Request help on France Itinerary !!!!

We, family of 4 with 2 young kids are going to France at the end of
Nov 03. I know it is short notice but we are so used to last minute
preparations. But this time this sudden break was caused by the
reasons beyond our control.

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace
The above were made after reading Frommers & Rick Steves guidebooks in
the library for an hour.

We would like to seek advice on how to distribute 15 days in the above
areas or should we drop some of the areas and keep it for the next
trip. We don't like to move around and were looking for good villages
to use as our base to explore the regions.

Any suggestions on family activities in particular to the regions? The
kids wanted to see some snow, I am not sure if it is possible in the
Alps during the period we are there.

We are planning to stay in B&Bs or families who have room for hire.
Again any suggestions on good host are welcomed.
The main purpose of our trip is to enjoy the French culture, food and
maximize our interactions with the locals. And yes, we know a little
bit of French that we hope to put in practice.

Thanks for your inputs.

6656 wrote:

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace

We would like to seek advice on how to distribute 15 days in the above
areas or should we drop some of the areas and keep it for the next
trip. We don't like to move around and were looking for good villages
to use as our base to explore the regions.

Looks a bit contradictory to not move around and present such a list...

However, if you want to stay a week in Paris rent an apartment, easily found
on any search engine. Children have actually been known to like Paris
(Eiffel tower, river, subway (line 14 where you can be at the head of the
train), merry-go-rounds, sewers, parks, zoo, etc.)

For rural areas, you can try

http://www.guidevacances.com/gites/index.html

or otherwise search for "gite" or "gites de France" or "gites ruraux" and
the area or town you're interested in. In France there are very few B&B's
as known in the UK (rooms in private homes)

Bernard Higonnet

bonjour
for the riviera, check

http://www.guideriviera.com

for family there is a very nice sea oriented theme park in antibes

have a nice trip

michel

6656 wrote:
We, family of 4 with 2 young kids are going to France at the end of
Nov 03. I know it is short notice but we are so used to last minute
preparations. But this time this sudden break was caused by the
reasons beyond our control.

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace
The above were made after reading Frommers & Rick Steves guidebooks in
the library for an hour.

We would like to seek advice on how to distribute 15 days in the above
areas or should we drop some of the areas and keep it for the next
trip. We don't like to move around and were looking for good villages
to use as our base to explore the regions.

Any suggestions on family activities in particular to the regions? The
kids wanted to see some snow, I am not sure if it is possible in the
Alps during the period we are there.

We are planning to stay in B&Bs or families who have room for hire.
Again any suggestions on good host are welcomed.
The main purpose of our trip is to enjoy the French culture, food and
maximize our interactions with the locals. And yes, we know a little
bit of French that we hope to put in practice.

Thanks for your inputs.


--
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tv par satellite,prises modem, salles de confèrences, etc
The Splendid: exclusive 4* boutique hotel with modern amenities:
modem plugs, satellite tv, conference facilities, internet access, etc
http://www.splendid-nice.com

Restaurant "Chez Hugo": http://www.restaurant-hugo-nice.com

Le Gounod est un 3* de charme, avec parking, climatisation, etc
The Gounod is a charming 3* hotel with parking, air conditioning, etc
http://www.gounod-nice.com

En plein centre ville et à 400 mètres de la plage
Au Splendid: bar "le Transat" piscine panoramique et jacuzzi chauffé
Jacuzzi et fitness, salles de confèrences avec ADSL + WiFi
In city center, 400 meters from the beach
In the Splendid: "le Transat" bar panoramic swimming pool, heated
jacuzzi , sauna & fitness facilities, conference rooms with DSL + WiFi
connectivity

"6656" wrote in message
om...
We, family of 4 with 2 young kids are going to France at the end of
Nov 03. I know it is short notice but we are so used to last minute
preparations. But this time this sudden break was caused by the
reasons beyond our control.

Will you be able to arrive at Paris and depart from Nice? Don't pick up
your rental car until you are ready to LEAVE Paris.

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:

Going to Europe to see an American theme park????? Not my idea of a good
use of time.

a) Provence and the Riviera
c) Rhone Valley

Be sure to see at least some of the Roman ruins at Nimes, and the old walled
city Aigues Mortes. Avignon still has its wall, however Aigues Mortes
hasn't extended beyond its wall on 3 sides. Pont du Gard, the huge Roman
aquaduct, will remain in your minds.

d) Burgundy

e) Alsace
Alsace is too far out of your way, IMO.

We would like to seek advice on how to distribute 15 days in the above
areas or should we drop some of the areas and keep it for the next
trip. We don't like to move around and were looking for good villages
to use as our base to explore the regions.

Any suggestions on family activities in particular to the regions? The
kids wanted to see some snow, I am not sure if it is possible in the
Alps during the period we are there.

I suppose you could drive from Lyon to snow and back in one day. IMO, Lyon
is under-rated as a tourist place.

We are planning to stay in B&Bs or families who have room for hire.
Again any suggestions on good host are welcomed.

Gites-de-France has a B&B off-shoot called Chambres d'Hote, of which there
were 4000 ten years ago (my most-recent listing).
http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/ They mention B&B in this English-language
site.

Little family-run hotels are practically B&Bs. They can be found as
one-peak hotels in small towns in the red Michelin guide.

The very back pages of the Michelin red guide list school holidays. You
should take them into account when visiting heavily touristed areas.

