Opinion on itinerary: Bordeaux/Provence/Paris

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

August Travel.

Option 1:

Fly straight in to Bordeaux (longer leg and delay at CDG airport) rent car, stay 2 or 3 nights.

Drive to St. Remy or any of those pretty villages in Provence - stay 5 nights.

Drop car off in Avignon and take train to Paris.

Stay in Paris 5 or 6 nights - non stop to LA.

Option 2 - Fly straight to Paris (non stop) Take train same day straight to Libourne (Bordeaux)

Same as above.

Option 3 - Same as #2 except take train straight to Avignon first, rent car and after Provence, drive to Bordeaux, stay 3 nights, drop car and take train to Paris. Just a reverse version of above. Don%26#39;t know how easy it is to drive to Provence to Bordeaux...

Option 4 - Skip Bordeaux (is it a hassle to do everything I just outlined?) My main interest is to wine taste, I%26#39;ve always dreamed of visiting Bordeaux and the Rhone wine country (reason for going to Provence)...thanks so much!!!

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I don%26#39;t think it will make much difference which way you travel, though you may find it useful to map your route on either google maps or viamichelin.com/viamichelin/…MaHomePage.htm so that you can see how much driving you%26#39;re taking on. The fastest way between Bordeaux and Avignon is the loop round the autoroute passing Carcassonne, which is worth a stop

carcassonne.org/carcassonne_EN.nsf/vuetitre/…

That route also passes other wine-growing areas like Corbières which could be an interesting detour - compare and contrast!

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We found St Emillion to be a great little place to stay and enjoy touring in the vines and tasting the product. The town is full of wine cellars and sellers. Five days in Provence is also a great idea. Getting between the two try to map it so you go past the Millau Viaduct which is extraordinary (see my avatar). In Provence we stayed at Isle sur la Sorgue and visited many sites around there. Again,for an ancient viaduct and aqueduct, see Pont du Gard.

This might give some ideas

…blogspot.com/2008/08/week-in-provence.html

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NIKE - %26quot;Just do it.%26quot; Go for option # 4 - skip Bordeaux and go straight to Provence. Since you want to do wine tasting, I seriously suggest that you spend some serious time in areas such as the sothern Cote du Rhone regions (Chatearneuf-du-Papes, Vacqueyras, etc....) Hope that if you choose this option you will also check out some of the wonderful lesser known Provencal winegrowing regions such as the the areas in/near les Baux.

AlpillesGal

PS - I hope that you will look upon this trip as the first of many rather than the only trip to France...

And, since you are from LA, you will sprnd your time exploring the countryside rather than in another (albeit fabulous)city.

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