Learn me: Europe

Cousin is marrying a frenchwoman in July.  

In France.  

Snow is invited because he's family and they don't know any better.

Suggestions of things to do whilst in Europe other than wedding related shenanigans and a lap or four of the 'Ring? 

(The Austrian F1 GP is the weekend before the wedding so a solid maybe, the German GP is the day after so a no-go for obvious reasons) 

Going just for the wedding is obviously a bad call, was figuring at least a week and a half to justify the cost and hassle involved.

That’s kind of an open question. What part of France? What do you want to see? How much hassle/travel time do you want?  

Trains and easyjet make traveling pretty painless and cheap in Europe, but still not free.  I’d just look up google flights and figure out where I can get to from my location very cheap and go.   So much to do everywhere. 

I did the Austrian GP many years ago. The track is not located near any major cities, so lodging can be an issue. Traveling from France to Austria will likely not be direct via air or quick via any other means (what with those pesky Alps and all).

As to France, the first question is where. France is a big place, and very different from region to region.

Go to Normandy. Pay your respects. Be polite. 

Appleseed said:

Go to Normandy. Pay your respects. Be polite. 

This.  Plus I've been told my ancestors are from the Normandy region.

Is the wedding anywhere near wine country?  That would probably keep me busy for at least a week.

July is when the Tour de France is run, so if the wedding is anywhere near the route at the same time, lodging could be an issue.

My hosts in Germany went to France often, and said that Parisians are what you think of when you think of the stereotype of snooty, rude French people.  The rest of France is wonderful according to them.  And with a billion tourists keeping you from getting to work while they photograph some old building, can you really blame the Parisians?

Appleseed said:

Go to Normandy. Pay your respects. Be polite. 

When you are there, take a tour.  Very worth it.  Sadly, the group that we toured with many years ago only does private tours these days- they were awesome.

As for other things, wine has been brought up, but food is VERY important in France, too.  Stick your neck out and try something really odd.  (in France, andouille sausage is actually tripe sausage, and REALLY good).

Try the Royale with Cheese.  

VINCENT
...you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
JULES
What?
VINCENT
It's the little differences. I mean they got the same E36 M3 over there, we got
Here, but it's just there's a little difference.
JULES
Examples?
VINCENT
Alright, well you can walk into a movie theatre in Amsterdam and buy a beer.
And I don't mean in a paper cup. I'm talkin' 'bout a glass of beer. And in
Paris, you can buy a beer at MacDonald's. You know what they call a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES
They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
VINCENT
No, man, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the 
A Quarter Pounder is.
JULES
What'd they call it?
VINCENT
They call it Royale with Cheese.
JULES (repeating)
Royale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?
VINCENT
Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
JULES (repeating)
Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?
VINCENT
I dunno, I didn't go into a Burger King.

If you are at all close to Mulhouse, France, the Bugatti museum is very much worth a visit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Automobile

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is happening July 12 to the 15th.  

pkingham said:

If you are at all close to Mulhouse, France, the Bugatti museum is very much worth a visit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Automobile

Definitely worth a visit. That's where my avatar is from .

As several others have mentioned, the big question is where you are in France.

Also, regarding travel - if you don't want to drive, look into public transport options. Trains aren't that expensive and the high speed trains in France are usually a better alternative to flying.

02Pilot said:

I did the Austrian GP many years ago. The track is not located near any major cities, so lodging can be an issue. Traveling from France to Austria will likely not be direct via air or quick via any other means (what with those pesky Alps and all).

As to France, the first question is where. France is a big place, and very different from region to region.

similarly, the 'Ring is out in the middle of nowhere (althought close to France)... so you'll need to rent a car to get out there (if you train over)... a car that you can't take on the 'Ring.  So, you'll be renting a car to rent a car... unless you've rented a car in France to get around... then, no worries (other than not taking it on the 'Ring).

also, Dale of BtG recommends that you plot out 4 days to hit the 'Ring... sometimes TF days move around, and that gives you a window to pick the best weather for.  Dunno, how flexible the rest of your contingent will be for that.

You might also look at Spa.  I don't think they have TF... but it's not far from the 'Ring; and you'll be in France anyways.

Lemans

Ovid_and_Flem said:

Lemans

Le Mans is fantastic, but it's already very late to be booking accommodations for this year's 24 Heures.

Try to recreate Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure. 

