Hi everyone~
Now that I've received such great advice here, my husband and I need more! Here's the basic gist of what's happening:
Eurostar to Paris, Wednesday night and Thursday night in Paris. Renting a car, driving to Loire Valley, Friday night and Saturday night booked at a B&B in Amboise.
Now we just have to figure out the best way to get to Barcelona. We have one additional night -- Sunday night. We have to be in Barcelona on Monday around noon.
I have booked a place in Barcelona, however, now we're thinking of canceling that and going back to Paris and flying RyanAir to Barcelona. Except...RyanAir flies out of Beauvais - Tille. So...I'd be exchanging a Sunday night in fabulous Barcelona for a Sunday night in a non-descript hotel close to the airport in Beauvais, as the flight leaves at 9 a.m. We have to be in Barcelona by around noon. (Ship leaves in the afternoon on Monday).
**We looked at an overnight train from Tours. It has 3 or 4 train changes -- so not really conducive to sleep I'm guessing.
**We looked at a train ride from Tours on Sunday. It is 13 hours long, with several train changes. We get into Barcelona at 10 p.m.
**We considered just driving the rental car south, but wonder if that's any better considering google maps says it's a 8.5 hour drive, plus we'd be dropping our car off in a different country from where we rented it.
**RyanAir sounded great...only a 1.5 hour flight, just drive back to Paris (an extra night in Paris! Wow! I'd exchange that for Barcelona)...but it's not in Paris. It's 50 miles outside of Paris, so we'd really have to stay in Beauvais/Tille. And...where would we drop off the rental car?
Sorry...I know this is kind of confusing. It seemed like a simple thing: take the train from somewhere in Loire to Barcelona. And we may still do that. But I'd welcome your input.
Thank you!
Tara