For those who love France..

Hi,

I agree with renting a car outside of Paris. We did that two years ago:

1
We went to Gare Montparnasse and took the RER C to the "Viroflay - Rive Gauche" stop [15 minutes], walked down the hill and turned left [10 minutes] to the Avis office

97 Avenue Gén Leclerc, 78220 Viroflay, France - 01 30 24 34 56

GPS 48.803871, 2.168445

2
This is on the western side of the Paris suburbs so it made it easier to drive to Normandy [still a pretty long drive and toll roads too. We spent a few days in a farmhouse near Bayeux

www.la-ferme-des-perelles.com
+49° 18' 18.51", -0° 41' 8.26"

3
Then we drove to Mont Saint Michel.
Rather than staying on the Mont, we stayed at a small hotel near the end of the causeway, which was an easy walk [we went back in the evening]

www.le-mont-saint-michel.com/hotel_formule_verte/index.php
+48° 36' 55.65", -1° 30' 38.68"

4
From there, we went to Dinan for a few hours, then over to Amboise, spending 3 nights.

www.leblason.fr
+47° 24' 36.74", +0° 59' 8.00

5
Then we drove eastward, to Alsace and spent a few nights in Colmar.

From there we went to Munich, but you could take a train back to Paris...the TGV will take you from Colmar to Gare d'Est in Paris in 3 hours.

The Loire Valley can be 1 day (but that would be pushing it, for most people) or 5 days, or anywhere in between 1 and 5 days. It all depends on what you want to do there.

Same thing can be said about Normandy, the # of days depends on what you want to do in Normandy (a big area).

Same thing can be said about Beaune and the Burgundy wine area that Beaune is situated in.

For whatever it might be worth to you:

The typical poster on this forum seems to spend about 2 days in Normandy, seeing basically only the D-Day Beaches.

Typical on this forum for Loire is 2 or 3 days, but it all depends on what you want to do there.

Beaune: some people spend a week exploring the Burgundy wine area, including Beaune. Some do it in a day. It depends on....(blah blah, you get it).

Sarlat is in a different region, 300 miles from Beaune and farther than that from the Loire.

We are still really confused about where we want to go. I read about how so many people LOVE Paris, would the same be said for the countryside?... Until you go somewhere it is so hard to know how much you'll like it, yet we've loved everywhere we have traveled so far.

I figured Sarlat is too far south. It is hard to tell how large the regions are and how long it will take to travel. We are just at the beginning of our planning, not even sure about France yet.

Thanks for the help...did you LOVE the countryside?

What you, each of you, will find memorable and worth doing is such a subjective thing; each traveler or "travel couple" can be so different. And that's why it's difficult for someone else to give you reliable guidance to what you will like. What I might want to spend time on, might bore someone else; and vice-versa.

Paris is very different from the "French countryside": urban versus rural. And parts of the French countryside are so different from other parts of the French countryside. Someone might enjoy just driving through "the country" but another traveler might not want to just wander around the countryside, wanting a list of attractions. There's no right or wrong way. Your preliminary research, with the photos and websites available these days, is a key to your decisions about what you'll like.

We haven't had too many people report, here, that they were disappointed with the D-Day Beaches, or with the Loire Valley. But of course, there's self-selection going on there: people tend to go to the Loire who are pretty sure, from their research, that they'll enjoy it there. And so on.

And so, what you'll like is a subjective thing. If you approach pre-trip research in the right way, it tells you much about what it will be like, with all the websites and photos available these days. That's a better way for you to decide.

The quickest way to get an idea of driving distances is

to go here

It opens up in the US but input a location in France and click around, it gives driving times.

This is a charming itinerary and perfectly feasible.

I can't say why you might love this trip, but I would for the opportunity to enjoy three very different parts of France at a reasonable pace.

How you divvy up the time depends on your tastes. I would not add anything, though, and Sarlat is dead out of it.

You might want to retain that car for a few days in Burgundy, there's lots to see outside of Beaune.

Have a great trip!

The 3 places are quite doable... but Sarlat is quite a long drive south. We spend a lot of time in Burgundy.. and every one kept telling us Sarlat was about 4 hours drive.... more like 10. We took the back roads and it took forever from Avallon. On the way back we took tollroads and thought it would be a lot quicker... 9 hours. Whee. Of course we were not in southern Burgundy when we started, but you will be north, also..... a long drive. Beaune is very nice, but there are really other neat little places that are wonderful in Burgundy also... Beaune and Dijon are not the only places to visit. If you have 2-3 days, the areas around the Burgundy canal are lovely.. Vandenesse-en Auxois, Chateau-neuf-en- Auxois, and north further are Flavigny, Noyers, Montreal, Avallon, Chablis, etc. It is easy driving on the back roads. We always drop our car off at Orly and cab it back to the place we are staying in Paris.. Take your own GPS... then you won't have to pay for one . We put markers everywhere. If you put a marker on the place you rent the car, if you are returning it there, it is easier to return it to the exact place... and , yes we love, love ,love France. We have stayed in some wonderful gites, B and B's and even a chateau in western Burgundy that was wonderful If you want sme ideas, send me a PM.