bekkle

Alrighty ladies n guys, I'm going to France this summer. For a month and a half my sister and I, college students, will be debutantes in the world of travel. We'll travel with the 2-month, 10 travel-day Benelux-France railpass.

ALSO, I'll be doing an independent study project on Medieval Art and Architecture in France.

Have you been to France? Do you know about France? What are your favorite memories, recommendations of specific hostels, sights, towns, or cities for me to try out? ...do you know anything about Medieval Art and Architecture in France?

Here's a rough list of places we'd like to cover:
Paris
Tours & Amboise
Biarritz & Bayonne
Avignon
Marseille
Grenoble
Lyon
Annecy
Pontarlier
Colmar (& the route de vin)
Strasbourg

PLUS!:
London (like, two days.)
Amsterdam
Brussels

GIMME YOUR KNOWLEDGE! and thaaaank you!!

florencia9699

Hey! sounds like a great time!! Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of advise... but someone more experienced will come along and give you some good info!!

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Been to: Argentina, Chile, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt. Greece, Turkey, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, USA, Mexico, Spain, Monaco, Czech Republic, Ireland and Uruguay.

Next trip: Still pondering the possibilities for January 2009... * OH THE MYSTERY!! *

The travel bug is insatiable

Esterina

Bonjour bekkle !

I went twice in France, but not as a backpacker so I don't have any specific advice on the logistic part of your trip. Besides I only visited Paris, Versailles and some of Normandie.

To get you prepare with Medieval Art and Architecture, I suggest you read everything you can on the subject, or have you already ?! Also get a grip of those two travel guide books below (the green Michelin is per region, so there are several more that could help you). Although they don't specialize in the subject, they offer more specifics for tourtists on arts and other fields than the typical Lonely Planet or Fodor's.






Once in France, the hotel staff in France and the tourist office will be the best source of infos.

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people are people

joe7f

London deserves more than two days especially if you are arriving there and/or it is your first time there. I can't help you much on Amsterdam but Brussels was pretty cool (although as will be pointed out by anyone who has been to Brugge, go to Brugge even if it means skipping Brussels)

Louse had a thread on the Netherlands that was really good that you may want to check out.

--Joey

tumblezweedz

You might consider getting out to Rouen and Bayeux, as well as Mont St. Michel. The Bayeux tapestry is probably earlier than the period you're interested in, although it might give you an interesting starting point from which to compare the development of medieval art. Plus, these are some beautiful and fascinating places in beautiful countryside. I'm thinking about driving around France for a couple of weeks this summer, if I come across anything stupendous, I'll try to forward it to you.