France & Italy in Summer 2010

[Khurram]

I had planned a trip to Europe for late 2008 early 2009, but ended up having to reschedule, since I changed jobs.

I'd like to plan a shorter trip for the summer of 2010 to France and Italy.  In particular I'd like to try and be in Paris during Basitlle day (July 14), as well as make a trip to Venice.

I'd appreciate some suggestions on what other cities woud be the best options if I've only got two weeks and want to spend 4 days in paris and 3-4 days in Venice.  I'd also appreciate advice on where to fly in from Canada:
-London - take train to paris (would probably spend 3 days in London with this option)
-Paris
-Italy option

[francois]

I had planned a trip to Europe for late 2008 early 2009, but ended up having to reschedule, since I changed jobs.

I'd like to plan a shorter trip for the summer of 2010 to France and Italy.  In particular I'd like to try and be in Paris during Basitlle day (July 14), as well as make a trip to Venice.

I'd appreciate some suggestions on what other cities woud be the best options if I've only got two weeks and want to spend 4 days in paris and 3-4 days in Venice.  I'd also appreciate advice on where to fly in from Canada:
-London - take train to paris (would probably spend 3 days in London with this option)
-Paris
-Italy option

For your filght options: beware of Air France (and french airports) strikes, they tend to stop working for any possible reason just for the summer vacation rush (around July 14th).

[Lisa Nikodym]

It's not a city, but in between Paris & Venice are... the Alps!  It would be a nice change to have a few days of gorgeous (and highly accessible) mountains in between the cities, rather than just yet another city.  You can easily take trains from Paris to the Alps, and from the Alps to Venice (I just did the latter a couple of weeks ago).  I'd recommend Chamonix, Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen, or Zermatt.  On the other hand, if you're a strictly city person and don't care for mountain/glacier landscapes, ignore this suggestion.

I've had bad luck with Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.  It's just about the most poorly organized, dysfunctional airport I've ever been through.  On the other hand, going through Heathrow/London and taking a ferry or Chunnel train adds a lot of travel time (unless you want to see London too), and Heathrow security people are quite draconian when it comes to enforcing carry-on rules.

Lisa

P.S.  You realize that in summer Venice is hot, smelly and intensely packed with tourists?  It's a wonderful and unique place, but you have to not be bothered by crowds if you go in summer rather than winter.

P.P.S.  The most usable and complete European train schedule web site I've found is Germany's Deutschbahn website, www.bahn.de .  Very easy to plan trains all over Europe using it.

[francois]

To complement Lisa's suggestions about the Alps, you could fly from Newark (NJ) to Geneva (Switzerland). Paris is just 3h1/2 away from Geneva and you could probably find some cheap flights to Venice (ex:  https://www.flybaboo.com/destinations/map-2.html ).