Personalise and Plan your Itinerary
For me, researching our holidays is the beginning of the journey and sometimes this starts more than twelve months before we depart. I absolutely love this part and I get great satisfaction from seeing our itinerary come together.
Some people will want to book a cruise, where everything is decided for them, throw in the catchphrase ‘you only have to unpack once’ and they are happy. At this stage of my life, this type of travel doesn’t really interest me but perhaps, in the future, I’ll change my mind.
If you have previously been on an organised tour that left you wanting more and you want more control of your next holiday then some significant research will be necessary.
Carefully researching and choosing accommodation with ambiance. This is the garden of ‘Le Clos du Bois’, a fabulous family-run hotel in Bonnieux, Provence, where we could sit and enjoy lunch or an aperitif. www.leclosdubuis.fr
I recommend using the websites of local tourism offices, which give you information on the area and usually include accommodation suggestions, local activities and festivals too. These websites often have an English version and this is very useful if you have little or no French language skills.
Trip Advisor is a useful tool for reviews and ratings about accommodation and activities.
Investigate travel blogs, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook special interest groups. Check out Travel guide books. A couple of my favourites are:
Lonely Planet ‘France’s Best Trips: 39 Amazing Road Trips’
DK Eyewitness Travel ‘Backroads France’ which has 24 leisurely drives
Road trips in France can take you to amazing destinations like Col du Galibier in the Alpes
For more inspiration, I enjoy reading novels set in France. It’s a favourite destination for many authors to use in their stories, especially Paris. Check out ‘My Favourite French Connections’ page on this website for some books that I have enjoyed reading.
Look out for documentaries, movies, TV series, cooking shows and YouTube videos.
Personal recommendations from family, friends or work colleagues who have travelled to France can be great but filter any negative feedback and don’t be put off if you have your heart set on a particular place. For example, if you had spoken to us after our first trip to Paris, we would have been less than enthusiastic even though we had some great experiences. We have since realised that we were overwhelmed, didn’t feel in control and it was too cold for us. Our subsequent visits to Paris have been fabulous!
Be open-minded and look for the unusual experiences like our visit to ‘Le Train Bleu”, which you could easily insert into your itinerary. https://www.frenchviews.com.au/my-journal/le-train-bleu-restaurant-in-paris
Using a variety of resources to inspire and enrich your personal itinerary
Another great source of inspiration and guidance in my research has been to listen to podcasts related to particular areas. You can pick up plenty of local tips to enhance your holiday and turn it into a unique experience. Learn more about the places you plan to visit before you go. This will make your trip more meaningful.
Again, I direct you to ‘My Favourite French Connections’ page on this website, this time for some excellent podcasts about France that I really enjoy. There are plenty of insider secrets and interesting ideas for itineraries.
I encourage you to learn some French phrases before you leave. French people will really appreciate you trying and you will enjoy the experience all-the-more. It is polite to at least say bonjour (hello), s’il vous plait (please), merci (thank you) and au revoir (goodbye) whenever possible. Remember to wish a bonsoir (good evening) to each patron in the restaurant who catches your eye. Pleasantries are part of the French way of life.
I love listening to French music. It builds the mood when I am planning.
I find that using maps really helps me visualise the route of our holiday. With either a real map or Google maps you can check distances and investigate the terrain.
All of these ideas will build your anticipation and it should be fun. For Chris and I, it's about the journey, not just the destination. We spend a lot of time preparing and this makes the trip even more rewarding.
Travelling with a purpose or special interest gives focus.
French music provides a wonderful soundtrack to set the mood when planning your travels
If you enjoy independent travel but like to spend some of your time with English-speaking people, you could consider incorporating an activity as part of your holiday. Chris and I were just reflecting on this the other day. In 2009, we set off on a 5 month holiday to Europe. During this time, we had 10 days with ‘Bikestyle Tours’ during the Tour de France. It was wonderful to relax, hand over the logistics, to speak English, enjoy socialising and form some friendships. Chris was able to cycle with other like-minded people and I got to ‘hang out’ with the non-cyclists but still felt part of the larger tour group.
Perhaps you might be interested in an activity where you can enjoy being in France but it’s not all about French language; for example, a photography or painting retreat. However, immersing yourself in the language may be exactly why you are travelling to France and there are many options for lesson and accomodation packages. This is your holiday and you get to choose.
C’est moi taking a well-deserved rest to absorb the countryside whilst cycling in the Dordogne
Leaving spaces in your itinerary for just ‘being’ … sitting and watching the world go by … watch the scenery, watch the people. Stop and unwind. Relax with a coffee or aperitif at a cafe, absorbing what it might feel like to be living in this spot. You don’t just want to be ‘go go go’ for your holiday. Linger over the meal and really enjoy the new tastes and experiences of a French restaurant. Sip on a glass of wine in a park in Paris or coffee or wine on the beach in Nice. This has certainly worked for us.
Chris savouring the moment at one of the many facilities right on the beach in Nice
We always ask our accommodation hosts or the tourism office for local suggestions: where to eat, what is interesting to see, where can we buy a local wine, etc. After all, they are the experts on their area. No matter how much you have researched before you leave home, there will always be some ‘special thing’ you can pick up, when you arrive, just by asking. A local walking tour is a fabulous way to meet other people and get to know a place.
