Considering trip to France...advice please

Hi Joe,

How long are you planning to stay in France?
What I suggest is that you start in Paris (you will landing there), stay 2 to 3 days, then rent a car and do the Loire valley (lot of beautiful catles and the country side is fabulous). Depending on how long you are staying you could drive up to Normandie, the coast is beautiful. Personnaly I wouldn't go see the cave painting (first the orginals have being replaced to avoid deterioration due to pollution) and it is really too far from Paris to drive there.

 

I normally take the train to Tours from Paris and then rent a car there. TGV is fast, you can pick up/return the car at the station and you miss all the traffic and mess of driving out of and back into Paris. Take an early train out of Montparnasse station and you will be in a rental car checking out the chateaux before lunch. On the roads between Tours and Orleans you can see as many chateaux as you can possibly see. The area is filled with small towns to check out and the traffic on the small roads is nominal. However, If you go in the summer, remember that August is almost a state holiday and it can get crowded. Make sure you have reservations for a hotel and seats reserved on the TGV (required). Have fun and save some Vouvray for me. It would be a pain in the ass if you drink it all before I am there next.

 

Yes the TGV is the rapid train. It takes about 1 hr 10 min from Paris to Tours. I believe the direct train leaves around 7:30-45 am or something like that.

It depends on how stuctured your trip is, but I would purchase the train tickets in advance on the internet at the SNCF site or a Eurail site. You can print them out and be done with it.

Once you pick up a rental in Tours, you are on your own to see all you want. Pick up a Michelin guide book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I think they have one just for the Chateaux. The two roads that run the banks of the Loire are filled with signs to the big sites. Chambord is amazing, but there is Blois and many smaller ones all over the place. A hotel in Orleans and then a trip back to Tours the next day sounds about right.

 

Good advice from FOU. Interestingly enough, FOU means crazy in french!

 

oui. One other thing for a first timer. Tours has two stations. If you want to leave a little later, you may have to switch in ST PIERRE DES CORPS or something like that for a 5 minute train shuttle. I believe only the early train goes directly downtown. Not a big deal, but if you do not get off you will by pass Tours and end up at the Atlantic ocean. That will be fou.

 

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Michelin-Travel-Guide-Chateaux-of-the-Loire/Michelin-Travel-Publications/e/9781906261252/?itm=1

 

It took Charles de Gaulle and the allies exactly two and a half months. I guess it has a lot to do with what you do along the way. They had bad traffic