Spring in Paris and Provence

A trip from April 27, 2007 to May 13, 2007, travelling to Gassin, Grasse, Paris
Spending a week in Gassin, the prettiest village in France … More  
Spending a week in Gassin, the prettiest village in France, then traveling to Paris for a week of Paris in the Spring.
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Preparing for Our Trip

February 6, 2007

12 Weeks until our trip and counting!  It's cold and snowy in Chicago, so I'm dreaming and planning for our springtime trip to Gassin and Paris.

A little background.. Gassin is known as one of the prettiest villages in France.  It is a walled city situated in the hills above St. Tropez on the southern coast of France.   The area is awash in vineyards and small coastal towns that make up the southern edge of Provence.  We exchanged a week of our Carribean timeshare for a week in Le Mas de Chastelas, an 18th century Provencial house just outside of St. Tropez.  I've been researching the area, but I have a feeling that the vineyards and ocean will reset our priorities once we arrive.

A little trivia... Mick and Bianca Jagger were married in Gassin in 1971.

From Gassin, we will drive to Martel to visit some friends for a day, then drop off the car and catch a train to Paris.  Our Paris plans are detailed in the Itinerary, with Itinerary Notes included for each day.   I would have loved to have included a trip to Normandy, but time ran out and we'll need to save that adventure for another time.

We are starting to think about clothes and luggage.  Just spent a nice chunk of change on Zappos.com trying to find comfortable, yet stylish, walking shoes.  The weather in the south averages 60-70 degrees farenheit in late April, early May.  But there is always the chance of the Mistral blowing, those fabled winds that have been known to drive people mad.   In Paris, the temps are supposed to be a bit colder 50-60 degrees.  

Our luggage is 2 - 25" roller bags that have the ability to expand 2".  I believe those, plus a small backpack and duffle bag type carry-on, are enough to see us through.  I'm all about the 'travel light' mantra, so it seems like this should be more than enough space, with room to spare for trinkets we plan to pick up along the way.  How much wine and pate are you allowed to bring back from France?  ;-)

More entrys to follow as the clock counts down to our departure.


 
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Talk about this trip (9)
We'll be spending a week in the South of France, a few days with friends, and 5 days in Paris. We fly in to Nice and will rent a car to drive to Gassin, near St. Tropez. In the south, we are planning on seeing the coast and Provence, getting lots of R&R so we will be well rested by the time we begin our sightseeing in Paris. When we are done with the car we'll drop it off and take the train to Paris.

There are many things we want to do in Paris, I've probably over scheduled, but we want to try to see them all and can always adjust our schedule as needed. I tried to group things by location and interspersed activities and sites between museums. I've left out Versaille from this trip, as I've been there before and wish to spend time experiencing other things.
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Any personal recommendations for restaurants in St. Tropez, Gassin, or Paris would be greatly appreciated. We are not fancy diners, we prefer casual bistro type fare.
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Any personal recommendations for 'must do or see' things in Provence or the South of France would be greatly appreciated. We definately want to do a wine tour.
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this sounds great!
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this looks great!
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I would love to know how this trip went...I thought some of the days seemed light and doing the rodin and the musee de Orsay seemed a bit much for one day.
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This looks very good!
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It is maybe too late, I just wanted to let you know of a wonderful museum in Paris, Museé Cluny: The tapestries are expectacular!
place Paul Painlevé 75005 Paris
Métro St Michel, Odéon; Cluny la Sorbonne
Tel: 01 43 25 62 00
Open: 9:15 am - 5:45 pm everyday except tuesday
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Thanks Marisaball! We did stumble upon the Cluny museum and enjoyed it very much!
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Planned Activities
Sat 04/28/07 (day 2) - Gassin
Wed 05/02/07 (day 6) - Grasse
Mon 05/07/07 (day 11) - Paris
Tue 05/08/07 (day 12) - Paris
Wed 05/09/07 (day 13) - Paris
Thu 05/10/07 (day 14) - Paris
Thing to Do
Thing to Do
Thing to Do
Fri 05/11/07 (day 15) - Paris
Sat 05/12/07 (day 16) - Paris
Thing to Do
Thing to Do
 
 
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