10 days in France (edit: Switzerland)

T

TheRepublicOfTexas

25+ Posts
The wife and I will be in France for 10 days in early May. We will fly into Paris and spend a few days there. From your experience, what cities, sites,etc would you see during the remaining 5-6 days in France?

Hookem
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I would be ashamed of any American who spent more than a week in France and didn't at least attempt to make it to Normandy.

It really is a place every American should visit. It's quite a drive from Paris (like 300 miles) but it is worth every bit of travel.
 
if you have a car. Ronchamp.

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If you like moden architecture and Le Corbusier.
 
take the train from Paris to Normandy. You can hit Versailles, the gardens are free, go there first and buy you tickets at the Grand Trianon, no line to wait in. Chartres for the Cathedral.
 
I've been to Chamonix, once snowboarding and once in the springtime. Its beautiful there, but I wouldn't want to stay for mroe than a couple of days outside ski season. Its great to take the cable car up to the top for views of Mont Blanc, and there are some fantastic restaurants (great steak at L'impossible). I would recommend renting a car and do a driving tour of one or two regions, such as the Loire Valley to see some great chateaus (Chambord, Fontainbleu and Chenonceau are some of my favorites), or the Languedoc. Driving in France is very simple and the roads are great. Plus you could end your trip by dropping the car off in Lyon and take the TGV back to Paris for your return flight.
 
To clarify what DH said about the drive to Normandy...300 miles would cover the round trip. If it's just the two of you, you might want to go by train. I drove it but there were four of us.

You can take a high speed train non-stop to Reims, tour some Champagne houses, and visit the Notre Dame cathedral where coronations were held. It is said to be much more impressive than the one in Paris. The high speed non-stop train is new, making it possible to do Reims by train as a day trip now, but you might want to stay longer anyway.

So much to do and see in Paris that 10 days doesn't leave a lot of time to venture too far around the country.
 
You probably have the trip all planned by now, but I thought I would go ahead and add another vote for Normandy, in addition to your plans of experiencing Paris. My wife and I flew into Paris in April several years ago, rented a car at the airport, and drove to Normandy despite not knowing a single word of French or how to read French highway signs. We literally navigated by the sun to find our way north.

Normandy is a scenic area on its own, but if you have any interest in history, this is the mutha lode. The WWII museum in Caen is not to be missed, as is the American cemetery near Omaha beach. We kept seeing little fortress images on some of the signposts while we drove near the Normandy coast, so we finally turned in, drove to the beach, and there was a string of bombed out German bunkers with rusted, broken cannons still protruding and over looking the sea. These bunkers exist all over along the coast, and walking by them reminds you of how recently the war took place. Farther down the coast at Pointe do Hoc we clinbed down a ladder into a German bunker, only to find a Texas historical marker signed by Governor Bill Clements describing the heroic actions of the Army Ranger forces that scaled the cliffs and overran German heavy gun emplacements there. The Rangers were led by an Aggie.

From Normandy we drove back to Paris for a few days, then took a bullet train to the Burgundy region for a six day barge trip before returning to Paris for our return to the US.

With your timetable, I would opt for Normandy and Paris, but I'm sure there are a lot of other regions that would be worthwhile. I went over there with a bit of a chip on my shoulder concerning France and the French in general, but I must say that I was impressed with the friendliness of the people, even in Paris, and their willingness to help you out. You are going to have a great time.
 
Versailles, Paris, Cannes, Epernay, Loire Valley, Normandy. Unfortunately, that will be too much for 10 days. Don't try to overdo it. 3 days in Paris and 1 day in Versailles (outside of Paris) is a must.
 
Guys,

Thanks for the great input. However, my wife and I changed our plans and are going to Switzerland in May. Probably fly into Geneva and then hit Lausanne, Bernese Oberland and Bern. Anyone been to the area? What are your can't miss spots? We will be booking the flights tomorrow but have a few weeks to make hotel and train reservations.

Thanks,

The Republic Of Texas
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Take the train from Zurich to Lugano. A very beautiful trip throught the mountains. I really liked Lugano. Also worked in Basel for about two months. Really liked that place too.
 
i second Lugano.

If you enjoy breathtaking landscapes, lakes, snow cap mountains and quaint alpine towns you have made the right choice. it doesn't have the museums or history of France, but maybe that is not what you are looking for.

Also, Switzerland allows you to get a bit French, a bit Italian and a bit German all in one compact country. Each region has a distinctive flair. Enjoy!
 
go to Zermatt. See the Matterhorn. Eat at the Stockhorn Grill. Buy some Trockenfleisch, and take the Gornetgrat train up the mountain for some spectacular scenery.

In reply to:
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Ok guys (and gals),

Flying into Geneva, going to Bern for a couple days, a day in Zurich, a couple days in Luzern, going to the Bernese Oberland Area (Interlaken, Gimmelwald, Murren, Jungfrau area) for 3-4 days, to Gstaad and Gruyere and back to Geneva. We have rail passes and a special rail pass for the Bernese Oberland area including boats and lifts. Anyone have any out of the way spots to see in those areas? I will post a few pics when we get back.

