{"id":259,"date":"2024-03-23T19:02:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T19:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2024-03-23T19:02:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T19:02:44","slug":"plans-for-france-not-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?p=259","title":{"rendered":"Plans for France (not Paris!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I\u2019ll keep this one short and sweet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From Italy, I\u2019ll be heading to France for a couple of weeks in June, staying in Colmar, Lyon, and Perigueux. I\u2019ve never been to any of these towns\/cities, and I\u2019m ready to fill up my Instagram and soak up the beauty of them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting from Vicenza, Italy to Colmar, France at the best rate has required a lot of research, but I finally have FOUR trains booked in one day, going from Vicenza to Milan, from Milan to Lugano (Switzerland), from Lugano to Basel (also Switzerland), and from Basel to Colmar. I managed to get this rather epic journey for a little over $100 using Trainline. I\u2019m on trains from the companies Italo and Trenitalia (Italian rail), SBB CFF (Swiss rail), and SNCF (French rail). The journey begins before 9am, and I arrive in Colmar around 6pm, if all goes as planned.\u00a0Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"539\" data-attachment-id=\"262\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?attachment_id=262\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?fit=980%2C629&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"980,629\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Shutterstock&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Copyright (c) 2020 FooTToo\\\/Shutterstock.  No use without permission.&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Famous,Old,Town,With,Historic,Halftimbered,Facades,In,Colmar,-&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Famous,Old,Town,With,Historic,Halftimbered,Facades,In,Colmar,-\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?fit=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?fit=840%2C539&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?resize=840%2C539&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?w=980&amp;ssl=1 980w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?resize=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Colmar_France.jpg?resize=768%2C493&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>Photo of Colmar, France, courtesy of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.frommers.com\/destinations\/colmar\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.frommers.com\/destinations\/colmar\"> Frommer&#8217;s<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have an AirBnB in infinitely Instagrammable\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tourisme-colmar.com\/en\/\">Colmar<\/a>, right in the town\u2019s cute center. From Colmar, I\u2019m planning a day trip to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/travel\/article\/strasbourg-culture-guide-france\">Strasbourg<\/a> and perhaps some other Grand Est\/Alsace towns. I\u2019ve purchased a SNCF Carte Avantage, to get some discounts on French trains.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"559\" data-attachment-id=\"261\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?attachment_id=261\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?fit=1600%2C1066&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1066\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?fit=840%2C559&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c-1024x682.webp?resize=840%2C559&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?resize=1536%2C1023&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ebc70e9c-3b4b-4c23-b23e-3391ae0b5d1c.webp?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>Photo of Old Lyon, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hotels.com\/go\/france\/fr-best-local-shopping-lyon\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hotels.com\/go\/france\/fr-best-local-shopping-lyon\">hotels.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After four days, I\u2019m heading to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lonelyplanet.com\/france\/burgundy-and-the-rhone\/lyon\">Lyon<\/a>, the history of which dates back to the Romans. Fortunately, this journey only requires one train, which takes about three hours. I had friends spend over a month in Lyon and heard wonderful things. I\u2019ll be staying in the old part of town (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.visiterlyon.com\/discover\/heritage-unesco\/renaissance\/the-vieux-lyon-old-lyon\">Vieux Lyon<\/a>\u201d), not far from the Roman Theatre and with a view of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.visiterlyon.com\/discover\/heritage-unesco\/religious-heritage\/basilica-of-fourviere\">cathedral<\/a>\u00a0from my bedroom window.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"542\" data-attachment-id=\"260\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?attachment_id=260\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?fit=980%2C632&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"980,632\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Roman_Theater__Lyon\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?fit=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?fit=840%2C542&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?resize=840%2C542&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260\" style=\"width:627px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?w=980&amp;ssl=1 980w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?resize=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Roman_Theater__Lyon.jpg?resize=768%2C495&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>Photo from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frommers.com\/slideshows\/848112-12-reasons-why-lyon-is-one-of-france-s-most-underrated-cities\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.frommers.com\/slideshows\/848112-12-reasons-why-lyon-is-one-of-france-s-most-underrated-cities\">Frommers<\/a> &#8220;Why Lyon is one of France&#8217;s most underrated cities&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Lyon, I\u2019m heading to Perigueux, in the Dordogne. There is no good way to get directly from Lyon to Perigueux, and since my partner is joining me and flying via Paris, I\u2019ll be taking a train to Paris, meeting him, and then traveling down to Perigueux. It will be a long day!! But then we have 8 days in the beautiful Dordogne, visiting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lonelyplanet.com\/france\/southwestern-france\/bordeaux\">Bordeaux<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lostinbordeaux.com\/day-trip-saint-emilion-what-to-do-see-and-eat\/\">St. \u00c9milion<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archeologie.culture.gouv.fr\/lascaux\/en\">Lascaux<\/a>, perhaps\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.northofthedordogne.com\/sarlat.php\">Sarlat<\/a>, and just soaking up the region (which is high on my list as a possible retirement locale)!\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.francethisway.com\/places\/perigueux.php\">Perigueux<\/a>\u00a0has history back to the Romans and was an important medieval city. Our AirBnB is close to the river and the medieval Saint Front Cathedral, and I look forward to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.destination-perigueux.fr\/en\/sur-place\/se-regaler\/les-marches\/\">market days<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-attachment-id=\"263\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?attachment_id=263\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"st-front\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?resize=640%2C480&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/st-front.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.perigord.com\/en\/listings\/sites-touristiques-visites\/cathedrale-saint-front\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.perigord.com\/en\/listings\/sites-touristiques-visites\/cathedrale-saint-front\/\">Saint Front Cathedral,<\/a> Perigueux<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll keep this one short and sweet! From Italy, I\u2019ll be heading to France for a couple of weeks in June, staying in Colmar, Lyon, and Perigueux. I\u2019ve never been to any of these towns\/cities, and I\u2019m ready to fill up my Instagram and soak up the beauty of them! Getting from Vicenza, Italy to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/?p=259\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Plans for France (not Paris!)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"everybody","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sabbatical-travels","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7xyY9-4b","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drcarolyncoulson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}