We are going to France 9/7-9/21 with a goal of spending six nights in Provence, three nights in Normandy and four nights in Paris (been there before). None are set in stone. Right now we only know when we arrive and depart and are trying to fill in the middle. There are three of us and I purchased a 1st Class flexipass containing four rail days. We arrive in Paris by air at 11:00 AM and are trying to decide if it is best to start in Normandy since its closer to Paris and we're more likely to get where we will stay before dark, as opposed to catching the TGV to Avignon and possibly arriving after dark. We plan to rent a car in both places, but not in Paris. While we have not yet found accommodations in either place it seems that first figuring out the order of where we will go is more important because of getting train reservations well in advance. According to Rick's France book he talks about getting them up to 90 days out to ensure that we get the train we want to take. Does anyone have any experience with this? Two of the four rail days will be the Paris/Avignon route and the other two to Normandy. My other question is regarding where to stay. I received several suggestions to a question I posted two months ago, but we are having a problem deciding the best place to stay in these two locations to maximize our time there. City or countryside, Hotel or B&B....or an apartment where we can buy food at the markets and cook. We are three adults who don't mind sharing a large "family" type room if the beds are big enough, but if not having two rooms anywhere seems expensive. I am blessed to have one traveling companion who speaks French, since I'm told English is less spoken in smaller towns. Please help??? Thank you. Jim
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
There's no good way to connect these disparate destinations, but the best will depend on you and your itinerary. Also, how do you handle jet lag? Could you (amongst your crew) handle renting a car on arrival and driving for a few hours to your Norman destination? If the answer is yes, and if your return flight leaves Paris in the afternoon, I am tempted to propose the following: 9/7: Drive to Normandy 9/10 Drive or take train to Paris 9/14 Take train to Provence, then drive to Provencal base 9/21 Take early direct train to Charles deGaulle airport and fly home. The alternatives are all worse that this in my opinion. In particular this avoids a day-long schlepp between Normandy and Provence by planting Paris in the middle.