I liked this show so much, I bought the hardbound book to accompany it.

Schmidlap said:

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is happening July 12 to the 15th.  

This is the best idea I have heard.

France is one of the European countries where English language will be a bit thin on the ground.  So maybe try and hook up with one of the Bridesmaids so you have a cheap place to stay and a tour guide. French women are nice without being twisted like German women.

France changes personality very quickly as you travel around the country. The Pyrenees are pretty amazing and probably the friendliest and most scenic of the lot in my memory. Pic-du-Midi if you can handle the altitude.

Even the French mock the Parisians for being the snobs that they are. That said, you gotta go to Paris and do the obvious tourist traps like the Louvre, Notre-Dame and the Tower. After the tower, walk across the street to the truck that sells crepes.  The street vendors that hawk trinkets are pervasive, but worth watching the cat and mouse game that they play with the cops!

The time to roam the streets in France is in the morning as the boulangeries roll out the night's baked goods:  If there is a better breakfast than a cup of thick black coffee and a fresh- from- the- oven pain-au-chocolate, then I don't want to know what it is. I have heard that you don't HAVE to eat half a dozen, but I don't listen to those people.

French beer is worse than American beer, but being Europe, imported stuff is everywhere.French wine can be great or terrible, price is an indicator and its never inexpensive for good stuff.

Hook-up with some Cassoulet; Duck fat rules! Baguettes rule also and they go together with everything.

Drive a car though Paris during rush hour, you will have a story to tell. Try and park. Parisians are world class parallel parkers.

French beaches used to be great place to titty watch for us deprived Americans, kinda passe in today's world and the beaches are not so great. Boulogne-sur-mer has these crazy beach sailboats that you can rent and are entertaining. Lot of kite surfing on that beach if that is your thing. Have some mussels while you are there along with a bottle of white wine. Or three. I did. Then rented the sail-buggy.

Grab a train and head to Amsterdam. Great place to spend a few days. Or go invade Germany lots of crazy stuff there and the beer is gut-er

Other than that I got nothing.

Pete

Air Canada will ship your motorcycle in the hold of the plane you're on for $600.  Then you'll have your own wheels.  Just saying...

You will be right in the heart of the summer vacation season so if you decide to go anywhere near a major city, you better start booking now. This includes like Goodwood and other events. Goodwood is kind of out there as well so make sure you ae either ready to drive or have a place there in like portsmouth. 

Lot of great things in Spain and Portugal if you are in the south of France too. So really it's more about where you are and how much you want to travel. You can find cool stuff all over the continent. 

In reply to docwyte :

From the US or from Canada?

I'll have to go to Europe later in the year and that's a rather tempting idea.

docwyte said:

Air Canada will ship your motorcycle in the hold of the plane you're on for $600.  Then you'll have your own wheels.  Just saying...

https://canadamotoguide.com/2017/04/27/update-air-canada-motorcycle-cargo-rates/

Not as cheap as all that and a few hoops to jump through, but yeah...its a thing. If just for a week or two, a car would be cheaper to rent.

I believe France takes the month of July off so everyone is on vacation at the same time.      Probably makes the roads crowded.     

In addition to everything else mentioned they also have Tour de France also happening in July - the whole month just about.

In reply to jharry3 :

Actually they mostly take August off, not July. That said, the summer break for schools around Europe is usually from late June to early September - not the same everywhere, but they all overlap and thus you get this long stretch of peak vacation time.

There'll be multiple weekends in July and August where for example the Autoroute du Soleil (the main motorway from Lyon down to Marseille) turns into a parking lot. I've seen people break out their picking gear in the breakdown lane...

NOHOME said:

docwyte said:

Air Canada will ship your motorcycle in the hold of the plane you're on for $600.  Then you'll have your own wheels.  Just saying...

https://canadamotoguide.com/2017/04/27/update-air-canada-motorcycle-cargo-rates/

 

Not as cheap as all that and a few hoops to jump through, but yeah...its a thing. If just for a week or two, a car would be cheaper to rent.

Riding up to Vancouver and shipping from there wouldn't be that big an issue, but for those prices I can almost buy a motorcycle in Europe and stash it at my mum's place.

Thanks for the suggestions all.  

In terms of 'wine country' I'm actually more interested in the country than the wine, finding a brewery or three is an interesting thought though.  

The event is about 80 kilometers east of Paris, in the 'Île-de-France region of north-central France'