Joan's photos of Paris, Provence, Lyons & Giverny

Here are the photos from my 2008 trip.  In a nutshell, my 2 week itinerary that year was:

I decided to spend my 40th birthday in France, and I invited Tom and Cathy to come with since Tom had many food fantasies about France to investigate.  In a nutshell, we flew into Paris, spent a few days exploring together, then Tom and Cathy left for Toulouse and I had a day on my own in Paris, then I drove to Provence for a week on my own.  They met me in Avignon on my birthday and we spent my last night in Provence together.  Then we drove back to Paris together with a 2 night pitstop in Macon just to eat at two legendary chef's restaurants in/around Lyon:  at George Blanc in Vonnas for his bourg-en-bresse chicken, and at the chef's table at Michel Troisgros' Le Central.  Back in Paris, we did more exploring including an overnight in Pacy Sur Eure to see Monet's Giverny in full blossom. 

My first trip to France and Spain

My first trip to France was in 1998, when we went for a week to Paris, the Loire Valley and Normandy coast, then flew to Spain where we spent a week in Madrid and Barcelona.  Here are my journal notes on that trip...

FRANCE:

• Sunday: arrive 11am. Check in at Hotel Colbert in Latin Quarter. Visited Musee d'Orsay, crossed bridge at Place de la Concorde at sunset, visited Eiffel Tower. Ate dinner at Cafe de Cluny after walking through Latin Quarter and St Germain de Pres.
• Monday: Louvre was too crowded first thing in the AM, so walked to Paris Opera (stopping at Marks & Spencer on the way) where we took a tour and ate lunch on the steps. Saw the sights from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, then walked down the Champs d'Elysee to the Louvre, which we visited until 8pm. Then dinner at Les Deux Magots.
• Tuesday: Train to Versailles. Then, walked around Ile de la Cite to St Chapelle (amazing stained glass window), Flower Market, Notre Dame (inside only, not up the tower). Rode a bateau mouche along the Seine. Metro to Montmarte, funicular up Sacre Couer, and walk down Montmarte's cobbled streets. Ate a crepe stand for dinner.
• Wednesday: picked up rental car and drove to Chartres, where we joined Malcolm Miller's tour. In the Loire Valley, we visited Chambord, and ended with overnight/dinner at Chateau du Pray.
• Thursday: turned north through Le Mans up to Mont St Michel at sunset - gorgeous! Overnighted in Bayeux, with dinner at Lion d'Or, where Ben ate tripe.
• Friday: Strolled Rue St Jean in Bayeux for patisserie and boulangerie; ended up with picnic fixings from Stoc. Drove through Normandy coast to Musee du Debarquement in Arromanche, where we climbed the beach head. Drove to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Stopped at Longues sur Mer and Pointe du Hoc, then visited the Memorial Museum of Peace in Caen, which was THE BEST MUSEUM I've ever visited. Ate our picnic in the car enroute to Rouen. Checked in at the Hotel de la Cathedrale. Strolled Rue St Germain to the Cathedral lit up a night. This is the Cathedral where Joan of Arc was both burnt at the stake and consecrated as a saint, and which Monet famously painted over and over again. Walked down to the Gros Horloge then back to the hotel.
• Saturday: up early to stroll main pedestrian route to Eglise de St Jean with nice market, to Gros Horloge, Palais de Justice (with bullet strafe marks from WWII), cathedral, St Maclou, skull and crossbones cemetery for plague victims. Then we packed the car and headed back to Paris. Parked the car near Canal and took the RER to Tour d'Eiffel, which was closed due to a strike. Rain. RER back to Notre Dame, where we climb the tower stairs, pat the gargoyle heads and famous bell, and re-tour the church interior. Eat crepes avec jambon et fromage under awnings before taking the RER back to the car, which we then drive to the airport and fly to Spain.

MADRID:

