France Two-Week Itinerary
This is our two-week itinerary for France. It’s a big country with so much to see, so do a bit of research on the different regions to decide where you’d like to focus your time.
The north is amazing if you want to explore rugged coastal towns and historic World War II sites. The south has beaches. You can do as we did and castle hop and follow the grapevines down the middle. Or you can just drink wine. A lot of it. You can drink so much wine.
And you’re going to likely want to spend a chunk of time in Paris. Oh Paris, je t'aime. I suggest a full week. Especially if you go in high season. But don’t go in high season. You’ll stand in gross, long lines and you might ditch said gross, long lines in lieu of a glass of wine or a stroll along the Seine or park your butts and people watch under an awing with a cappuccino.
I’ve been in May and I’ve been in late June – that narrow window between April and early June is ideal, if you can swing it. It was noticeably less busy when I arrived mid-June, a week before my husband. I would think late September/early October also works if you want to avoid lines and sweaty weather.
As always, I’d recommend renting a car. You can set your own pace, spend as much or as little time in one area, slam the breaks to pick up a baguette or fresh cheese or a bottle of wine. You can choose to stay on the main roads or make a right off the beaten path.
You’ll see we moved a lot on this trip, but that’s typical of us to not stay in one place very long. Feel free to stretch your stays out, linger.
Day 1 – Arrived in Paris
Well, Steve arrived in Paris. I was already there. So I’m going to write this as if we were both jet lagged and feeling like shit. (But really just one of us felt like shit, while the other was humming with excitement to see everything.)
This is June 21, we fought with large, unruly crowds for food, a place in line, and a view.
Found delicious pizza somewhere and ate it by Notre Dame.
Walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower. It’s one hell of a walk. About an hour, 4.5 km. We grabbed a couple beers from a convenience store and parked ourselves in the Champs de Mars, a large public park with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.
Attempted Trocadero, where the Palais de Chaillot is, but it was too crazy and getting late, so we walked back to Le Marais district (where we were staying).
Massive party going on in Le Marais. Massive. The Paris Pride Parade or Marche des Fiertés had just ended and we were in the middle of the after party. The entire district was strobe lights and thumping bass. It was a blast. We ate spring rolls from a Vietnamese restaurant. I think that was supper.
Day 2 – Paris
Got a late start on the day. Steve needed sleep. We woke up to the warm smell of fresh baking floating in our window on a Parisian breeze.
Wandered down to the old Jewish Quarter and found an amazing falafel takeout place called L'As du Fallafel
Walked to the Deportation Museum (closed!)
Took the metro to the Catacombs (too busy, but I’ve seen them before and they are awesome!)
Took the metro to Musée d’Orsay and spent a couple hours here
Dined at Le Relais Entrecôte – they only serve steak frites so you bet it’s amazing
Desserted at Berthillion on Caramel Beurre Sale ice cream
Day 3 – Paris
Took the metro to the Louvre and spent the morning here
Saw Monet’s “Water Lilies” at Musée de l'Orangerie
Ate chips and salsa and drank tangy margaritas at La Perla in Le Marais
Strolled along the extravagant Pont Alexander III bridge
Picnic’d in the Champs de Mars under the Eiffel Tower’s twinkling lights
Day 4 – Paris
The bakery across the street lures us in every morning with its glistening pastries. Can I start my day like this all the time?
Hopped on the train to Versailles and spent the day wondering through the palace and the gardens and the grounds (tip: if the lineups to get in are hellish, get tickets for a group tour)
Slurped French onion soup at the fancy Au Pied du Cochon restaurant in Les Halles district
Day 5 – Paris to Bayeux
The trains were on strike in France. I spent an ungodly amount of time worrying about how we were going to get to Rouen. But then the strike started to fizzle out and we got tickets. Yay!
We took an early train from Paris to Rouen and rented a car. Before we left Rouen to explore Normandy, we did a quick tour of this little old city.
Visited the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake
Saw Rouen’s Notre Dame cathedral
Drove to Bayeux, checked in to our amazing chateau.
Saw the famous Bayeux Tapestry
Toured Bayeux’s Notre Dame cathedral
Ate a six-course meal at our chateau, passed out
Day 6 – Bayeux to Mont Saint-Michel
What a change to wake up to a country breeze rolling in the window. Spent a good chunk of our morning scouring every big box grocer in Normandy looking for a bottle of wine we drank the night before. Total fail. Eventually we smartened up and got back on course.
