Anyone been to France?

AmericanTribal

Other than the famous sites (Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Mont. St. Michel, etc.) what would you recommend seeing?

Any really nice, secluded cafes? Maybe a pretty street to walk down?

I'm looking for non-tourist stuff.

TIA!

715inNC

Not me...have you booked your trip already though? this sounds exciting!

AmericanTribal

715inNC:

Not me...have you booked your trip already though? this sounds exciting!

Not yet. I'm incredibly bored and, at the moment, I'm just printing pictures of all the places we want to see and sticking them in my scrapbook. :P

DH is working on Italy and Ireland lol.

It is something that I know we will do in the future, but it's not in our immediate plans.

I just like scrapbooking different travel sites. I've already got all the places I want to see from France, but I feel like I'm missing a cute little cafe or a side street that's not totally filled with people. Weird, I know lol.

derky17

I have--did you mean to say "Paris" in your OP or will you be able to travel to some other areas of the country as well?  All that you've mentioned (I believe) are in Paris proper.  We went to several different areas since we did a bike tour during the Tour de France (July).  My favorite places were the smaller cities since I love less traveled spots as well--we started in Avignon which I loved and would have liked more time there, and Beaune (pronounced Bone) which was so beautiful as well.  We also cycled through some beautiful wine country, lavender fields, and of course, the small villages on the snow capped alps!!  My memory is a little vague at this point, but if you have any other general questions, feel free to ask!

AmericanTribal

derky17:

I have--did you mean to say "Paris" in your OP or will you be able to travel to some other areas of the country as well?  All that you've mentioned (I believe) are in Paris proper.  We went to several different areas since we did a bike tour during the Tour de France (July).  My favorite places were the smaller cities since I love less traveled spots as well--we started in Avignon which I loved and would have liked more time there, and Beaune (pronounced Bone) which was so beautiful as well.  We also cycled through some beautiful wine country, lavender fields, and of course, the small villages on the snow capped alps!!  My memory is a little vague at this point, but if you have any other general questions, feel free to ask!

Anywhere in France .

I just looked up pictures of Avignon and Beaune and they are *perfect,* thank you!

derky17

A+, glad I could help.  FWIW, we only spent 2 days in Paris and that would have been enough time for me.  More than 1/2 a day of those 2 days for us was spent watch the Tour finish and the only thing we didn't get to do that I wanted to do was go inside the Louvre.  We walked the entire outside, though, saw the Eiffel tour, window shopped the famous stores, etc.  I'm sure I missed a lot of "off the beaten path" places in Paris, but for me, I was more interested in the smaller cities. 

Mrs.LLG

You could spend an entire week in the Louvre and not see it all.... its overwhelming how much is in there, though the Mona Lisa was a huge disappointment IMO. I agree with the PP that a couple of days in Paris would be plenty, I found Parisians to be rude and dislike anyone who does not speak French (even if you TRY to speak their language which is usually appreciated in other countries) but the people in the rest of France were lovely.

aldewitt

I really like the Marmont neighborhood Paris.  If you haven't been there yet, I'd recommend stopping by Brugges, Belgium, the most well-preserved medieval city in Europe.  I know it's not in France, but if I remember correctly it only took about 4 hours from Paris by bus.  Very beautiful & old-world, doesn't have that touristy feel.

kjennnn

I would have to disagree w pp's ...we spent 7 nights there in Feb and I could have spent another week...and I thought I would feel that a few days would be enough. I loved Paris, and I normally prefer smaller towns. There is so much to see/do/wander around...the Louvre is amazing and you could spend a week there alone. I loved the old churches, the cafes, bakeries, the food shops were incredible. We had the best time walking from our hotel in the 6th to the Eiffel in the 7th Arr. and stopped and ate our way through there LOL.  As for areas, we had a great afternoon in Montmartre (great views).

 I  fould the people in Paris to be nicer than anywhere else I had been in Europe..they went out of their way to help. We would try and speak very basic french, and they would always speak English to us if they could. I think it helped htat we went in Feb and there weren't a ton of tourists.

 I agree with Brugges too...it is amazing!!

CurbsideProphet

When are you going? Chamonix is a cute town. It is a ski town however I was there in the summer. We had lots of housing options and there were still fun things to do.