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Need some help with Europe
We want to go on a European vacation in August..all I really think I want to see is Paris, we went to London last year (I'd go back in a minute, though!) and are going to Ireland this year...any suggestions? I started looking at cruises, but they all seem to look the same to me and none go to Paris, they go to other parts of France (which would be nice, too) or to beach locales, and we are not major beach people...help!
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Posted 7/5/10 12:45 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
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springsandra
Baby girl has a baby brother!
Member since 11/09 7155 total posts
Name:
Sandra
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Re: Need some help with Europe
We went to France on our honeymoon last year.
We started in a beautiful town about 40 minutes outside Geneva Switzerland called Annecy. It's the most gorgeous town in the French Alps, set on a beautiful lake. A very popular and well-known vacation destination for French tourists within their own country, but not well known by foreign tourists at all. When I studied abroad in college, I lived there and classes were in Talloires, which is another town around Lac D'Annecy. It was spectacular. DH got amazing pictures and we had such a fabulous time there.
The second part of our trip, we took the train from Annecy down to Avignon. They have something called Festival through the month of July, which is a huge film and theater festival and the city was PACKED with Europeans. It was amazing! Avignon is a walled city and we stayed in a B&B inside the city overlooking the Palais des Papes (Popes Palace) and it was just gorgeous. We went kayaking down the Gardon river under the Pont du Gard (an ancient Roman acqueduct). We rented a car for the four days we were there and drove all over the place through the towns of Provence. It was relaxing, beautiful, the food was amazing, and we had an absolutely wonderful time.
The final part of our trip was 4 days in Paris. We enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as the first two portions of our trip.
The south of France is not nearly as intimidating a trip as it may seem like. Annecy was great because it was so off the beaten path of American tourists, we really felt like guests there. But the south and Provence is unbelievable and I highly recommend going there. I believe you can fly into Nice and do Nice / Marseille / Avignon / Aix en Provence since they're all near each other, but we stayed a bit further north in the Avignon / Provence area and didn't make it to Nice. The train from there to Paris was about 3 hours on the TGV (the high-speed train) but Paris just didn't feel as special as everywhere else we were in France.
HTH! I'd be happy to send you a link to some pictures if you'd like to see!
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| Posted 7/5/10 4:37 PM |
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Tine73
Member since 3/06 22093 total posts
Name:
*********
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Re: Need some help with Europe
We went on a Med cruise for our 1st anniversary and it was amazing! And it was great for my DH who had never been to Europe before.
If you really want to go to Paris, I would go there. or do a combo of Paris and Amsterdam.
Message edited 7/5/2010 8:49:04 PM.
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| Posted 7/5/10 8:48 PM |
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MrsM-6-7-08
<3
Member since 8/06 4249 total posts
Name:
Nicole
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Re: Need some help with Europe
I have heard that people in paris get the month of august off, so many things will be closed. I would really look into what you want to see and make sure it will be open, because i have heard, stores, restuarants, etc close up for the whole month
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| Posted 7/6/10 9:22 AM |
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Re: Need some help with Europe
I did hear the same thing about Paris...we are still considering what we want to do/where we want to go/how we want to do it..I try to have no/low expectations for trips because I don't want to overplan and I want to enjoy it..thanks for the tips, everyone..now to sit down and think!
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| Posted 7/6/10 9:32 AM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: Need some help with Europe
Posted by MrsM-6-7-08
I have heard that people in paris get the month of august off, so many things will be closed. I would really look into what you want to see and make sure it will be open, because i have heard, stores, restuarants, etc close up for the whole month
It's not a dead town. while some restaurants will be closed, others will be open.
To OP: the South of France and Paris are completely different.
If you want to go to Paris, go to Paris. There is so much to do. The South is more peaceful and provence. Imagine Napa or Sonoma vs NYC. Having grown in Paris, the South means for me the crickets and the beach and the lavender..... RELAXING VACATION! As a tourist: I would go see Paris. There is nothing like it!
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| Posted 7/6/10 10:40 AM |
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Bridex100
Two Under Two Mommy
Member since 3/08 10420 total posts
Name:
Momx100
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Re: Need some help with Europe
If you've never been to Paris, you should go to Paris! You are going to have a magnificent time.
I'm currently trying to convince DH to go to Europe with our toddler son. DH keeps saying it won't be enjoyable to travel with a toddler.
I've traveled to Europe (not Paris) in August and I felt a lot of the Europeans themselves were on holiday.
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| Posted 7/6/10 11:08 AM |
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Re: Need some help with Europe
Thanks again! I will keep all of this in mind!
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| Posted 7/7/10 10:09 AM |
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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Re: Need some help with Europe
If you have never been to Paris I would go there. If you have an extra 3+ days I would definitely head down to Beaune from Paris for wine tasting in the Burgundy area. I did this in May and it was fantastic! The food and wine are yum! DH and I did all the wine tasting on bikes (we did 45k in two days  ). The scenery was great! If you are interesting in this let me know, I can help you out.
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| Posted 7/11/10 11:16 AM |
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