Recommendations for France?

JohnK

Hi All, anyone got any recommendations for places to go or things to see & do in France? I'm going over for about 2 weeks (say 12 days in country) at the start of June and so far my plan is to sort of wander around* but I suppose I should probably have a few things on a list to see or do while I'm there. I'll have my car so anywhere at all in the country is open to consideration.


*=Well, the general idea is to drive down the west coast, cross over to the Mediterranean, drive along until the eastern border then head back up along the border, maybe popping into Switzerland on the way but I'm wide open really if theres somewhere specific worth going. Rough idea: http://maps.google.ie/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=29680+Roscoff,+France&daddr=47.66586,-2.91016+to:46.80041,-2.06722+to:46.46544,-1.61908+to:46.17289,-1.18184+to:45.46057,-0.61869+to:44.41204,-1.17789+to:44.08624,-1.30998+to:Bayonne,+France+to:43.50566,1.38486+to:A9+to:A50+to:Voie+Pierre+Mathis+to:43.86084,6.49501+to:A411+to:Rue+de+Verdun%2FD940&geocode=FQaD5wIdsizD_ylnXK1-ReETSDFFSFvQ-e_afg%3BFcRS1wIdMJjT_ykf9ggHIhcQSDGB3xckzaUMEw%3BFRoeygId7HTg_ylLiWbyhf0ESDEhgApLUjcNEw%3BFaABxQIdeEvn_yn3hORjIGsESDFgup9IUjcNEw%3BFdqKwAIdcPft_ymVe-fdfFMBSDEQqM1EktMFEw%3BFVqstQIdPo_2_yl5qZ85Ma0BSDHBdaRWktMFEw%3BFYispQId3gbu_ykbEwd9YIBUDTHATlk8F2UGEw%3BFeCzoAId5ALs_ynZtpcPNfNTDTHxCLk4F2UGEw%3BFUKolwIdGIDp_ylv1N5ji0BRDTFcPTLZ09dLnQ%3BFfzXlwIdnCEVACmzIB7cRriuEjFBrPIjnPYGEw%3BFagTkgIdLDMtAA%3BFa4NkgIdaixaAA%3BFUDmmgIdCNluAA%3BFWhDnQIdIhtjACnhOUXHdQzMEjHQdNP5pRkIEw%3BFd7HwAIdvKNeAA%3BFdJ2CQMdZvYbAA&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrsp=3&sz=6&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,13&sll=47.070122,2.504883&sspn=9.952637,17.226563&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=6 - those arent necessarily the actual places I'd be stopping I was just trying to visualise what the route would be.

Thanks

rossie1977

make sure you visit chamonix, set right at the foot of mont blanc, beautiful part of the world, its not that far from geneva either

the cote d'azur is another must see, some really nice towns and amazing scenery in that part of the world, nice is the biggest town and a good base, then its easy to visit the surrounding places like cannes, monaco, eze

JohnK

Thanks rossie those sound good. I had thought of pulling into Cannes alright as I dont think I've ever been there. I have been to Monaco but it was years and years ago so I'm probably about due another (quick!) visit

JohnK

Anyone else have any ideas? I'm off on Saturday so starting to finalise things now

EJLL

I'm just back from a road trip where I travelled from Lyon to Nice. I was in Lyon last year and felt it warranted a return. Its a very relaxed city with enough to see to keep you occupied for two days. The food is great there. We travelled down to Nice via Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Avignon which were at the half way point. Chateauneuf-du-Pape has vineyard outlets that provide tastings. Avignon has the old walled town, which is worth a stroll around in order to see the Palace of Popes.

After a lot of tolls (about €40 in total) we made it to Nice as a base in which to travel the coast. Nice/Cannes is fairly bustling compared to Lyon and we didnt stay long in Cannes as it seemed a bit tasteless/annoying. Antibes is a nicer town to soak up and there is a great stretch of pebbled beach between Antibes and Nice in which to go swimming. Eze is another great place to stop off if you are heading towards Monaco. A bit if a steep walk to the top of the village but the view is spectacular from the exotic garden at the top (access to the garden closes at 7pm).

faigs

Are you sure you'll have time for all that driving? You'll probably have to drive a good bit every second day. Last year I went from Cherbourg to San Sebastian and back stopping at various places for a couple of nights, we were camping so setting up a tent wasn't something we wanted to do every day. San Sebastian, Biarritz, La Rochelle were highlights, was great to go into Spain, the nightlife is so much better! Would love to see some of those southern cities but we only had 2 weeks and not enough time, I think the drive along the south takes a particularly long time. I would just advise you not to put too much pressure on yourself with so much driving, France is all about relaxing afterall!

JohnK

EJLL wrote: »

Eze is another great place to stop off if you are heading towards Monaco. A bit if a steep walk to the top of the village but the view is spectacular from the exotic garden at the top (access to the garden closes at 7pm).

That sounds nice. I plan on bringing my camera & tripod with me so I'm hoping to hit a few nice scenic places alright.

faigs wrote: »

Are you sure you'll have time for all that driving?
[...]
I would just advise you not to put too much pressure on yourself with so much driving, France is all about relaxing afterall!

Yeah to be honest I'm half thinking the same but this holiday is primarily so I can drive around France for two weeks in a convertible with the top down so spending a lot of time in the car hopefully wont be that much of a chore!

Also, since I have no real timetable that needs keeping to I can just stop for a few days if I think I've done a bit too much driving.

faigs

JohnK wrote: »

Yeah to be honest I'm half thinking the same but this holiday is primarily so I can drive around France for two weeks in a convertible with the top down so spending a lot of time in the car hopefully wont be that much of a chore!

Also, since I have no real timetable that needs keeping to I can just stop for a few days if I think I've done a bit too much driving.

Not too bad so, I was in a 10 year old Golf with no air con! Also, if I had more time I would have taken more 'back road' journeys through villages and towns, mist of my driving was on boring motorways. I think we had this book, and should have used it more:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyewitness-Back-Roads-France-Travel/dp/0756659124/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307025275&sr=8-2

And be careful, the price of fuel on the motorway stations is a complete robbery compared to filling up at a supermarket eg Carrefour.

JohnK

Yeah I'm planning on sticking to the back roads as much as I can, sure motorways look the same pretty much everywhere! Cheers for the tip on the fuel, I think I'll be filling up a lot so the cheaper I can get it the better - Googles estimating I'll be spending something like €600 on fuel alone :eek:

imme

faigs wrote: »

Are you sure you'll have time for all that driving? You'll probably have to drive a good bit every second day. Last year I went from Cherbourg to San Sebastian and back stopping at various places for a couple of nights, we were camping so setting up a tent wasn't something we wanted to do every day. San Sebastian, Biarritz, La Rochelle were highlights, was great to go into Spain, the nightlife is so much better! Would love to see some of those southern cities but we only had 2 weeks and not enough time, I think the drive along the south takes a particularly long time. I would just advise you not to put too much pressure on yourself with so much driving, France is all about relaxing afterall!

Biarritz really is a nice place to make it to if you're down that way. On the coast it has surf and swimming. Nice old town to stroll around with decent restaurants, with some affordable accomm. I stayed in Hotel Anjou there a couple of times.

JohnK

Biarritz does sound tempting alright and I'd like to make it down that far before going east to the Mediterranean.

What has me worried now though is I could seriously run out of time hitting the Mediterranean before heading back up north. I suppose I could do Cannes, Nice and Monaco in the one day since they're all so close but that seems a bit of a shame as you could spend a few days in each. I'll have a lot of thinking to do on the Ferry tomorrow