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Leaving tomorrow evening for Geneva. Has anyone bought and used one of the disposable phones in Europe? It's seems like AT&T wants to change my contract to allow me to use the IPhone in Switzerland for 2 weeks. Thought I might just buy and discard one of the disposable phones.

Thanks and
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I think you can take your phone, but change the sim card in it when you get there with a Euro sim card. You do have to change the band on the phone though. Looks like you will be getting a nice exchange rate.
 
Yeah, the exchange rate has really worked out well for us in the last few weeks. Unfortunately the weather is unseasonably cool and wet there right now but hopefully that will change. I'll through some pictures on here when we get back.
 
So Republic... how did it go?

I always love hearing travel experiences, espcially after dispensing advice
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Fantastic trip. The only negative was that Geneva was a little dirty compared to the other cities (Luzern and Bern). We were only in Geneva the first day and last half of day but still had a great time. The number of banks in Geneva, and Luzern was ridiculous and the pale in comparison to the quantity in Zurich. Got cheesed out our first full day. (lol). Visited friends near Gstaad and they made fondue for us. I didn't eat for a day after we left their place. What was really crazy was pulling in a small town like Lauenen near Gstaad (pop 1500?) and seeing a Land Rover, Audi and Benz dealerships). Most people drive small economy cars or either big expensive Mercedes, Land Rovers, etc.

Our favorite area was Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and the Lauterbrunnen Valley which are all in the Berner Oberland and no more than 30 min by car from each other. I would have to hit the lottery to move there but if I did, I would be in Lauterbrunnen in a week. For such a compact country, the Lauterbrunnen Valley, Kleine Schiedegg- Jungfrau and Schilthorn areas have massive scenery.

Made a terrible mistake after 5 days of constant picture taking. Sitting in bed on the 6th day, I thought I would start "adjusting" our new camera and frickin reformatted the memorary card. We lost great pics from Gstaad, Lake Thun and the city of Thun but most damaging was the loss of the photos from the top of Jungfrau. Headed back up the mountain the next day on the cog train but never made it past Kleine Schiedegg. Clouds set in at about 8000 ft and it snowed all morning. Still ended up back at home with over 600 photos and a handful of videos.

There is a small community just east of Interlaken on Lake Brienz call Bonigen. 2000 town folks and they keep that town spotless. We were walking around the town one afternoon as school was getting out and the kids actually rode their bikes home to get their recylclables and take them back to the school's recycling bins. They stopped and picked up anything that looked like it might be trash and threw it in the trash cans around town. I was impressed. Some of the houses date back to the very early 1600s and are in great shape. I could live there too!

We took a 15 minute train to the town of Brienz which is again spotless and sits on the NorthEast side of Lake Brienz. From their we took a boat back to Interlaken. Great 1 hour trip.

We were in Luzern on a Saturday morning so we hit the farmers market which sat on the edge of the Reuss River with the covered bridges from the 1400s and Cathedrals in the back ground. Past the tents set up for the farmers market were tents set up for a flea market. Bought a Swiss Army issue compass from the 1950s for $15.00. They had all kinds of neat things. Hit the sites after lunch. Unfortunately, that day was like most of our days in Switzerland. Foggy, cold and rainy. It was in the mid 30s and raining that day but we still walked 4 or 5 miles in the city. Every where you went in Switzerland, the locals were appologizing for the weather because it is supposed to be sunny and in the 60s that time of May.

Hit Bern the following day. Stayed in the old city a couplle of blocks from The Parliment Building. Great old city. Walked over to the Bern Cathedral that was started in the 1400s by the Catholics who were later kicked out by the Protestants. Great Cathedral but being Catholic, I had a chip on my shoulder!!! Just kidding. Saw the Bern Bear pit and walked over to the Einstein Museum but it was closed since it was Sunday. (Common theme in Switzerland).

Drove to Gruyere from Bern. Again, the drives in Switzerland are short but beautiful. Gruyere and the Gruyere Chalet were incredible. If you ever make it to the cast in Gruyere, pay the extra $9.00 bucks for the tour. They have a 15 minute film that is a great history of the castle and the area but the way its shown and the content make it very interesting.

Got an email from British Airways that evening that explained the cabin crew employees were going on strike the day we were set to fly out of Geneva. They offered to refund our money and we could book something else( are you kidding???) or they could book something else for us. We flew over in business class on BA but flew back coach on Air France. Damn the British!!!

Other than the cold, damp weather and my bonehead move with the camera's memory card, we couldn't have asked for a better trip. In the Berner Oberland area we probably hiked about 5-6 miles a day which was perfect. Can't wait to go back.

One last note: Stayed at the Hotel Mittaghorn in Gimmelwald on Rick Steves recommendation. If the weather would have been better, it would have been excellent. Walter Mittler, the owner, is 86 and a little cranky but a great old man to talk to. I would recommend it for atleast one night. Be sure to pay the 15 Swiss Francs for his dinner but dont be late! Plenty to eat and all the wine you can drink. Everyone sits at one big table so you can catch up on different activities in the area.

Once I figure out photobucket, I will post a llink to our photos.

Bring on the Football season!!

Hookem'

The Republic of Texas
 
thanks for the thorough update. Sounds like you had a great time!
 
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