Taking time to sit and enjoy the scenery. C’est moi high in the Pyrénées on Hautacam.
As you start to plan, you quickly amass a lot of information so it’s critical to be organised and sort it into separate folders. I suggest that you start categorising from the beginning. Be very specific; for example, start with a folder named Paris and, within this folder, there would be subfolders for Accommodation, Places to Visit, Restaurants etc. (I tell you this, because my initial enthusiasm resulted in a disorganised, sedimentary pile of useful but inaccessible information! Things are different now.) You could also create a Pinterest board or get an App, like Evernote, to keep it all together.
A useful tool, which we would not be without, is an electronic calendar/planner that you can save and edit as you add in new components of your holiday and keep them all in one place. I actually use a Word Doc calendar but you may have a favourite. Put in your flights (don’t forget to allow for changes in timezones https://www.timeanddate.com) and all of your accommodation dates. This will allow you to plan the rest of your time. It is really important to organise your holiday in advance, especially if you want to visit a particular museum or art gallery that may be closed on certain days or attend a particular cultural or sporting event. Plan ahead and don’t miss out.
C’est moi and Chris at Pont du Gard, Provence. This fascinating Roman aqueduct was built in the first century AD to carry water from the river Gardon, over 50km, to the colony of Nemausus, now known as Nimes.
Some more things to consider:
What are your priorities?
Can you book tickets for that particular show/course/workshop?
What other things are in the same area or do you want to move around?
Once you have the major parts of your holiday planned, then you can take time to fill in the gaps. I do suggest noting some key points about the places that you would like to visit in a diary or notebook. Don’t rely on having all of the information in your laptop. I did this on our last trip and, if I forgot to check details on the previous evening, the laptop was packed and it meant dismantling the car boot to find it. A small book will more useful as it can fit in your bag and doesn’t require charging!
If you are planning a long trip then it is unlikely that you will want to pack a lot of heavy guidebooks so e-books are an excellent option.
Driving through spectacular mountain scenery in the Vallée de la Clarée near Névache in the Alps
See, visit or experience What’s the difference?
I don’t want to spend my holiday in a coach zooming past a famous landmark, trying to snap a photo as in our first visit to Paris. This is defined in the tour brochure as ‘see’.
A blurry image is all that marks our first glimpse of the Louvre from the tour coach. This was listed as ‘See the Louvre’ in the tour brochure.
This was when I understood the difference between ‘see’ and ‘visit’. With a visit, you will alight the coach but you will be guided and there will be a time frame. Your tour group may be given priority. We’ve done that type of holiday and, whilst it was great and I was enthusiastic at the time, I was left wanting much more. I was frustrated that it was time to move onto the next spot when I wasn’t ready to leave. Some places I didn’t enjoy and couldn’t wait to leave. Some accommodation was so far away from anything that we were stuck there or it was too small, like our first Paris accommodation:
https://www.frenchviews.com.au/my-journal/first-impressions-of-france-27-december-2004
Now, our holidays are about experiences, choosing what we would like to do and for how long we would like to do it. It’s your holiday so your choice and your pace. Of course, remembering the all important pauses that may provide the best experiences you have.
C’est moi enjoying the experience of visiting Sacré Cœur. This was followed by an afternoon exploring Montmartre. Being independent gives you as much time as you like to experience and visit rather than just see a landmark.
With this advise in mind, if you want to really experience the Louvre in Paris, ensure that you will have plenty of time to enjoy this magnificent display of art. By the way, the Louvre is shut on Tuesdays. Our first trip to Paris on a coach tour was on a Tuesday and we had about 2 hours free time but there was no opportunity to visit the Louvre despite our wishes. We were disappointed. Imagine if that was your only visit to Paris. That’s why it’s important to research and plan your holiday to include all of the things you would love to experience. Don’t leave it to chance.
Heavy traffic to our tour hotel on the outskirts of Paris from the Moulin Rouge. On our first trip to Paris, we took advantage of this ‘tour extra’ and, whilst it was great to be dropped off and picked up right at the door of the theatre, staying in a more central location would have saved a few hours spent in traffic.
When we travel with bikes, we hire a van to fit in all of our luggage. This gives us the freedom to drive to a remote road, like this one in the Pyrénées, and enjoy a quiet, almost traffic-free ride.
You may have an activity, around which, you are basing your holiday; for example, a special sporting event, cycling or hiking or perhaps an artistic pursuit like painting, photography or cooking. In these cases, a base is great to return to each afternoon and you could just as easily be located in a more rural area. There are many workshops to attend that sometimes include your accommodation but you could just as easily organise your own if you are confident.
Whilst we haven’t yet managed to attend the Monaco Grand Prix, we have experienced driving on the circuit.
When you’ve started your research, it’s time to make a list of all of the places and experiences that interest you. Then review and refine. Take a look at my page about some of my favourite connections to France for inspiration and see you back next time as we take the plunge into bookings.
À bientôt.
https://www.frenchviews.com.au/my-favourite-french-connections
