10 day vacation in France

Tim C. wrote on May 11, 2010:

On Mon, 10 May 2010 18:23:44 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:

On 10/05/2010 15:42, Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:47 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:


Fair comment, We like to get south of the Loire ASAP,

Train, plane. ...


Strikes, dust, strikes, dust. etc

Petrol prices, road tolls, speeding fines, no parking spaces, dented and
scratched bodywork, multiple pile-ups.


With the exception of road tolls most of these are just as likely in Britain
in my experience

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
email: mike_lane at mac dot com

On Tue, 11 May 2010 09:59:57 +0100, Mike Lane wrote in post :
edia.com :

Tim C. wrote on May 11, 2010:

On Mon, 10 May 2010 18:23:44 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:

On 10/05/2010 15:42, Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:47 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:

Fair comment, We like to get south of the Loire ASAP,

Train, plane. ...

Strikes, dust, strikes, dust. etc

Petrol prices, road tolls, speeding fines, no parking spaces, dented and
scratched bodywork, multiple pile-ups.


With the exception of road tolls most of these are just as likely in Britain
in my experience

This isn't about the merits of France vs. the UK, it's about the best way
to get from Paris to Nice.

--
Tim C.
Show me where Trotsky is buried and I'll show you a communist plot.

On 11/05/2010 08:39, Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 10 May 2010 18:23:44 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:


On 10/05/2010 15:42, Tim C. wrote:

On Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:47 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:



Fair comment, We like to get south of the Loire ASAP,


Train, plane. ...



Strikes, dust, strikes, dust. etc

Petrol prices, road tolls,
Known
speeding fines, no parking spaces, dented and
scratched bodywork, multiple pile-ups.

Been driving abroad since 1954, none of those have given me problems.
Perhaps you should hone up your driving skills. :-)

If you think the Eyjafjalla volcano is bad, wait until Hekla blows. :-)

I don't think it's particularly bad, agreed on Hekla and it'll be easier
to pronounce. :-)

On Tue, 11 May 2010 11:16:11 +0100, Donwill wrote in post :
:

agreed on Hekla and it'll be easier
to pronounce. :-)

I'll give you that.
--
Tim C.
Why do Marxists only drink herbal tea? Because propper tea is theft.

On 5/10/2010 10:06 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
Edward wrote:
We are going to France in June for just 9 days. We have scheduled 5
nights in Paris and 4 nights in Nice with plans to take day trips from
Nice. We have also considered staying in Provence for a couple of
nights and Nice for a couple of nights instead, but would rather stay
in one place. Are day trips to Provence for maybe wine tastings and
other things realistic? Any other comments or ideas are welcome. Thanks,


Sounds like a reasonable plan, except for the plan to take day trips
from Nice. It is a beautiful place, but IMO more of a destination than a
base for day trips. I wouldn`t want discourage you from visiting Nice,
but it is a long way from Paris, IIRC about 10 hours by TGV. You will
see a lot of beautiful scenery along the way, especially in the south.
You will be looking at a day to get there and a day to get back, so that
is two full days of travel plus the cost.

There are lots of other places in France where you can do wine tastings,
and IMO, you might find it more enjoyable to make a smaller circuit,
staying in various places along the way. It is only about 4 hours
driving or train from Paris to Strasbourg and interesting places along
the way, like Reims and Verdun, and beautiful scenery.

If you are only there for 9 days you may not want to spend 2 full days
of travel from the north to the very south, but short hops in a circuit
might be more enjoyable.

As for Paris, and having been there several times, I would not recommend
cutting back on the number of days there. I consider 4 nights to be an
absolute minimum for that city.


Thanks Dave. We already have plane tickets arriving in Paris and
leaving from Nice. Rail Europe shows Paris to Nice in 5 1/2 hours.
That is still a long time, but not a full day anyway. We could take a
train midway and stop for a couple of days, which is what I was thinking
about Provence. We will look at Strasbourg, Reims, and Verdun also.
Thank you very much for your suggestions.

Edward

On 5/10/2010 1:38 PM, JuanElorza wrote:
On Sun, 09 May 2010 09:51:57 -0500, Edward wrote :

We are going to France in June for just 9 days. We have scheduled 5
nights in Paris and 4 nights in Nice with plans to take day trips from
Nice. We have also considered staying in Provence for a couple of
nights and Nice for a couple of nights instead, but would rather stay in
one place. Are day trips to Provence for maybe wine tastings and other
things realistic? Any other comments or ideas are welcome. Thanks,

Edward

Day trips from Nice :
- Small train to Digne (le train des pignes).
http://www.trainprovence.com/
http://cccp.traindespignes.free.fr/phototheque-ete.html
The second web site says beware, few trains those days, call for
information at the station before.
Possibility to stop halfway, in Entrevaux, for example.
http://www.entrevaux.info/

- Another train, the Roya Valley train (Nice - Cuneo Italy)
More scenic with a car
http://www.sospel-tourisme.com

Thanks for the suggestions!

On 05/11/2010 12:36 PM, Tim C. wrote:
Tim C.
Why do Marxists only drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft.

Is this a cockney tea leaf joke?
Discuss.

Edward wrote:

As for Paris, and having been there several times, I would not recommend
cutting back on the number of days there. I consider 4 nights to be an
absolute minimum for that city.


Thanks Dave. We already have plane tickets arriving in Paris and
leaving from Nice. Rail Europe shows Paris to Nice in 5 1/2 hours. That
is still a long time, but not a full day anyway. We could take a train
midway and stop for a couple of days, which is what I was thinking about
Provence. We will look at Strasbourg, Reims, and Verdun also. Thank you
very much for your suggestions.

Sorry, I erred about the train time. In 1993 we went by TGV from Nice to
Paris and IIRC we left Nice at 10 or 11 am and arrived in Paris after 6
pm, not the 10 hours I said, but still basically a whole day of travel.
As far as I know, making a stop along the way is going to rule out the
TGV. I don't remember any stops along the way. That will mean a much
slower train and making connections somewhere. The three places I
suggested are going to take you quite a bit out of your way.

Even so, it is not a bad thing to be taking a scenic tour by train. I
remember the scenery in the south as being very pleasant. You could
probably keep yourselves pleasantly occupied in Nice and nearby
locations. Monaco is only about 20 km away.

"Edward":
Rail Europe shows Paris to Nice in 5 1/2 hours. ...

Dave Smith:
Sorry, I erred about the train time. In 1993 we went by TGV from Nice
to Paris and ...

And in 2001 the high-speed tracks were extended as far as Marseille,
speeding up the trip considerably.
--
Mark Brader | "But how do you figure out whether the programmer
Toronto | knew what he was doing when you find his code
| after he's gone?" -- Roger Critchlow

Mark Brader wrote:
"Edward":
Rail Europe shows Paris to Nice in 5 1/2 hours. ...

Dave Smith:
Sorry, I erred about the train time. In 1993 we went by TGV from Nice
to Paris and ...

And in 2001 the high-speed tracks were extended as far as Marseille,
speeding up the trip considerably.

That would be a good thing for reducing the travel time, but I have fond
memories of the scenery as we headed north from Marseille. Once the
train got up to top speed things whizzed by too fast.