When to go to France?

[lynnerself]

I didn't want to hijack the other Europe thread.
We are going to France in 2012. What time of year would you suggest? We want to go to Paris, some of the wine country and down to the Med.
When should we go to save money and avoid crowds but still have nice weather? Spring or fall?

And how far out should we start looking for airline tickets?

[ziyia]

DH and I went to Montpellier (in the south of France) in late June last year, and it was lovely. Paris was crowded, but Paris is always crowded. If you want to travel in the Loire Valley, the wine harvest is in early fall, so that's a great time to go. And the weather in September is also beautiful.

[msgumby]

we were deciding between france and italy, and ended up going to italy. But we researched a bit about france and found february and march to be the cheapest (not necessarily best) time to go.

[pinkbow832]

Paris is the springtime is absolutely amazing- I've gone several times at the end of March, and the weather was pretty decent. It was usually in the mid-high 50s, sunny, flowers blooming, and not too crowded. Added bonus is being in Europe during the Easter season with the fabulous chocolates, marzipan, and sugar candies mmmmmmmmmm!!!

If I remember correctly, schools/universities in France (and Europe in general) start later than in the US- more toward the end of September. Early October would be a great time to visit as well, and the weather should still be decent in Paris and not overwhelmingly hot in the south.

I would love to take a trip and rent a car from Paris and drive down the Loire Valley. I went on a trip with my French class in high school, and it was great, but I think I would enjoy it a lot more now.

Where are you thinking about going in the south?

[gs11rmb]

May-June or September-October. Paris gets seriously cold (and often wet) in the winter and July and August can be really hot and crowded.

[constanz22]

The climate is pretty similar to that of Virginia/Pennsylvania. I spent a year in France as an exchange student and found the weather to be very similar to "home" (PA) just not as much snow. The country goes "on holiday" for pretty much the whole month of August, so, you will find it difficult to do many things during that time, as well as find any resort areas (like the south of France) very crowded. I would say late spring/early summer would be ideal.

[Epiphany]

We went to Paris and Nice in September and it was perfect.