France for 13 days?

I haven't visited enough of France to offer much advice about your question except for a few comments. 1. We really enjoyed two nights in Arles in the southeast of the country, with a day trip to Avignon on our departure. (We traveled by train.) 2. Give yourself at least four nights in Paris if you can afford to. 3. If you rent a car in Switzerland and drop it off in France I suspect you'll be hit with a big drop-off fee, though I have no first-hand experience.

My thought was to arrive by train from Switzerland to Beaune and rent a car there. Then stay in that region?? maybe move on to Amboise?? then to Normandy region?? and drop car off and train to Paris. Then, fly home from Paris. Not sure if that is a good plan or not, or how many days divided between these places.

What about a village in Provence for a week or so? There are so many places you can visit from a city like St. Remy or Arles. Avignon is a good place to pick up a rental car. Rick's Provence book is full of great suggestions! We spent 2 weeks on Provence in May and visited the villages and markets. It very nice!

While you mention Gimmelwald, you don't specify where in Switzerland you will be when your 13 days in France begins. If you happen to be in Geneva, you could pick up the rental car at the Geneva airport which oddly enough straddles the border (and the car rental is on the French side of the border)...Beaune is an easy drive from Geneva, the Loire is about 4 hours from Burgundy, and then Normandy would be another 4 hour drive[INVALID]you could drop the car in Caen and train the short ride into Paris. Another possibility from Geneva would be flying Easyjet to Toulouse, renting a car there, doing the Dordogne and the Loire before returning the car and training in to Paris from Tours/St Pierre des Corps TGV. From Bern, you could do a direct TGV to Paris and do 4 days or so there before heading out into the countryside...ideally by TGV before picking up a car. Is your return airfare fixed? If not, perhaps you could return from Nice, which would support the idea of a Paris-Provence-Nice/Cote d'azure trip. Have a great time!

I'm wondering if 13 days is enough for Beaune, Amboise, Normandy and Paris (plus time to get to each). Enough to spend time in each and do them justice, that is.

I think the biggest question is what do you want to see? All the regions in France are so different and you should let your preferences guide your decision. If you are interested in castles, head to the Loire Valley. Southern France is beautiful in its own right, but it's quite different than the beauty of Normandy. And then eastern France has the beautiful half-timbered, German-influenced construction. So, it depends. I would check out some Google images of the different regions and see how feasible it is from your location. One other thought. I have a Lyonnaise friend and understand that Lyon and the surrounding countryside is beautiful and rich in culture. It is quite close to Switzerland and may make a good starting point for the France portion of your trip. Another poster mentioned trying to fly out of Nice and that's a good option, especially if you start in Lyon and head south from there.

I really had not thought of heading south, but then again, I've just had the thought of adding France to our trip. I was thinking we would take the train from Switzerland into our first area of France we wanted to stay, then rent a car there. I figured we would want to spend some time in Paris so I thought we should just head west. I know 13 days isn't much. I was thinking we should stay in Paris 4-5 nights, that would leave 7-8 nights for the countryside. Maybe stay two nights one place and three nights in two other locations. I really don't know anything about France and what regions we would like, so far I guess I'm just wondering if it will work time and travel wise. I sure appreciate all the ideas. If you have any more, it all helps. We do like castles, I'm the only drinker so wine/champagne regions are not necessary, we like food and beauty. The RS shows in Normandy sure are beautiful so we like that idea. Any more thoughts that might help? H

Hi Susan and Monte, I love France and Paris...See if this sounds possible...drive to Beaune & stay 3 nights...drive to Amboise & stay 3 nights...Drive to Bayeux & stay 3 nights...train to Paris early a.m. & stay 4 nights, If you can add more time, I'd add to Paris. If you want to cut out either Beaune or Normandy (I wouldn't cut out Amboise/the Loire since you say you like castles) that would give you more time in 3 places....All four of these places are incredibly wonderful - you can't go wrong with any of them :)

Whatever plan you decide on, I like Susan's suggestion of staying at least 2 or 3 nights in each location. Also, IMO adding a night or two to Paris is always a good idea!

IMO, Susan from Sausalito has a very good plan, though I would add a couple of tweaks to it. Since you mentioned that you are not interested in D Day sights, I would drive from Amboise to the Dinan/St. Malo area (which is actually in Brittany), spend 2 nights, then drive along the coast through Cancale (the little oyster capital of France) to Mont St. Michel and then on to Bayeux in time to see the tapestry. I would also add that if you are starting in Gimmelwald, it will be a long day to get to Beaune and you need to play with dates and the DB rail schedules (see the link under "Plan Your Trip") to juggle this. As mentioned earlier by another poster, if you pick up the car outside France you will pay a fortune to drop it in France, and this needs careful planning.

based upon your responses: If you are coming from the East (Switzerland), you could spend one night in Beaune (dont need more), one night in Champagne area (a gotta do), then Paris (3 or 4 nights); Chartres Cathedral and town (a must see) 1 night; Loire chateaux (another must see)( 2or 3 nights); Mont St Michelle (1 day- must see); Bayeaux ( 1 night); Normandy (any time left). I personally would skip Beaune; try to train or fly from Switzerland to Paris- and then do the West as above

We spent three days at Amboise in June. It is a lovely town, we saw the chateau there and then made trips to Chenonceau, Chaumont and Azay-le- Rideau Chambord is also close by , but we ran out of time. Great restaurants in Amboise

Susan and Monte, I don't know where in Switzerland you'll be coming from, but my husband and I would Try Very Hard to get to Colmar. If you've been to Germany/Austria and liked it, it's kinda like a German town plunked down inside the French border. (ummmm, maybe because that's what it is?!? THESE days...) It's a French town full of Germans on holiday; it's neat-o to be reading French everywhere but listening to German.......We're still trying to get to Beaune...........Normandy is gorgeous! It looks just the way I thought it would. Quiet and peaceful. We stayed in Bayeux; very easy town to get around in and convenient transportation (incl. rental cars - you could turn yours in here and train to Paris). Great places to eat, too - fancy and not. I highly recommend the British Cemetery kitty-corner from the Battle of Normandy Museum. If you like the look of Bayeux/Normandy and Colmar on RS's DVDs, I think you'd be happy with the towns.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! All this information will really help me in my planning. I'm excited to see France!