I went to Giverny last month and thoroughly enjoyed my day outing, especially the walk from Monet's home to the Hotel Baudy where we had lunch. Took a taxi back to Vernon, stopping at the castle and old mill on the Seine. Giverny/Vernon has a wonderful website where you can plan your day: www.giverny.org I wasn't sure that I wanted to go there since it wasn't spring, but the website assured me that there would be lots in bloom, and so there was. And it was great to get out of Paris and into the countryside, and very easy by train from Gare St Lazare in Paris.

I was in Paris last March with a friend. My friend had lived there in the past, so we didn't need to be with a tour group. Paris is an easy city to get around. The weather was cool, bright and sunny. We rented a tiny studio apartment (two of us)in the 1st arrondissement through myparisvisit.com. We had a great experience with them. Having an apartment is great because you can have some of your meals there, you have more space (although ours was the size of a large walk-in closet!). We were in a less touristy area and we really felt like Parisians for a week -- not that any true Parisians ever mistook us for anything but tourists! There was a boulangerie downstairs as well as a fabulous restaurant. We could smell the cooking and saw the fresh food being delivered. We could look out our window and see the real Paris -- not the Eiffel Tower which is so touristy. Fine to see it in the distance, but going there once in a lifetime is enough. Lots of vendors selling plastic replicas, etc. The Parisians were very friendly and helpful. Many speak English and were tolerant of our fractured French. It helps to be close to a metro stop. It is easy to use and gets you where you're going quickly. It's also a great Paris experience. The big train stations are different -- huge and confusing. We took the train from CDG airport to Les Halles and I thought we'd never find our way out of there, especially dragging luggage. Big tip -- pack light!!! I got SO much info from the Paris Forum on Trip Advisor. The only downside to that forum is they spend too much time talking about pickpockets and scams. Just use your common sense as you would in any city. Someone tried the "gold ring" scam on us and it was actually comical. I can't wait to get back to France. I want to see more of Paris and travel around, too. I am even taking French lessons. Here is a link that might be useful: trip advisor

We are not yet thinking to go into scrapbooking business now, but I have 2 friends who try to let to know scrapbooking in our area. They teach and they have many people interested (about 50 ) and it is growing up every day. It is a first step... they had papers on local news and one of them will have a broadcast program on a local radio by the end of march. we 'll had a demonstration day in a craft shop in april, I made my site, but it is still local. It is why we try to find french people in other part of France. One of my friend will organise scrapbooking week-end for people coming outside from Lyon very soon, but we need to have a real scrapbookers community before to do a real bussiness. but maybe things can go very fast. For my own, I keep doing my computer engineer job and scrapbooking at nigth! Thank you for your advice :-)

If you decide to use Nice as a portal city, don't overlook the old town (Vieux Nice) before you head out to the hills. Nearby Villefranche Sur Mer and Eze were recommended in the thread and are very nice. Villefranche is nice because it is just 4 km from Nice but has a small village feel. Off in the hills, we're quite enjoying St. Paul de Vence and Tourrettes sur Loup, although the former is mighty touristy. If you don't have a car, these towns may feel a bit more remote. Aix-en-Provence is very nice, but not a small village, as is Nimes and Arles. Best reached via TGV from Paris or via Marseilles. St. Tropez is also very nice, and I loved our stay at the Chateau de la Messardieres one trip about 7 years ago.