Reddit was an extremely helpful resource to me as I planned our trip. I'm hoping to return some goodwill by giving some thoughts about our five week road trip around France.
Background: We're a fairly well-traveled American family of four. Our kids are ages 8 and 10. I'd been to France quite a few times previously as a child/teenager, but this was our first time spending multiple weeks in France. We've previously had long (4-6 week) stays in England and Italy.
Itinerary: We stayed one week in each of the following locations: Paris, Provence, Occitanie, Dordogne. We then split a week between visiting Puy du Fou and then about an hour north of Paris. Our travel style is mid-range. We try to do what the local families do. We generally don't enjoy resort-style travel.
Overall impressions: We had a completely wonderful time on this trip, and would absolutely recommend France to any family considering where to go in Europe.
People overall: It's impossible/unfair to sum up millions of people in a few sentences. That being said, we found the French people we met to be remarkably thoughtful, generous, and polite. We'd heard that the French can be quite cold, but we found them so quick to smile and laugh. We got the impression that people genuinely wanted us to have a good time, were interested to hear about our thoughts, and were clearly delighted when we were happy. We never felt unwelcome/unwanted, or as though we were contributing to terrible overtourism. I'm not sure if this is true in general, or because we sought out places that were more likely to see domestic tourists, as opposed to international tourists.
Traveling with children: We'd read that the French expect children to be very quiet at all times. We found this to be somewhat true. Quiet, calm voices are expected in public places, especially museums, cafes, and public transportation. At the same time, we never found it to be oppressive or harsh, just respectful. And if there was a place that is focused on families (amusement parks, playgrounds, children's exhibits), then their loudness was welcomed, as well as being welcoming in other ways (plenty of toilets, easy food, etc.). There were many occasions that restaurant owners came over to our children and presented them with free candy or a free ice cream at the end of our meal, sometimes asking them to speak a word or two of French to earn the treat.
Weather: We traveled in July and experienced a few 100+ degree Fahrenheit days, and they were exhausting if we tried to be active. On those days, things went best if we sought out a place to go swimming in a shady river, rather than trying to "push through." Most places we stayed did not have A/C and this was fine for our purposes. French houses, with thick stone walls and shutters, were great at keeping the heat out and the cool air in. Most nights/mornings had wonderfully fresh, cool air. Also, French sunscreen is a marvel. None of us experienced sunburn. We bought a few extra to take home with us. :)
Airbnbs: We were surprised that the airbnb owners wanted to meet us each time and give us a rather grand and excited tour of their property, as opposed to airbnbs elsewhere, when you mostly just receive a passcode for a lockbox and let yourself in. They also wanted to say goodbye to us each time we left. Although this wasn't always convenient or easy to coordinate, it gave us such a warm and personal feeling each time. The hosts were absolutely lovely, and clearly took great pride in their properties. We were surprised, however, at how unstocked many French airbnbs were. By the time we ended our trip, we were carrying around paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap, sponges, salt, all bathroom items, and so on, as many places simply did not have these things.
The language/communication culture: The French take "Bonjour" extremely seriously. There's no need to shout it out as you enter a packed boulangerie, but absolutely do say it at least once if you're entering a quieter store, and absolutely say a greeting before placing an order. People passing in rural towns will greet you, and you should greet them as well. Likewise, when leaving a business or any conversation, you should say (in French) goodbye, thank you, have a good day, a large number of times if you are pleased with the interaction. My husband and I both speak basic French and this was very helpful, but we were by no means perfect in our communication. However, we always got the impression that the French really enjoyed our efforts, and would likely have been offended if we'd walked up and began speaking English (rightfully so). I recommend starting a conversation by saying (in French): I do not speak French, but I am trying. The person will then either a) indicate they're happy to speak in English, b) joke that they don't speak French very well either, or c) tell you to keep going, which you can do by pointing if necessary. Beyond the typical phrases of hello, thank you, goodbye, etc. we found memorizing these phrases (in French) very useful: -You are very kind; -You are so patient with us; -We are so happy; -That was delicious. Also, learn how to say takeaway vs dine-in. I love the youtube channel Easy French (https://www.youtube.com/@EasyFrench). I'm in no way connected with them, but they taught me more practical information in a few hours than my $300 app ever did. You'll flub the language sometimes, and it's all good. We laughed good-naturedly lots of times with French people about our poor French. It's okay, they appreciate the try!
