My husband, son, his wife are talking of going to France end of October, early November for 2 weeks. A few days in Brittany, a couple of days in Paris and a week in the lyons region. I have 2 question
My husband, son, his wife are talking of going to France end of October, early November for 2 weeks. A few days in Brittany, a couple of days in Paris and a week in the lyons region. I have 2 questions.
1 - is that time of year too cold? 2 - my son and wife have a young girl (will be a year old then). Is it realistic to think of bringing them along.
Anytime is the right time to go to France as far as I'm concerned. But why not go south instead of north? There are palm trees in the south for a reason.
Regarding the little girl, what exactly concerns you? I traveled a lot when my son was an infant, was married to a musician, and it can be limiting in certain ways for the parents but perfectly fine for the child.
November is generally wet but not too cold. You should have around 10 ° Celcius in the northen part of France. But difficult to commit this information Brittany can be very wet and very windy. I suggest to let it for an other trip in summer. I suggest you to keep Paris and then go to the south (Provence or/and French riviera) which is generally sunny and mild in November.
I agree with jyphoto: as far as weather goes, anytime is a good time to travel in France. But I would definitely head south, and save the northern regions for another trip.
As for a one-year old child, I would be more concerned about the flights to and from France (usually hours and hours long) than once having arrived, and traveling around. If the baby is fussy, it will create the flight from hell for all seated close by. Something else: I lived in Paris for almost two years, and what I noticed was no small children in restaurants, let alone babies. Can anyone let me know if this is still the case? I also lived in Switzerland for three years, and noticed that this held true there, as well.
I know it would be possible to get around not taking the little one out to eat by taking turns babysitting. And I know others will write in, saying of course you take the baby along, of course it will be fine, and maybe it would. It will be your decision! Have a wonderful time no matter what you decide to do.
If you stay in apartments rather than hotels it will solve much of the issue of what to do with the wee girl at mealtimes plus give everyone a more relaxed place to be between outings. France has notoriously great take-out so no one will suffer if you decide to not actually cook.
Also with this style of travel in mind maybe a week in Paris and a week further south would smooth the way, rather than more moving around. I know the baby would appreciate the gentler option.
I think in Paris, parents tend not to take small children out on the town for dinner. They eat later there than a lot of people in the US do, for one thing, so while you might find some casual "family style" restaurants in the US with parents and small kids eating at 6 pm, no such thing exists there in terms of a restaurant. So you wouldn't find small children out late at night for dinner in a real "restaurant" in Paris. But of course you can find them in casual cafes and brasseries or chains like Leon de Bruxelles (I think they even have a kids menu), but at lunch or earlier than a lot of adults go out to dinner. Those places tend to be open longer, of course and you can eat there at 7 pm if you want. There are children, and a children's menu, in the regular restaurant chain Chez Clement which I like very much. It is a nice ambience and a wide variety on the menu. But parents with toddlers aren't usually in the regular restaurants.
November is not that nice in many places in the world, it is dark and can be gloomy and wet. I would not take my vacation at that time in northern Europe if I had a choice, but I don't get alot of vacation time so value it, I can't just say, oh why not, because that means I will have no other vacation like that for at least a year. I sure wouldn't go to Brittany. But it doesn't get super cold there, the ocean moderates the climate to some degree, but it can be wet and windy.
I was in Lyon actually this year in the first or second week of October, and it was fairly cool and rained almost every day. It was kind of cold at night, people were often wearing regular winter coats. I can't imagine wanting to do that in November.
BUt it's really up to them, as I said, I don't have a lot of money or vacation time so need to maximize what I get, and others might not care about weather so much.
I was there the first week of November last year and 3 out of 7 days it poured with high winds. If rain is in your forecast, do not be afraid to bring your rubber boots. Every one was wearing them. I had to pick up a pair at the flea market. Wet shoes don't dry very quickly in a rainy Paris. The days that were dry were pleasant enough with cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 50's.
If at all possible, why not postpone the trip to April or May when the weather is better. I agree, it's never a bad time to go to France, but the weather isn't great at that time.