I wish we would’ve allotted another day or so to see the World War II sites. What we did see was breathtaking and grounding. If you’re Canadian, see the Canadian sites, but also see the American and German sites. Highlights for us included:
Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer
Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
Mulberry Harbour in Arromanches
Longues-sur-Mer German artillery battery
We arrived in Mont Saint-Michel late (partly because we tried to pack way too much into the day and partly because our GPS took us on a “quest”). We took the free shuttle bus to the island and climbed around in the dark. Everything was closed, but for an island that is bursting with tourists during the day, I think visiting at night offers a unique experience.
Day 7 – Bayeux to Amboise
Our car feels like a prison. Although we had two days to relax and stretch our legs in Amboise, a persistent rain followed us around. This charming town would make a great place to explore the area, but we had the impression it was pretty sleepy.
Briefly strolled through the little town of Fougeres on the Brittany-Normandy border (suggest touring the magnificent castle there, we didn’t have time)
Toured Chateau Amboise
Discovered Leonardo Da Vinci’s tomb in Saint-Hubert’s Chapel (What??? I know.)
Day 8 – Amboise
Breakfast at a delicious boulangerie, L’Horloge
Toured Château de Chenonceau
Toured Château de Chambord
Ate dinner at Le Shaker, a restaurant/bar on the banks of the Loire
Day 9 – Amboise to Dordogne Valley
This was our longest drive of the trip, but the windy rural roads through fairytale forests provided ample scenery to occupy us. The rain thought it would be fun to tag along.
Unplanned, but life-changing stop at Oradour-sur-Glane
Ate dinner at La Petite Tonnelle in Beynac, near our guesthouse
Day 10 – Dordogne Valley
We have an amazing view of Chateau de Castlenaud from our bedroom window in Vezac. From our bedroom window at home, we look out onto other lawns and windows of neighbouring houses.
Toured Chateau de Castlenaud
Ate and bought walnut products at Ecomusee de la Noix
Toured Chateau de Beynac
Toured Maison Forte de Reignac
Walked around Sarlat’s old town
Day 11 – Dordogne to Carcassonne
After seeing some pretty amazing castles from different time periods, we found Carcassonne to be underwhelming. It's a 13th century medieval walled city (nothing to scoff at) and is impressive to admire from a distance, we didn’t find there was much to do. We could’ve just arrived at an off time?
Also our accommodation was weird. But we had a great Thai meal at Chez Jasmine!
Day 12 – Carcassonne to Arles
We knew next to nothing about Arles before arriving. I’m not even sure why it was on our itinerary, but I’m glad whoever said, “Go to Arles” did! It’s a fantastic city on the Rhone River and was once a capital of ancient Rome, so there’s a great mix of Provençal and Italian influences – particularly in the old town.
Wandered around the cozy streets of old town
Ate amazing sandwiches for lunch at the vegan-friendly Fad’Oli
Watched the “Bull Game” at the Arles Amphitheatre (great acrobatics and no bull stabbings)
Ate a delicious Provençal meal at Au Brin de Thym
Day 13 – Arles
We made a plan over apricot jam in the morning to drive two hours to god-knows-where because we didn’t know what else to do and thankfully, the B&B host changed our mind. We spent a lovely day checking out the sites around Arles.
Château des Baux
Ate a massive wood-fired pizza at Pizza Brun in Maussane-Les-Alpilles
Tasted and purchased decadent olive oil products at Moulin Castelas
Visited the tasting cellar at Le Domaine des Terres Blanche
Ate dinner at Palao and ice cream at Soleileis
Day 14 – Arles to Marseille
It only took about an hour to drive from Arles to Marseille. The airport car rental drop off in Marseille is a “bit” of a disaster, but we managed.
We got lost walking around Marseille, but we always get lost on our last day. I think my navigation skills slowly deplete over the course of a trip. Anyway, it made for a frustrating afternoon trying to find a particular restaurant (therein lies the problem) and someone grabbed the map (yes, a real paper map) and thankfully reset our course.
Aimless walking for hours around old town, the harbour, a sketchy area, saw a beautiful cathedral
Ate a wide variety of tapas at La Tasca – all I’ll say is that it was worth the effort