France Road Trip

Buy timed-entry tickets online weeks ahead - the line without them wraps around the building. The Hall of Mirrors is the showstopper: 357 mirrors reflecting 357 windows. Go through the State Apartments and Marie Antoinette's bedchamber. The audio guide is actually worth it here - the stories of court intrigue are wild. Tuesday is closed. Arrive at opening (9am) or after 3pm when tour groups leave.

800 hectares of geometric perfection. On weekends from April to October, the Musical Fountains Show (Grandes Eaux Musicales) runs - every fountain choreographed to Baroque music. It costs extra but it's extraordinary. Rent a rowboat on the Grand Canal. The Orangerie in the south parterre houses 1,500 trees in massive silver planters, exactly as Louis XIV wanted.

Walk past the Grand and Petit Trianon to reach the Hameau - a fake rustic village Marie Antoinette had built so she could play at being a shepherdess. There's a working farm, a thatched cottage, a lake with swans. It's strange and beautiful and tells you everything about why the revolution happened. Most visitors skip it because it's a 20-minute walk from the palace. That's exactly why you should go.

The largest château in the Loire Valley and one of the most recognizable buildings in France. 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, a double-helix staircase possibly designed by Leonardo da Vinci - two people can walk up and down simultaneously without ever meeting. The rooftop terrace is a forest of towers, chimneys, and dormers. Francis I built it as a hunting lodge. A hunting lodge with 440 rooms. The surrounding 5,400-hectare estate is the largest enclosed park in Europe. Morning light is spectacular.

The 'Ladies' Castle' - built, expanded, and saved by a succession of remarkable women. It spans the River Cher on graceful arches, and the gallery above the river was used as an escape route during WWII (the north bank was occupied France, the south bank was free). Catherine de Medici's and Diane de Poitiers' rival gardens face each other across the castle. The flower arrangements inside are changed weekly. Arrive early - this is the most visited château after Versailles.

Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years at Clos Lucé, a manor house 500 meters from the Château d'Amboise. The interactive museum has full-scale models built from his sketches. An underground tunnel supposedly connected the two - so Francis I could visit Leonardo whenever he wanted. Amboise itself is a charming town above the Loire. Have lunch overlooking the river.

Vouvray (sparkling and still Chenin Blanc), Chinon (elegant Cabernet Franc), Sancerre (if you detour east). Stop at a domaine - many offer free tastings with no pressure to buy, though you will want to. The cave dwellings (troglodyte houses) carved into the limestone cliffs are unique to this region. Some are now wine cellars, some are homes, some are restaurants.

One of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France' and it earns the title. Stone houses cascade down a cliff face, the Renaissance castle sits at the summit, and the view across the Luberon valley looks like a Cézanne painting because it literally inspired Cézanne. The village itself takes an hour to walk, but you'll want half a day - morning light on the eastern face, afternoon light on the west. Tuesday is market day. Park in the lower lots and walk up; the streets are medieval-narrow.

The 12th-century Cistercian abbey sits in a valley with lavender fields running right up to its walls. Peak bloom is late June to mid-July - outside that window, the fields are either green stubs or brown harvested rows, still photogenic but not the purple sea you've seen in photos. The monks still live here. Visits of the abbey interior are by guided tour only. Early morning or late afternoon for the best light and no tour buses.

Roussillon is built on ochre cliffs - the buildings themselves are every shade from pale yellow to deep rust red. Walk the Sentier des Ocres (Ochre Trail) through surreal eroded canyons of red and orange earth. Bonnieux is quieter, perched on a hillside with views to the Marquis de Sade's castle at Lacoste across the valley. The D943 and D36 between these villages are some of the most beautiful driving roads in southern France, lined with umbrella pines and cherry orchards.

Every village has a market day. Gordes on Tuesday, Roussillon on Thursday, Apt on Saturday (the biggest in the Luberon). Stalls selling socca (chickpea flatbread), tapenades, honeys infused with lavender, hand-milled soaps, local rosé by the glass. This isn't farmers-market-as-Instagram-prop. Locals do their actual grocery shopping here. Arrive before 10am. Bring a basket and cash.

The cable car rises 2,807 meters in 20 minutes - one of the highest vertical ascents in the world. At the top (3,842m), you step onto a glass-floored viewing platform over a 1,000-meter drop. Mont Blanc is so close you feel you could touch it. The Step into the Void glass box is genuinely terrifying. Bring warm layers - it's below freezing at the summit even in July. Book the first car of the day (8:10am in summer) to beat the crowds and get the clearest skies.

Get off the Aiguille du Midi cable car at the midway station (Plan de l'Aiguille, 2,317m) and hike the Grand Balcon Sud trail to Montenvers. The entire Mont Blanc massif stretches out before you - glaciers, seracs, granite needles. The trail is well-marked and moderate difficulty, but you're at altitude, so take it steady. Marmots scatter across the rocks. The Mer de Glace glacier at Montenvers has retreated dramatically - the markers showing where the ice reached in past decades are sobering.

Chamonix is a proper mountain town, not a resort village. Climbers, trail runners, paragliders, and tourists share the cobbled streets. The Rue des Moulins has gear shops, wine bars, and restaurants with terraces facing Mont Blanc. The Arve River runs through the center. Wednesday and Saturday mornings have an open market with Savoyard cheeses (Reblochon, Beaufort, Tomme), charcuterie, and local honey. Evening: find a terrace with alpenglow on Mont Blanc - the summit turns pink, then violet, then gone.

The cogwheel train from Chamonix climbs to Montenvers (1,913m) to see the Mer de Glace - France's largest glacier. A gondola and 400+ steps (they add more each year as the ice drops) take you to an ice cave carved into the glacier. The glacier has lost 70 meters of thickness since 1990. The Glaciorium museum tells the story. It's a beautiful and increasingly urgent visit.