Romantic honeymoon in France.

When you think of France, what comes to mind? April in Paris, the Cannes Film Festival, truffles and wine in Provence, the beaches of Normandy, great artists, ancient towns and villages? These are just tastes of what a honeymoon in France can be all about. For trips of a good length, couples typically delight in a combination of experiences, using the monumental landscape of Paris as a beginning or ending anchor, but taking the time to get lost meandering in the beautiful countryside.

Tthe fertile, chateau-studded Loire Valley, the storied coasts of Brittany and Normandy, the hills of Provence, and the valleys of Alsace being favorites. You can even drive or train into the Black Forest or Bavaria in Germany, or the cosmopolitan cities of Brussels or Amsterdam to rapidly expand your country repertoire in a most romantic way! Wherever it pleases you, stay in historic inns, photograph castles and ruins, attend cooking schools, and make a corner of the country your very own.

France is also ideal for shorter, more focused escapes, alive with all of the cosmopolitan luxury you can imagine. Combine four days at a magnificent central Paris address with two or three in London, speeding between them on a Chunnel train. Or picture yourself arriving on the Mediterranean coast at Nice in spring or summer, taking a helicopter to an exclusive resort in neighboring Monaco for a night or two at the Casino, and then zipping up to Paris on the high-speed TGV train to regain cozy anonymity in the tree-lined squares of the artistic Left Bank. Let us help you find your ideal route in this welcoming country of beauty, art, and wonderful cuisine!

Romantic honeymoons in Paris. Sun and Sandals can arrange a romantic honeymoon holiday in Paris.

Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world. Find out the best spots to snuggle and smooch with your sweetheart. Go up! Everyone knows about the Eiffel Tower, but there are two other ways to get high with your honey. The Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame both provide stunning views of the city. There are few better places to put your arms around your lover than atop these two attractions.

Some would even argue you get a better view, because the Eiffel Tower is so tall the city is too small from that height. And at Notre Dame, you get the bonus of being close to the gothic gargoyles. Live it up! A short train ride away, visit the luxurious Chateau de Versaille, the elaborate palace of the notorious Sun King.Be sure to take a bottle of wine and a snack of baguettes and cheese to nibble on the grounds. Just a few more minutes further on the same train, you can visit Chartres Cathedral, one of the most stunning gothic churches in Europe. Or truly pretend to be royalty. Stay at a French chateau (castle). The Chateau d'Esclimont is about 45 minutes from Paris, and even has lower-priced rooms that make it within reach for mere peasants. Be sure to eat dinner at the chateau's wonderful restaurant.

The Loire Valley stretches south and west of Paris, centering on Orleans. It is a beautiful, rolling plain of farms, aristocratic country estates, and of course the beautiful chateaux from centuries past. It is easily reached from Paris as a guided daytrip, but we recommend taking your time and enjoying the hospitality and local produce a chateau-hotel can offer you.

Normandy is the Atlantic coastland closest to Paris, its beaches on the English Channel beautiful and peaceful reminders of the sacrifices of the Allies to liberate the country, but bearing testimony back to time of the Vikings and Celts. The landscape is almost exactly the same as a half-century ago; farms, cows, grassland, stately towns like Caen, Honfleur, and Bayeux. Normandy is particularly quiet and beautiful in the fall, an ideal time for a French honeymoon. Brittany runs west of Normandy to land's end just past the pretty port town of Brest. It contains some of the best French national parks, country inns with proud local chefs, and great driving. On its Norman border is Mont St-Michel, the amazing castle and abbey on an island separated from the coast by sand and tide. Burgundy is a fertile, wine producing region extending south from the rapidly developing town of Dijon to the sprawling market city of Lyon in the Rhone Valley. It is home to some of the most famed castles and cathedrals in the country, and ideal for agricultural tourism and backcountry driving.

Provence is an evocative, romantic district of rich hills, valleys, and mountains north of the French Riviera. It is home to historic towns including Aix, Arles, and Avignon, all featuring beautiful religious architecture and thriving country markets. Provence is easily accessible via the high-speed TGV trains from Paris, or by car from Nice, but really requires a car to get around. The largely untouristed southwest of France is characterized by the lovely limestone valleys of the Dordogne, the cave-riddled hills of Perigord, the farms, ruins, markets, and wine cellars of Bordeaux and Toulouse, and the Pyrenees Mountains, with considerable Basque and Spanish influence in culture and cuisine. This is an excellent region to connect with Barcelona or Bilbao in Spain by car or train. Nice is gateway to the Cote d'Azur, one of the most beautiful coastlines of the Mediterranean, with narrow sandy beaches and dramatic cliffs. While well-developed for tourism, many areas of the coast are not quite as crowded as metropolitan nice itself, and quiet afternoons in open-air cafes can be found in Cannes, St-Tropez, and Cap-Martin.

The Cote d'Azur is ideal for a waterfront resort escape and hobnobbing with the international jetset, but also perfectly combinable with Provence or even the calmer Italian Riviera. Monaco is worth a special trip from France, the little principality dramatically embraced by cliffs coming down to meet the sea. It features one of the best opera houses in Europe, and its casino is known everywhere as The Casino. Staying in the central district of Monte Carlo is pricey and posh, but there are more modest options as well above and alongside the main downtown. Easily accessible from Nice. Alsace is a northeastern region of the French countryside with a discrete culture, cuisine, and tradition, heavily influenced since the Middle Ages by what is now Germany. Nearby Lorraine offers more of a mix of French and German influences, but both regions are crowned with numerous reminders of the conflict between the two cultures and countries - huge medieval fortifications and modern battle sites. It is beautifully forested and ideal for history buffs. A favorite city is Strasbourg on the Rhine, with wonderful restaurants.