• Saturday night: fly from Paris (CDG) to Madrid. Encounter many Metro stairs with our bags and Halloweeners before arriving at Hotel Anaco.
• Sunday: sleep in. Metro to Prado where Sundays are free and we visit the Goya rooms. Follow the Fodor's guidebook for stroll from Prado to Puerto del Sol (pastry shop) to Plaza Mayor to Palacio Real (picnic of bocadillos). Sun/warmth/ease of language/quaint beauty puts us in better moods. 2 hour nap at hotel. Dinner at locals' hangout, Restaurante Pozo Real (yummy veggie stew, rosemary lamb & flan).
• Monday: walk to Opera Metro (stop at Puerto del Sol pasticerria for warm pastry) and take train then bus to Segovia. Walk thru medieval walled city with moorish exteriors and Roman aqueduct built 300 BC. Yummy cookies in Plaza Mayor. Walked around old Gothic spired cathedral, bought moon art, walked to Alcazar and toured it from top to bottom. Bought more cookies and sandwiches for the long bus ride home, watching Mission Impossible en Espanol. Bocadillos to go from Pan and Co. for in-room picnic.
• Tuesday in Toledo: Metro to bus to Toledo. Walked up hill to Plaza Zocodover, where we eat stand up tapas lunch at the Bar Parilla. Bought tour book and wandered around Toledo, where we saw: El Greco painting, ancient synagogue, various churches, post office, and bought scissors before heading back to main cathedral, which is very impressive (especially Transparente). Catch local (ugh) bus home to Madrid, where we eat Pizza Hut (oops) and go to bed.
• Wednesday: Catch bus to El Escorial. Tour it, including basilica and biblioteca. Try to order bocadillas in bar outside bus stop, but are ignored so leave in time to catch bus to Valle de los Caidos, Franco's fascist inside-out basillica containing 50K dead from Spanish civil war. Cold and spooky. Bus back to Madrid, where we change for tapas stroll: Las Bravas for "patented," original "patatas bravas;" then on to Casa Alberto (first tapas bar in Madrid) for croquettes jamon and chorizo. Back to hotel for short evening on the patio.
• Thursday: last day in Madrid. Wake early to be at Prado by 9:15. Tour almost whole Prado by 12:15 (including cafe con leche break in cafe). Walk through thru Retiro Park, where we see Crystal Palace and Alphonso XII's monument in the Estanque. Metro to Puerto del Sol, where we walk to Plaza Mayor, then Palacio Real's Plaza de Oriente, where we grab lunch at the Cafe de Oriente. Tour Palacio Real with Pharmicerie, then Metro to Reina Sofia to see Picasso's "Guernica" and other modern art. Metro back to hotel, pick up bags, then metro to train station for overnight train to Barcelona.

BARCELONA:

• Friday: arrive by overnight train from Madrid at 8am. Drop bags off at our hotel, Meson Castilla, where we have a little patio off our room. Stroll Las Ramblas. Stop at St Josep's Mercateria - an explosion of butchers, fishmongers, cheeses, bakeries, and more - where we assemble a picnic lunch. Tour Gaudi's Palau Guell, then eat on dock at the end of Las Ramblas, opposite the Christopher Columbus monument. Metro back to hotel, just in time to meet Colleen for coffee at a cafe around the corner! Shower and naps before meeting Colleen and Aaron onboard Redwings for cava, cheese and jamon. Walk to Calle Merce for tapas (ham and salted potatoes, tinto) at La Jarra, and octopus at La Polporia. Finish with pizza in Placa de George Orwell, then home to bed.
• Saturday: walk to Picasso museum, lunch at 11 Caffe de Roma near Jaume metro, walk back through Gothic quarter. Dinner at Siete Puertas with Colleen and Aaron, then night stroll to Gothic Quarter's cathedral to Las Ramblas, then to bed.
• Sunday: hotel breakfast. Walking tour of Moderniste Eixample buildings, including tour/museum/roof of Gaudi's Casa Mila Pedrera. Metro to Sagrada Familia - tour, museum and elevator to tower, where I experience vertigo for the first time). Metro to hotel, with stop for patatas bravas at Cervecas d'Or. Pack for return home. Stroll down Las Ramblas for flowers for Colleen, because we are having dinner onboard Redwings. Good food, great company!
• Monday: Up at 5am, taxi to airport for 7:20am flight to Paris, where we catch a noon flight home to San Francisco.

Oh the places I've been (map)

This is a fun map I'm building that shows all the places I've been in France.
View France in a larger map

Versailles

Versailles is 30 minutes outside of Paris. You can drive, or we took the train from Paris. It's open every day except Monday.

Let's pick a date!

When to go?  These are notes from when I was planning a trip with my folks starting around Labor Day.

• Remember that the French do DD/MM/YY when writing dates. So September 5, 2011 may be 9/5/11 to Americans, but it is 5/9/11 to the French.
• Generally, flights are cheapest on Tues/Wed, sometimes Thurs.
• Avoid the congestion of French families on vacation:  http://www.provence-hideaway.com/120-1.html  
• September is a big convention month with a Crafts fair and Fashion Week toward the end of the month, so book far in advance.
• Early September can still be hot, so make sure your hotel has AC. 
• Always pack a brolly.

For my 2011 trip, we were trying to decide whether to go before/during/after Labor Day, but that was also the end of French vacations, so we discovered:

• The later we go, the slightly cheaper it is - for example, flying 9/6 - 9/20 is $100 cheaper than flying a week earlier (8/30 - 9/13) plus vacation rentals will go down slightly after 9/5 - and until they do, Paris hotels may be a little cheaper (because Paris will be empty).
• 9/5 is not only the end of school vacation in France, but our Labor Day, so that's a free vacation day. So another option is to use Labor Day to stretch ourselves a little longer - flying Sat 9/3 and returning Mon 9/19 only costs an extra $100 over the cheaper days of the week - and it gives us an extra 2 days in France.
• My only hesitations about arriving in Paris on 8/30 are: will Parisians still be on vacation (so will things be closed) AND will summer tourists (like us) be clogging the sights? Or will Paris be returning to normal, and tourists heading home? 
• Either way, we won't get to Provence until after 9/5, so we should have less crowds/competition for a countryside rental. 
• What does Rick Steve advise?