Help me plan my French Adventure?

[NiceGoblet]

Hello

I'm a penny pinching student planning a treat of a trip to France to celebrate finishing my postgrad studies. I've travelled around the north of France by car, alone, and it was the best thing I have ever done. Now I would like to do something similar in the south and need some planning advice to keep the cost down.

I would like to see the following:
Marseille
Aix-en-Provence
Verdon
Saint-Tropez (could drop this)
Cannes
Antibes
Nice
Monaco

This sounds like a lot but I don't mean I would like a short stay in each of these places, a drive through/a day to explore would suffice and my stay overs could be in less expensive areas nearby.

The obvious way to do it would be to rent a car, this would cost about £250 for the week with picking up and dropping off at different locations, or around £150 for pick up/drop off same location (flying to nimes/Marseille and renting car from there). Another option would be for me to take the Chunnel and drive over from Calais with stop offs planned, obviously. Or to fly over, relatively cheaply, to Marseille and get the train from there but miss out several spots.

How would you plan this if you were: a) poor b) determined and c) happy to rough it?

I would camp. France does campsites well & there are some awesome ones on the French Riviera. It's a lovely part of the world. Nice a definite must and I would also add Vence to your itinerary, beautiful town with a chapel designed by Matisse. Cannes is worth a look for the opulent glamour. I quite liked Saint Tropez but it's quite small, you wouldn't need more than a few hours excursion there.

I never even thought of camping! Great suggestion, thank you, will look into it! Vence is definitely on my list, as are a few more places north of Nice and near Verdon. All places I'd be happy with a morning/afternoon walk around though, no real necessity to stay over.

If it's your first time at Paris, you'll probably want to spend some time at the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and Notre-Dame, but don't miss out on lesser-known jewels like the Musée Rodin, the Musée de l'Orangerie, and lots of markets. Conjure the spirit of Amélie and rent a scooter (€69 for one day). Don't get distracted by the dishy waiter who's a dead ringer for Mathieu Kassovitz and head to the Wall of Love in Place des Abbesses, right next to the Abbesses Metro stop. A work of art by Frédéric Baron, it's over 600 tiles imprinted with the words 'I love you' in all the languages of the world. And don't forget about the Eiffel Tower . Look on this beauty worldcams.tv/sights/eiffel-tower .

U don't have to be rich for travelling but it also better to make a little research on this theme and plan your time wisely.

book airline tickets ahead, look for cheap airlines, rent a bike