But one of my favorite trips was when we flew into DeGaule, picked up our rental car at the airport and headed for Giverney. From there we headed for the coast and drove south, keeping as close to the coast as we possibly could -- all the way to the Spanish border. then we headed inland and drove north up the middle of France and cut over to the Loire Valley and worked our way back to the airport and never went to Paris at all!

It took a lot of will power to skip Paris, but it was a super 14-day trip. But the next year we headed for France for an eight day trip and spent two days in the Loire Valley and the other six days in Paris. Martha in Connecticut