France

[bplease]

Suggestions for where to visit in France? We will be staying around a week in Paris and we are looking to stay somewhere else for a couple days. We are staying with friends (locals) and they are suggesting we go to Annecy. We would prefer somewhere off the beaten path or somewhere that just isn't typically thought of. Help please.

[hogfan870]

Not sure about something not thought of, but you can take an overnight train down to Nice/Cannes/Monte Carlo. Also Versialles is pretty cool

[bplease]

Not sure about something not thought of, but you can take an overnight train down to Nice/Cannes/Monte Carlo. Also Versialles is pretty cool

Yeah I guess I just meant a little off the tourist trail. Luckily we are only 10 mins away from Versailles so we will definitely get to see it. Any recommendations within Paris? Right now we are thinking of just getting a house/chateau off VRBO in east France close to Annecy.  The prices are surprisingly low for some really amazing places.

[Flying Razorback]

I loved Rouen which was the capital of Normandy for centuries.  The Notre-Dame de Rouen Cathedral was incredible and the subject of Monet's cathedral paintings.

An easy day trip is to Reims or Epernay.  I think it's about a 45 minute trip by train out of Paris.  But it's the center of champagne country.  Epernay has all the famous champagne houses and Reims has about 3 to 5 champagne houses.  We enjoyed the Taittinger tour.

Another easy trip out of Paris is to Monet's Gardens.  It's his house and gardens where he painted a lot of his works.

[bplease]

I hadn't looked in Rouen and wow the cathedral is amazing.  It seems like every larger city in France has these massive historical feats of architecture. We are really getting excited.

Reims sounds fun and Epernay looks beautiful. I haven't done enough research on the train system yet but we have been told to get metro passes within Paris and not bother with the pricey cabs.

Monets garden is definitely on our list. We aren't going to be rushing everywhere but it is one we will make sure to see.

I found out yesterday that we are staying in the Boulogne-Billancourt region (south-west Paris) so we will be between the inner city and Versailles.

Did you visit east France?

[Flying Razorback]

I hadn't looked in Rouen and wow the cathedral is amazing.  It seems like every larger city in France has these massive historical feats of architecture. We are really getting excited.

Reims sounds fun and Epernay looks beautiful. I haven't done enough research on the train system yet but we have been told to get metro passes within Paris and not bother with the pricey cabs.

Monets garden is definitely on our list. We aren't going to be rushing everywhere but it is one we will make sure to see.

I found out yesterday that we are staying in the Boulogne-Billancourt region (south-west Paris) so we will be between the inner city and Versailles.

Did you visit east France?

You're absolutely right about the history in these places.  I'm fascinated by Norman history, English history, and French history so we went through a lot of Normandy.  Rouen was the capital of Normandy and where all the Norman dukes sat and oversaw their wool empire.

But you'd go in to a cathedral like the Notre Dame de Reims, and there'd be a stone in the floor with Latin written on it that said "Here in 406 the Archbishop Nicolas was decapitated and martyred for his faith..."  And then further down in the cathedral was the baptismal place of Clovis I from 496.  All the French kings were coronated there for nearly a millennia.  Then you drive up to Rouen and there's the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.  And the tomb in the cathedral with the remains of Richard the Lion Hearted.

It was incredible.

We did see the east of France in the Alsace Lorraine region.  We went to Metz, Verdun, Epernay, and Reims in the Alsace Lorraine.  In Normandy we stayed in Rouen for a couple days and then stayed at a B&B in Formigny for 3 days.  We visited Bayeux, the D-Day beaches and cemeteries, and Mont St. Michel while staying in Formigny. 


Then we went to Paris and saw Monet's Gardens at Giverny and most of the "big" tourist spots and museums in Paris.  Paris alone can be a month long trip just to see everything.

My wife loved Normandy the most.  I loved it up there as well, but it was hard for me to pick a favorite out of all the places.  The World War I battle sites in east France were incredible to me, the champagne cellars and the Cathedral in Reims were awe inspiring.  Rouen might have been my favorite city, but that's hard to say as well because I loved the Tapestry in Bayeux and the country side around it.

Mont St. Michel was one of the more amazing places I have seen in my life.

[Flying Razorback]

Some pictures:

Cathedrale de Saint Etienne - Metz, France
Cathedrale de Saint Etienne interior - Metz, France (largest expanse of stained glass in the world)
Temple Pont Neuf - Metz, France
Temple Pont Neuf - Metz, France
Douamont Ossuary - Verdun, France
More interior pictures of Cathedrale de Saint Etienne in Metz that I couldn't re-order

[Flying Razorback]

Mont St. Michel.

This place was incredible.  It is built on a rock that becomes an island when the tide comes in.  It was one of the major pilgrimage sites in Christendom for hundreds of years.

[trippigs]

My wife and I are headed to France tomorrow morning. Going to spend a week in Normandy followed by a week in Paris. Hopefully a mixture of countryside and big city. Outside of travel and lodging we have only one scheduled event which will be nice.

[Flying Razorback]

Good luck on your trip!  Post any questions if you have any here.  What towns are you planning on seeing in Normandy?  We spent about 5 days of our 14 day trip in Normandy.   We loved it and my wife keeps asking what we can do to move there, ha.

Enjoy the crepes, the calvados, the cider, the countryside, the history, and the people!

I was similar in having little to no plan there, and it worked out perfect.

[trippigs]

We are at the airport now on our way.  We will have a car that we will pick up in Caen.  We are spending four nights in Bayeux.  We will tour all of the beaches and WWII sites.  We are planning on going to St. Mere Egleise and Mont St. Michel also.  Looking forward to browsing the countryside. 

