Help with France itinerary

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:13:46 GMT, "Karen Walker" wrote:
eK_Sf.831065$x96.402643@attbi_s72

"Runge" wrote in message
. ..
Wow
just arrived, no jetlag and directly to Honfleur by car ??

My guidebook says it's a 2.5-hour drive, and we planned to break that up
with a "laid-back" stop at Monet's gardens in Giverny and maybe a stop in
Rouen for lunch. I don't usually feel any jet lag until pretty late in the
day after a trans-Atlantic flight, but if the CDG-Honfleur drive is more
difficult and/or longer than I've estimated, perhaps we should stay the
first night in Rouen?

If you do, try to take at least a few minutes to see L'Eglise Ste-Jeanne d'Arc.
It's a visual knock-out. http://clarke.zipsonic.com/2001FR/html/a245.html.


(change Arabic number to Roman numeral to email)

"Wolfgang May" wrote in message
...
"nightjar" nightjar@ insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:

Gas will be expensive, but tolls shouldn't be a problem. You can drive
a
lot of nice highways there without any tolls at all. ...

The non-Autoroute roads are for people who don't mind taking their time
getting somewhere.

- around main cities, the Autoroutes are toll-free,

They also tend to be much more crowded, as they are toll-free to attract
traffic away from the town itself.

- IMHO the Route Nationales are not so much slower (on Autoroutes 110 or
130
are allowed [+ stops for the toll stations], on RNs 90 or 110 are
allowed,
but locals drive much faster), and lead through some nice places for
short
visits. You should always have a look at the map before if there is an
attractive RN to go.

Maximum road speeds are not a good guide to average travel speeds. As a
regular driver in France, I reckon on being able to average around 110kph on
Autoroutes (driving at a target speed of 130kph), but average about 60kph on
N roads. Not only can a single slow vehicle drastically reduce your average
speed on one of the long stretches of 90kph single carriageway, but N roads
also go through towns and villages, with 50kph or even 30kph limits and
obstructions like traffic lights, which also have a huge effect on average
speeds.

Colin Bignell

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 12:10:49 +0100, Charls wrote*:

For places to stay overnight you will do well to look out for "Formula1"
and "etap" motels or hotels. These two have a chain of places all over
the country within easy reach of motorways etc. I believe there also are
Campril hotels which are a bit more upmarket. Furmula1 has got to be the
more economical.
Outside of the Accor chain hotels (Ibis, Mercure, Sofitel), you
can also generally decent locals hotels too. Some of them are
grouped in the logis de France association. Small hotels, good comfort,
frendly, good restaurants.

http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/
http://www.tables-auberges.com/main.asp?langue=an


Late April I would take one sweeter. But as time goes on you will find
that it gets warmer! This winter it has been fairly wet and cold in
Europe. --
Weather in April is unpredictable, but can be very nice, particularly in
the southern part of France.

--Ciao/Cheers
--chalrs @ compri-affitti.com
--

--
Sans liberte de critiquer, il n'est point d'eloge flatteur

Finally, a packing question: I figure Normandy will still be sweater
weather, but I'm not sure about what clothes and outerwear we'll need for
late April in the south.

Plan to layer and you should be fine. A rain jacket will be a must.
When we were there that time of year it was wet.

MONT ST. MICHEL -- La Jacotiere
4/21 -- Mont St. Michel, St. Malo, Dinan. Drive to Loire Valley.

This is a lot to cover in one day. All are nice places. I assume you
are going to actually climb/tour Mont St. Michel, which will take a few
hours (up and down). Awhile back, there was a project afoot to do some
major renovation to the approach to the Mont to "reclaim" its original
character - the approach/parking lot has altered the natural water flow
around the Mont and caused a variety of impact to the terrain. I do
not know what the status of any ongoing work is. I'm sure it would not
effect a visit per-se but might impact the parking status quo.
Dinan is a nice little city. We stayed there and used it as a base to
cover St. Malo, Mt. St. Michel, and a variety of other places in the
area.

When staying in Bayeux, I have actually opted to stay further Northeast
in Crepon at Le Ferme de la Ranconniere.


CHENONCEAU -- La Rosaraie
4/24 -- Oradour sur Glane, Sarlat, Beynac.
BEYNAC -- Residence Versailles
4/25 - Cenac market, Dordogne canoe trip, (Grotte de Font de Gaume?).
BEYNAC - Residence Versailles
4/26 -- (Rocamadour?), Grotte du Pech Merle, St. Cirque du Popeil,
(Cahors?), scenic route to Albi.
ALBI -- ???

Beynac was nice. I did not care for Rocamadour at all. It is rated as
one of the "must see" places but I could have just as soon skipped it.
I thought Mt. St. Michel was much nicer. Definitely try to get a
reservation at Font de Gaume. It is truly worthwhile. When we were
there a couple years ago, during the same time of year, we were able to
reserve tickets once we got there but we were staying in town for about
5 days. So, the other poster who recommended that you fax them and do
it ahead of time is giving you good advice. They only allow so many
people in per day since it takes a toll on the cavepaintings. On that
particular trip, we used Sarlat as a base and covered that whole region
from there (Beynac, Rocamadour, various caves, Cahors, etc.). We also
did Lascaux but I was disappointed - it is a re-creation. Interesting
but Font de Gaume was the real deal.

