BC
Sydney
Hi Everyone
Just discovered this wonderful site and would appreciate advice on a trip I am planning for June 2017. There are 2 of us travelling and we have 2 weeks to make it from Paris to Madrid. Thinking of doing a leisurely road trip - approximately 5 days through France and the rest in Spain (hoping to stay in some paradors). Can anyone recommend a suitable route - should we pick up a car in Paris or perhaps take a train to a city outside of Paris and then pick up a car from there (if so, which city would you recommend)? I have heard that driving in Paris can be tough on the nerves! Is it advisable to drive a French rental car across borders into Spain or should we take public transport from Bordeaux to San Sebastian and then pick up a car from there to continue to Madrid? Thank you so much in advance for any help you can offer as we plan our trip.
I would recommend you take a train south from Paris to one of the cities that has TGV service. Take a look at Dijon, Lyon, Avignon, or Aix-en-Provence. 
Personally I would pick Aix. It's a beautiful small city with lots of university students that give it a younger vibe. Pick up your car there. Then you can either head either to the French Riviera (Nice or my favorite, Villefranche-sur-Mer 
for the beaches, or head east through Arles and Nimes (both have excellent Roman ruins) to Montpellier, another lively university city or one of the small villages near it. Pezenas is a nice small town with a great B&B, Hotel de Vigniamont. 
From there, I would head down to Barcelona. Beyond that I can't really help you.
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