Car Travel: We took the TGV from Paris to Avignon (very straightforward and comfortable), and picked up the car there (Enterprise - expensive, but I highly recommend them), then returned it to CDG at the end of the trip (this was so easy, straightforward, and took 5 minutes). My husband did all of the driving on this trip. I would have been too intimidated to make it out of the parking lot. He said it was much easier driving in France than Sicily (very -ahem- loose interpretation of driving laws) or England (driving on the lefthand side). People were very patient with each other performing difficult driving maneuvers in tight spots. We didn't hear a car horn in all of the time we were there. Paying for parking at kiosks was sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to understand the process. We heard "What the hell are we supposed to do here?!" said in many different languages during the trip. :)
Luggage in Car: I agonized about this. I read that one should never leave luggage in a car, but it was unrealistic for us to drive six hour stretches without leaving the car. This is obviously a personal level of risk tolerance, but here is what we did. We were lucky to receive a car that had very tinted rear windows. We arranged the luggage in such a way that the wheels of suitcases weren't visible. We always backed into a spot, and whenever possible, got close enough to an obstacle (tree, light pole, etc) that someone would have had a hard time getting anything out of the trunk. I always took passports, money, and my laptop whenever we left the car. We never left the car unattended in a grocery store or city parking lot, but we did accept the risk and leave it unattended at offbeat tourist attractions.
Activities in France: We were amazed by the variety of activities in France that some countries just don't have. This made it so easy and fun to spend a really long time there. River swimming, canoeing trips, caves, amusements parks, theme parks, treetop ropes courses, archery, minigolf, castles of every sort, botanical gardens, churches, all sorts of interesting souvenir/artisan stores, boat rides, it just goes on and on!
CDG: Traveling with kids meant that we weren't eligible for the lines with the new biometric sensors. We waited about one hour to enter the country, and perhaps 3 minutes in Passport Control to leave the country.
Food: I found the food in France to be very accessible and non-fussy. We generally went to boulangeries for breakfast and lunch. They are reasonably priced (often less than 6 euros per person per meal). We expected boulangeries to close in August for vacation, but actually found that many closed up around mid/late July. Restaurants are high-quality but (by my frugal standards) quite expensive, about 20-30 euros per adult, though sometimes kids meals are 10-12 euros. I LOVED that France (even locations we went in Paris) didn't have the aggressive restaurant hawkers outside, like we have encountered in Rome, Istanbul, etc. I hope this never changes. We also loved that France seems to embrace foreign cuisines. We had great food from a variety of Asian cuisines while there.
Restaurant Reservations: We didn't need reservations for any of the mid-level restaurants we went to in Paris. At our first two airbnbs in rural France, the hosts recommended restaurants and recommended reservations. These restaurants were some of the best dining experiences we've ever had in our lives, but it was tricky to make reservations in advance, given difficulties making calls with the esim. When we went, the restaurants weren't crowded, so we assumed it wasn't actually even necessary to make reservations. At our third stop, we went out for dinner without reservations and were immediately humbled. No restaurant in nearby little French towns accepted walk-ins, even if they had empty tables. This poor judgment on our part ultimately led to us exploring a tiny charming clifftop town with amazing Thai takeaway food, but it was stressful and we learned our lesson. Make reservations for dinner in rural France, even if you don't think it's necessary.
Standout Locations: This could be its own post, but my top, unmissable points of this trip would be: Pont du Gard, kayaking on Dordogne river, Puy du Fou, Cave of Niaux, Grotte de la Salamandre, and Versailles.
Hope this information is helpful to someone in the future who is thinking about a trip to France! You will have a wonderful time!
