we are planning to drive through france - two couples in our fifties enjoy food %26amp; wine and want to get a good look around france as we haven%26#39;t been before.
We have never been to europe before and are planning our first trip for July 06.
We are planning on getting the train from Barcelona to Perpignan and want to drive over a week to get to Paris - through avignon, lyon, dijon, and the loire valley. Does this sound like a logical itinery and is it enough time? Where would be the most important places or best places to stay? Are we best to book our accomodation in advance as we will be travelling in the 2nd week of July. We would ideally like to drive for 2 - 3 hours per day and stay a night in each place arriving in Paris on Friday 16th July.
Any suggestions would be very welcome and help with suggested towns %26amp; places to stay at would be great! Would it be easier to get the train from Barcelona straight to Avignon and start our driving after our night here? Would love any help!!!
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Dear nztoeurope; France is a large country and you have bitten off too much for a one week drive to Paris. Two alternatives would be 1) Perpignan to Narbonne than West on the A61 to Carcassonne (a large, well preserved, medieval walled city}. Make this an overnight stop. This is a world heritage site and well worth the time to see it.
Continue on the A61 to Toulouse and switch to the A62 and then a few miles North switch to the A20/E9. Stop to have Lunch in Cahors and than continue to Rocamadour just East of the A20 (exit #56; take the D801 a short distance East to the D807. Go East to the N 140 than North to the D673 and West to Rocamadour). Stay overnight at Rocamadour which is an old pilgrimage site built on the side of a cliff.
The next day continue West on the D673 to the N 20 than North to the D703 West to the D704 and than North to Sarlat-le-Caneda, a well preaserved medieval village. Find your way back to the A20 and proceed north to Limoges (lunch?). You are now on the Southern verge of the Loire Valley.
Proceed by the best route for you to Tours which places you in the Center of the Loire Valley. You will not be able to see all of the Chateau but you should spend a couple of nights here and see the ones that interest you.
You can than proceed to Paris by the A10 (approximately 2 hours) or go by way of Chartres if you want to see the church.
The other route would be Perpignan North on the A9 through Narbonne and Montpellier (University town). Find a centrally located hotel around Avignon (walled city and Popes Palace) and visit the surrounding area of Provence [Nime (Roman Ruins), Arles (Roman Ruins and Van Gogh), Aix-en-Provence] You may need two nights here.
Continue North on the A7 through Orange [Roman threatre and roman arch] to Lyon [overnight]. See the sites and enjoy the food.
Continue North on the A6 to Beaune, a very quaint small town in the heart of the wine country. Stay overnight and than travel through the wine route to Dijon. If you want to stay longer - stay another night in Beaune.
From Beaune take the A6 towards Paris stopping at Auxerre for lunch (you might consider a side trip to Vezelay)and continue on the A6 to
Fontainebleu (Palace and Forest). Stay overnight. Consider a side trip through Melun to Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Continue on to Paris ( 1 hour) on the A6 or from Vaux-le-Vicomte on the A5.
You are going to Paris at the start of the hot/humid part of Summer. Going one month earlier would be more temperate and less humid. This is only important if hot weather bothers you. Have a great trip! Van
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Van offers excellent itineraries, but not wanting to confuse may I offer one more – A75?
This route is between the two offered above and has different yet interesting possibilities. Auvergne is not inundated by tourists yet is one of the most beautiful regions of France. Some of the highlights:
Exiting west near Antrenas to Aubrac for lunch at Chez Germaine (closed Sunday evening and Mondays). Germaine died several years ago but her restaurant remains the absolute best place in France for Aligot. Aligot, a mixture of mashed potatoes and young cow’s milk (for example cantal) was virtually unknown outside of Auvergne until several years ago when it began being served in Paris, almost as a fad food. (Best place in Paris for aligot is L’Abmassade d’ Auvergne.) We go just for the aligot but all of the food here is excellent, even by French standards and worth the side trip. Though no one here leaves hungry, try a fruit tart dessert, share if you have to but they are not to be missed.
Leaving Aubrac, just outside of Laguiole is the amazing restaurant/hotel of Michel Bras where if you reserve now you may be able to get a table in July http://www.michel-bras.com/.
The object of your visit to Laguiole is to purchase some of their famous knives. Sets of these table knives (known by their horn handles and bee emblems) have sky-rocketed in price recently but these are the originals. The brand names to look for are David (factory near the town’s entrance) or Calmels (only sold at their small shop in town).
Continue north on D921 with possible stops in Chaudes-Aigues (we like Hotel Beausejour 04.71.23.52.37), Neuveglise (Hotel Relais de la Poste with an unbelievable view), or St. Flour.
From St. Flour take A75 south (admittedly the wrong logical way but this is vacation) to the Ruynes-en-Margeride exit and follow D909 south to Garabit staying at the hotel Beau-Site http://www.beau-site-hotel.com/. Here we see the Garabit viaduct, built by Gustave Eiffel. The bridge is illuminated by night and is a very impressive site. The restaurant hotel is very comfortable and quite accommodating.
Return north toward St. Flour, taking D990 east to Le Puy-en-Velay. This is a beautiful old city nestled amid rolling hills near the Loire River. Reserve at the Hotel du Parc http://www.hotel-du-parc-le-puy.com/ and do not miss its unassuming restaurant. Francois Gagnaire is a young and very talented chef who will one day be charging much more than he does now. French critiques have raved about him and I consider this one of the best places I have eaten in France, especially for the price.
Leaving Le Puy, continue north-west on N102, rejoining A75 and continuing north. After Clermont-Ferrand one could head north-west to the Loire valley, north to Paris, or north-east to Burgundy.
Finally, the French autoroutes can be quite expensive however A75 south of Clermont Ferrand is free of all tolls.
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