September is a wonderful time to go to France.
We typically stay in apartments (Paris Perfect), but the last time was for just a few days at the end of a longer trip & we stayed at the Hotel Beaubourg in the Marais. Good location near the Pompidou.
My phone says we ate at Ambassade d’Auvergne, which was wonderful. We’ve eaten a few times at La Fontaine de Mars in the 7th and enjoyed it - especially cassoulet in the fall.
With only 10 days I don’t know that I’d stop anywhere between Paris and Nice, but everyone’s different. Strasbourg is a short, but fast, train ride away, as is Reims. Giverney is a nice day trip. Chateau Vincennes is at the end of one of the metro lines; H and I enjoyed it while the others in the family group went to Versailles.
So much has changed in the three years since we’ve been. That said, buy train tickets well in advance for the lowest price. When we’ve stayed in hotels in France & other places, we’ve looked at the 3rd party booking sites, but ultimately booked directly with the hotels.
Two options I’m looking at on our way from Paris to Nice fur 2 nights. I’d like a “town or village fee”.
Option 1: stay in Dijon for 2 nights. Day of arrival just stay in town, next day take a day tour to Beaune and wineries. But I’ve read it’s a small city, not a town. Not sure that’s the feel I’m after, but I know there would be more to do than Beaune,
Option 2: Stay in Beaune. Rent a car and the next day drive around burgundy and go to the wineries on our own. I’m worried we would be bored in Beaune, so I’d love to hear what others say. I’d get that “small town” feel I’m after though.
The rome2rio website can be really useful for scoping out transportation options. Looking quickly, I think(?) that you would be doing train stop in Lyon.
Lyon looks bigger than an Tuscany-like city. Perhaps there would be somewhere you could go as an offshoot on a local train.
I really liked both Nimes and Avignon as a stop between Paris and Nice, with interesting old sites in both towns. Plenty of wineries nearby (Chateauneuf du Pape) but the best thing about the surrounding countryside is Pont du Gard, which is stunning. When we first visited 30 years ago you were able to walk across the top, unfortunately that’s no longer allowed.
Also wanted to point out 9/8-17 there is a big trade show Maison Objet in Paris… actually near CDG airport but there will be added crowd/traffic on top of the Rugby crowd. I’d book trains, etc. sooner.
I’m following this thread because we’re going to Paris (and Brussells) in April. We already have our Paris Museum Passes and reserved tix at the Louvre. I’m noting all the restaurant recommendations. We plan to take the train to Versailles too (we went there once about 5 years ago).
Dijon is a small city but the historic center feels villagey. We stayed at Hotel des Ducs. Highly recommend. They have some apartments that are gorgeous and insanely reasonable. Excellent location. Easy train ride to Beaune. But I understand wanting to stay in a small town too.
Btw Rick Steves is doing his annual Festival of Europe. Tonight is France. You can go to his website to sign up for the live webinar. I believe it starts at 9:00.
If you want to break the bank, two of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had in my life. A long story about the couple at the next table from us at the Louis XV.
The hotel is rated #1 by TripAdvisor and looks like it’s in a great location and decent price. Will talk to my friend! Thanks. We decided to stay in Dijon and take a wine tour that stops in Beaune for lunch and a little sightseeing,
We were in Paris in October, but the first part of our trip was to the north so no recommendations outside of Paris. Agree with less locations. We ended up with three, which was fine with me (avoided a day packed with driving) although if the weather hadn’t been so nice may not have been worth the packing and unpacking. We also had rented a car which meant we did not have to deal with train schedules.
We rented an apartment off Rue St-Jacques in the Latin Quarter. Was down the street from the Cluny museum - with the unicorn tapestries and quick walk to Notre Dame. The apartment was very accessible to the metro. lots of restaurants, a market, St. Chapelle, and a longish walk to the Louvre. Distant view of the Eiffel Tower from the little balcony. Was a great location, especially as I really love to walk.
We had not been to Paris before so did most of the “touristy” things. We got timed tickets for the Eiffel Tower well in advance. We ended up with only a 2-day museum pass due to some scheduling issues, and booked time slots as available. Besides the Louvre, did most of the time slot booking once we got there. However, we were there in late October so not quite peak season. The Orsay, Rodin and Cluny were favorite museums.
Two great restaurants were Poulette, a bistro where we had dinnner, and ZKG, a modern french restaurant where we had a very nice lunch, including a tasting menu.
H and I had walked by the Cluny museum many times on previous trips to Paris since we always stay in the area. The last time we were in Paris we had the museum pass and saw that the Cluny was on the pass so we finally went in and loved the museum. We had seen the unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters in NYC and we were excited they had ones at the Cluny.
Our French hill town winery region was near Bordeaux and it isn’t the same direction, alas. St. Emilion is the town. Medieval. The church was carved out of limestone from the top down. Very interesting and great renown wine.
Have a wonderful trip. We were just in Paris and Bordeaux in October then on to Italy. If you venture to Florence and Tuscany, you can’t go wrong. We visited Siena, Pienza and Montalcino, known for its Brunello wine. We had wine shipped home from there. A beautiful hilltop town and setting. Well, it all is. Loved it. Finished our trip in Rome for a few days.
I know there are a lot of Paris recommendations, but what about Bordeaux? I am going there for about 3 days and would love some restaurant recommendations. I have seen the website reviews— so many to choose from, but I would love to hear CC opinions!
We were just in Bordeaux for a few days – last leg of a two-week trip to France. I would recommend heading to the cathedral square and eating at any of the restaurants there – good food, and a lovely setting. We also ate at a fantastic Senegalese place in Bordeaux (Akiba). A lot of the restaurants right next to the Miroir/Place de la Bourse are kind of touristy, but if you go back a few blocks (away from the river), you’ll find lots of choices. I would second the recommendation for St. Emilion – very close, and a lovely place to poke around and have lunch or dinner.