[bplease]

Flying it looks like your trip was amazing. I've wanted to seek some of those historical sites but we are going to have to plan the second trip to try and cover those I'm afraid. Mont St Michel is a definite on our list for this trip though. The couple we are staying with plans to drive us to it so we are very excited to see it.
We are starting to lean towards a longer trip in a few years and just spending our time around Paris relaxing. At this point we are thinking that we will probably skip even trying to go to the Eiffel. At this point the Louvre will probably be our most touristy trip but if we go this time we won't the next and my wife is absolutely dying to see it. 
We have been checking vrbo and it looks like you can pick any variety of studio/1BR apartment right in the heart of Paris for under $100 a night you want. So we will probably do that for a few nights and days just to be close.

I'm jealous of both of you guys trip lengths. We have 9 days on the ground so we are really still trying to decide how to manage our time while ensuring we relax more than run from place to place. I could really see now how someone could spend a month backpacking without even leaving France.

Flying thanks for sharing your pictures and stories.

Flying what flights/class did you guys take? Trippigs you?
We are taking the Air France/ Delta flights from xna>atl>cdg & cdg>atl>xna. Economy.
Oh and we are taking our 18mo daughter so it should be awesome.

[trippigs]

We are traveling from Little Rock to Atlanta to Paris. Atlanta to Paris is economy comfort which provides a little more leg room. Also my wife booked an exit row that is even more leg room. In Atlanta now....should I look for a baby and a hog hat!

[DeltaBoy]

On my bucket list. Cause I have a great uncle buried just out side of Paris and no one from my family ever visited his grave.

[trippigs]

The American cemetery on Omaha Beach is possibly the most patriotic place I have ever visited. America was unified and successful defeated an identifiable evil. A somber but uplifting place.

[bplease]

The American cemetery on Omaha Beach is possibly the most patriotic place I have ever visited. America was unified and successful defeated an identifiable evil. A somber but uplifting place.

Hope you are getting tons of pictures!

[kodiakisland]

Paris is wonderful.  Been there many times.  Almost anywhere in the French countryside is a treat.  Hard to pick a bad place.  Lots of great American WWII history in the Normandy area.  We've gone twice and stayed in a B&B that was the German HQ for the area as it was one of the few large houses off the street that was not damaged by tanks going through the streets.  Mont St Michel is a must see.

By the way, that is my Chevy Avalanche with Mont St-Michel in the background in my avatar.  I got lots of curious looks at the hog all over Europe.

[Flying Razorback]

Paris is wonderful.  Been there many times.  Almost anywhere in the French countryside is a treat.  Hard to pick a bad place.  Lots of great American WWII history in the Normandy area.  We've gone twice and stayed in a B&B that was the German HQ for the area as it was one of the few large houses off the street that was not damaged by tanks going through the streets.  Mont St Michel is a must see.

By the way, that is my Chevy Avalanche with Mont St-Michel in the background in my avatar.  I got lots of curious looks at the hog all over Europe.

Wow. I have never been able to make out what your avatar was,  now it's even cooler.

Loved Mont St Michel.  I'm glad both these guys are trying to go see it.  It was incredible seeing it rise out of the countryside.

[Flying Razorback]

And the countryside is grest.  The people and food are wonderful.  I thought I'd be content going once, now we're trying to figure out how to get back

[kodiakisland]

I'm a conservative country boy and the last place on earth I wanted to visit was Paris.  When my wife finally drug me there, I loved it.  We lived a 4 hour drive from there and went on every 3 or 4 day weekend that we didn't have plans on.  My favorite place to go now is Paris in the Spring.  I never would have guessed how much I enjoyed Paris and the French people.  We lived 20 minutes from France and went into France almost weekly for some reason or another.  We spent a week or two every spring for several years plus many long weekends throughout the year.

There are lots of places left in this world I still want to see, so we don't go back to Europe often, but if I had to pick one country in Europe to ever go back to, it would be France.

I've been to Normandy on two D-Day reenactments.  It's amazing how much US military equipment is still over there, plus got to spend a bit of time with the German and US troops that jumped in.  If you can't go to Paris in the spring, go to Normandy in June.  It is well worth it.  Went to Brecourt Manor and got a private tour from some of the family still living there.  Been to al the beaches several times.  My son got his Order of the Arrow on Utah Beach.  Plus all the stuff around there, Pegasus Bridge, all the many batteries still there, etc.  We were at Pegasus Bridge one yr when a large group of Brits were there reliving their battle.  It was really cool to talk to them and hear their stories.  Got to meet the Band of Brothers several times over there as well.


This was from one of the jumps.  I believe this was a German plane and several sticks from C130s were already in the air.



Some of the vehicles there.  Was great seeing them going down the highway as fast as they could go.






US flag still flies at Brecourt Manor.




Just lots of cool history there.  I could have spent months in Normandy.



Many American cemeteries over there that are absolutely beautiful.  We were able to visit the grave of my wife's great uncle in Belgium.  She was the first family member to have visited.

[hawgon]

You're absolutely right about the history in these places.  I'm fascinated by Norman history, English history, and French history so we went through a lot of Normandy.  Rouen was the capital of Normandy and where all the Norman dukes sat and oversaw their wool empire.

You would cry if you thought about how much French history was lost during the Revolution.  For instance Joan's banner, a cap she wore, and a bunch of other items were thrown on a bonfire and burned.  Royal graves were opened and ransacked.  Armor that hung over church altars for centuries was torn down and scattered.  Whole cathedrals were demolished.  In fact, the cathedral at Rouen was scheduled for demolition but wasn't for some reason or another.

Then during WW II, Caen, the city of William the Bastard, and site of his tomb, was almost completely leveled on the orders of Montgomery. 

[bplease]

1 day until we leave. Only guarantees at this point are 6 days in Paris and 2 nights in a town near Annecy.
Excited.

[trippigs]

Hope you have a blast!