The main purpose of our trip is to enjoy the French culture, food and
maximize our interactions with the locals. And yes, we know a little
bit of French that we hope to put in practice.

The French are private people, so you may find them reserved. Your children
could be a big help in breaking the ice.

For maps, buy the large Michelin atlas of France. It costs no more than a
few individual maps and covers the whole country at the same scale
(1:200,000) as the individual maps. The IGN 1:100,000 maps have more detail,
but aren't "tuned" to tourism. The IGN 1:25,000 maps are very detailed,
like the US Geological Survey 1:24,000 quadrangles. Not for tourists.

Bob C.

In article ,
(6656) wrote:

We, family of 4 with 2 young kids are going to France at the end of
Nov 03. I know it is short notice but we are so used to last minute
preparations. But this time this sudden break was caused by the
reasons beyond our control.

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace

Way too much travelling for 20 days, especially with kids, I would think.
They will find merely the experience of being in a different culture
enthralling/terrifying (delete as applicable!) and won't need the
stimulation of constant changes in scenery. How about a week in Paris and
a fortnight in the south?

In article , (R J
Carpenter) wrote:


"6656" wrote in message
om...
We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:

Going to Europe to see an American theme park????? Not my idea of a
good
use of time.

To be fair, if the OPs don't live near/have the opportunity to visit the
Disney parks in the States, it may not be as crazy as it sounds!

Thanks for the replys to my husband's posting. We are from Singapore and
that is one of the reason we wan't to stop by Disney.



After reading the guides, I realised that we certainly need to leave out
some of the areas for the next trip. Now the question, which area would be
the best for the first timer to France. We enjoyed the small towns in
germany and wanted to experience something like this in France. What we
prefer to do is pick a place and explore from there.



We don't want to stay near a seaside, as our house is about 5 km from the
coast.

Thanks for your inputs.

For rural gites, go to the website www.gites-de-france.fr for very good
listings. You should also check out the info on Jack's website
(www.jack-travel.com). His hotel and restaurant reccomendations are great.
There are guide books (I think from Frommer or possibly Fodors) specifically
on traveling in France with kids.

Having just recently returned from 3 weeks in Nice, I can offer some advice
there. I'd try to stay within walking distance of the beach (though it
might be a bit too cool by then for swimming). The area behind the Negresco
Hotel, on Rue de France could be promising. The old city is interesting,
but possibly not the best place to stay. There should be lots of apartments
available.

"6656" wrote in message
om...
We, family of 4 with 2 young kids are going to France at the end of
Nov 03. I know it is short notice but we are so used to last minute
preparations. But this time this sudden break was caused by the
reasons beyond our control.

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace
The above were made after reading Frommers & Rick Steves guidebooks in
the library for an hour.

We would like to seek advice on how to distribute 15 days in the above
areas or should we drop some of the areas and keep it for the next
trip. We don't like to move around and were looking for good villages
to use as our base to explore the regions.

Any suggestions on family activities in particular to the regions? The
kids wanted to see some snow, I am not sure if it is possible in the
Alps during the period we are there.

We are planning to stay in B&Bs or families who have room for hire.
Again any suggestions on good host are welcomed.
The main purpose of our trip is to enjoy the French culture, food and
maximize our interactions with the locals. And yes, we know a little
bit of French that we hope to put in practice.

Thanks for your inputs.

"SUNTHARE" wrote in message ...
Thanks for the replys to my husband's posting. We are from Singapore and
that is one of the reason we wan't to stop by Disney.

After reading the guides, I realised that we certainly need to leave out
some of the areas for the next trip. Now the question, which area would be
the best for the first timer to France. We enjoyed the small towns in
germany and wanted to experience something like this in France. What we
prefer to do is pick a place and explore from there.

I actually don't think the list is too much for 20 days. It is all in
one direction (i.e. the south and east) so all lies along a mostly
straight line. I think the main help would be that you fly into Paris
and out of Nice. That will help save some travel time. That said you
will need to pick bases if you don't want to check into and out of too
many hotels.

The suggestion of an apartment in Paris for a week is a good one. That
leave nearly 2 weeks for the rest.

The Alsace is easily explored in 2 or 3 days. Then travel south to
Burgundy. Again you can tour that area in 2 or 3 days. Not much for
kids there though. Very wine and food oriented.

The place with the most to do is Provence. You should pick a central
town and spend a week or so. As for the Alps, you would have to make a
day trip probably to see them or travel through them on your way to
the Riviera.

nancy

On 30 Oct 2003 23:43:45 -0800, (6656) wrote:

We will be there for about 20 days. We are planning to see Paris (also
Disneyland) and drive along and stay in the following areas:
a) Provence and the Riviera
b) French Alps
c) Rhone Valley
d) Burgundy
e) Alsace

My wife and I are going on Christmas Day for 24 days. We're doing
essentially a big loop of France below Paris, with the last week in
Paris itself. (We've spent extensive time in Alsace, Paris, Normandy,
and Brittany in the past.)

Our itinerary for 17 days will be Dijon, Lyon, Avignon,
Arles/Aix/Marseille, Toulouse/Cahors, Bayonne, Bordeaux/St.
Emilion/Cognac, Nantes, and any extra days in Le Mans.

I feel this is reasonable, but then we're not hitting Alsace or Nice.
Ours is essentially a scouting trip for future travel. You might be
stretching it a bit.

You couldn't drag us near Euro-Disney with a locomotive. Even the
French think it's mostly a collossal waste of time.

Enjoy your trip!

-- Larry