City to city, coast to coast, this grand tour visits some of Franceās most unmissable sights. Thereās some epic driving involved, but this is one trip you wonāt forget in a hurry.
This is the big one ā an epic trek that travels all the way from the chilly waters of the English Channel to the gleaming blue Mediterranean. Along the way, youāll stop off at some of Franceās most iconic sights: the chĆ¢teau of Versailles, the abbey of Mont St-Michel, the summit of Mont Blanc and the beaches of the French Riviera. Allez-y!
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1 Paris
For that essentially Parisian experience, itās hard to beat Montmartre ā the neighbourhood of cobbled lanes and cafe-lined squares beloved by writers and painters since the 19th century. This was once a notoriously ramshackle part of Paris, full of bordellos, brothels, dance halls and bars, as well as the cityās first can-can clubs. Though its hedonistic heyday has long since passed, Montmartre still retains a villagey charm, despite the throngs of tourists.
01 49 25 89 39;www.museedemontmartre.fr;12 rue Cortot, 18e;adult/child ā¬9.50/5.50;
10am-6pm;
Lamarck-Caulaincourt), which details the areaās bohemian past. Itās inside Montmartreās oldest building, a 17th-century manor house once occupied by Renoir and Utrillo.
6am-10.30pm, dome 8.30am-8pm May-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Apr;
Anvers). On a clear day, you can see for up to 30km.
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The Drive Ā» Drive From the centre of Paris, follow the A13 west from Porte dāAuteuil and take the exit marked āVersailles ChĆ¢teauā. Versailles is 28km southwest of the city.
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17 Alpine Adventure
Chamonix features on our Alps trip, so itās easy to launch a cross-mountain adventure from there.
23 Riviera Crossing
Combine this journey with our jaunt down the French Riviera, which begins in Cannes.
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2 Versailles
Louis XIV transformed his fatherās hunting lodge into the ChĆ¢teau de Versailles(
