Driving tour in France for 2 weeks

Need your advice on every aspect of traveling by car in France, particularly sepcifics relating to logistics (time and space); hotel, restaurant %26amp; MUST SEE sights recommendations.

Here are some background materials for you to work with:

* Timing of trip - June, 2006

* Party traveling - married couple (both drive)

* Budget - moderate (*** to **** for hotels)

* Favorites - regional cuisine of places on our itinerary

* Sight seeing preference - country side; wine country; Roman Ruins; chateau,cathedrals %26amp; beautiful villages.

* We have been to France sevaral times, but never drove.

* Our itinerary (very preliminary) is follow:

- Drive from CDG to Beaune (Stay at Beaune 2 nights)

- Drive to Chamonix (Stay at Chamonix 2 nights)

- Drive to San Remo (Italy) with half-day stop-over at Turin, Italy. (1 night at San Remo)

- Drive to Aix-en-Provence (with stop at Monte Carlo, Nice and Cannes). Stay 4 nights at Aix.

- Drive to Tours, but due to distance, may need to spend night at Lyon. Next day enroute to Tours.

- 3 nights at Tours (return car at CDG and fly home)

Your suggestions about day trips, hotels, restaurants and special villages and chateau would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Stephano

|||

With the exception of entry into Italy, I have driven many times through the years to and among all of these destinations. My first observation is that if you are originating your trip from the Pacific Time zone, arriving at CDG the next day, and wanting to drive to Beaune upon arrival, you may find staying awake upon the autoroute quite difficult. As a safety concern, I should limit driving time from CDG to no more than 1-2 hours the first day. There are many places to stay with excellent restaurants within this distance. Check the following web sites:

http://www.tables-auberges.com/leaf.htm

http://www.silencehotel.com/

http://www.logis-de-france.fr/fr/index.htm

chateauxhotels.com/public/accueil/index.php

http://www.chateauxdemeures.fr/

http://www.moulinetape.com/

www.relaischateaux.com/page.php3?lang=en

You may consider Leslie Caron’s charming B%26amp;B in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, La Lucarne aux Chouettes, for your first night if you feel that you can make the distance. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lesliecaron-auberge/ You may be too tired to really appreciate what is offered here but it is a very comfortable stopover.

I should be glade to comment further upon your itinerary as it develops but as a general rule, I find simpler is better.

|||

Sarastro,

Thank you for the insightful observation regarding possibility of jet-lag and being tired after the cross Atlantic flight to CDG.

We decided to spend the first night in a hotel at CDG.

Please feel free to comment on the rest of the previously outlined itinerary.

|||

We learned the hard way that taking the scenic route on days we had far to go was much longer and frustrating than anticipated. Each village had so many roundabouts (think small town redlights) and the traffic tended to be so heavy going through we were hours behind our schedule. My advice on driving: Take the toll roads on those long drives and save the scenic routes for when you get to your destination--or don%26#39;t have a schedule.