with three rail days which is around $550 for two people in first class, or $450 in second class. Assuming there are trains from Paris to Morez and Morez to Avignon, you can cover all your train travel with the pass and also direct to Charles DeGaulle airport from Avignon. All that said, if you don't need to go back to Paris and would like to explore Provence or the French Riveria you can fly home from Marseille or Nice. You are also on the border of Switzerland and that would be an easy use of the four days you're allowing. You could fly home from several of the Swiss major cities. Anything further away than these would probably require you to fly, especially Italy. The Normandy area west of Paris, the first week of my two week France trip last fall, is also nice and easy to explore in 3-4 days from Paris. Other than Switzerland, the rest of the places you mentioned would be better with a week to 10 days in the country. If you have any specific questions feel free to send a private message. Good Luck

So close to Switzerland where there's much to see nearby--Geneva, Montreux, Zermatt and the Matterhorn which is a beautiful area for hikes. Plus Chamonix, France. The train system is efficient and reliable. Check out the Geneva-Montreux boat on Lake Geneva. More than enough to fill four days. Fly back from Geneva if possible.

Thank you for these marvelous suggestions. I am intrigued with the idea of driving but also concerned about driving in a foreign country. Once behind the wheel does it just come naturally? I am going to purchase plane tickets where I can arrive in one city and leave from another which leaves the door open to many more possibilities. So many choices!!

You can easily buy an open-jaw ticket for your flights.

Driving is easy in France and Switzerland. However, if you rent a car, plan on returning it within the same country... the drop-off fees are zero-to-almost-nil between points in France, but very high if dropped off in another country.

The lavender fields will have just started to bloom in Provence... flights back can be from Marseille or Nice. :-)

Only one night in Paris - tragic.

Paris.

Driving in Europe, except in the UK, is as easy as driving in the US. Road signs are in the language of the country you're in and in ENGLISH, so it is easy to navigate. Get a car with GPS or download Europe maps to your GPS here. For $99 in 2012 I put maps from all European countries on my Garmin and it worked fine....even when I was carrying it around in my bag when I got lost while walking on the streets of Paris. As in the US a GPS can get you lost, so buy a Michelin map for the area where you will travel and as Rick says, learn the valuable information in the key section. Planning ahead for road numbers, exits and places of interest will help if the GPS gets confusing. Do not try to drive in the big cities, but once in the countryside you won't be able tell the roads over there from the ones at home.

Hi Suzanka,
I have sent you a private message. I was born in Morez so if you have questions feel free to ask.

Rif