4/27 -- Albi basilica, Lautrec museum, Carcassonne.
CAUNES-MINERVOIS or MINERVE -- ???
4/28 to 5/2 - Provence: Nimes, Arles, Avignon, Aix, Provence, Les Baux,
Camargue, Cassis, Luberon villages.

We are making our first trip to Provence this summer, so I can't really
give you any advice. We are using a house in Avignon as a base.

Have a great trip and let us know how it goes.

Joann

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 20:08:04 GMT, "Karen Walker" wrote:
EMZSf.830970$x96.827119@attbi_s72

4/17 -- Arrive CDG 8:20 am. & pick up rental car. Giverny, Rouen, Jumieges
Abbey.
HONFLEUR - Mercure Hotel
4/18 -- Pays d'Auge countryside, Ponte Audemer, Deauville, (Etretat?).
HONFLEUR - Mercure Hotel
4/19 -- Caen & Bayeux
BAYEUX - Hotel d'Argouges
4/20 - D-day beaches and cemeteries, Point du Hoc, St. Mere Eglise. Drive to
Mont St. Michel area.

It occurs to me that you haven't mentioned here seeing the Bayeux Tapestry
(sic); you will regret that in the future. The D-Day beaches are only beaches
and nothing much to write home about, either. Their attraction is merely
sentimental, not scenic.

The best part of the area is Arromanche-les-Bains and the museum largely
dedicated to "Mulberry B" (the artificial harbor constructed by the Brits).


(change Arabic number to Roman numeral to email)

Joseph Coulter wrote:
Rocamadour was overrated,

Over rated is a very tricky term. I was not as impressed by Rocamadour as I
had expected to be at first, but looking back, I really liked it so go
figure.
Indeed. On that subject I was expecting nothing out of Gouffre de
Proumeyssac and was stunned! Near Le Bugue.
Al

Locals drive faster where there are no automatic speed traps, Sarkozy has
put them everywhere so I would advise to be very careful or else use a GPS
with the "radars" installed and a warner activated.

"Wolfgang May" a écrit dans le message de
news: ...
"nightjar" nightjar@ insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:

Gas will be expensive, but tolls shouldn't be a problem. You can drive
a
lot of nice highways there without any tolls at all. ...

The non-Autoroute roads are for people who don't mind taking their time
getting somewhere.

- around main cities, the Autoroutes are toll-free,
- IMHO the Route Nationales are not so much slower (on Autoroutes 110 or
130
are allowed [+ stops for the toll stations], on RNs 90 or 110 are
allowed,
but locals drive much faster), and lead through some nice places for
short
visits. You should always have a look at the map before if there is an
attractive RN to go.

Wolfgang

Do you have reservations for Font de Gaume? You must have reservations in
advance; the best way is via FAX unless you are quite fluent in French; their
answering machine speaks only French.

Rick Steves in his France 2005 book seems to imply that finding a
parking slot near Font-de-Gaume may be difficult: "drivers who can't
get a parking here" should go to another cave. Is it really a problem ?
Does a reservation also guarantees a parking slot (I'd doubt it) ?

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:54:12 -0000, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my
surname here.uk.com wrote:


"Wolfgang May" wrote in message
...
"nightjar" nightjar@ insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:

Gas will be expensive, but tolls shouldn't be a problem. You can drive
a
lot of nice highways there without any tolls at all. ...

The non-Autoroute roads are for people who don't mind taking their time
getting somewhere.

- around main cities, the Autoroutes are toll-free,

They also tend to be much more crowded, as they are toll-free to attract
traffic away from the town itself.

- IMHO the Route Nationales are not so much slower (on Autoroutes 110 or
130
are allowed [+ stops for the toll stations], on RNs 90 or 110 are
allowed,
but locals drive much faster), and lead through some nice places for
short
visits. You should always have a look at the map before if there is an
attractive RN to go.

Maximum road speeds are not a good guide to average travel speeds. As a
regular driver in France, I reckon on being able to average around 110kph on
Autoroutes (driving at a target speed of 130kph), but average about 60kph on
N roads. Not only can a single slow vehicle drastically reduce your average
speed on one of the long stretches of 90kph single carriageway, but N roads
also go through towns and villages, with 50kph or even 30kph limits and
obstructions like traffic lights, which also have a huge effect on average
speeds.

Colin Bignell


Even better than the N roads sometimes are the D roads. With sensible
planning using a good map, you can often find some cross country
routes that are scenic, very quiet (much quieter than N roads), and
fast.
--==++AJC++==--

"AJC" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:54:12 -0000, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my
surname here.uk.com wrote:

Even better than the N roads sometimes are the D roads. With sensible
planning using a good map, you can often find some cross country
routes that are scenic, very quiet (much quieter than N roads), and
fast.

Until you get stuck behind farmer Bob and his muck spreader...