As with most places in the states, spring is a transition time in France. It’s warm enough to shed a layer or two, but not enough to lose them all.

On our trip from the northern end of France to the southern tip, I relied on layers and layers to get me through. I read ahead of time that the French love their neutrals. I can confirm now that that’s completely accurate, especially in Paris. Chic neutrals are definitely the way to go.

We traveled from Normandy down to the south of France and experienced all kinds of climates in between. Here’s what I packed to wear:

Sweaters to layer

I’m certain I’ve already mentioned these sweater-blazers a dozen times, but they were seriously the stars of my suitcase on this trip. I brought the heather khaki, black, and ivory and wore them all multiple times. They’re the perfect pieces to layer, and they serve as a chic way to add a jacket without having to pack a big, bulky one. It is definitely chilly enough to warrant a light jacket, especially at night. It was in the 60’s and low 70’s during the day and 50’s in the evening fairly consistently.

Belts to cinch

I packed two of my wide belts to wear over my sweater-blazers: one textured brown and one black. I wore them over a dress or jeans and it was like adding instant style – and coziness. 

Denim

I also brought a few pairs of my favorite dark skinny jeans (one tailored for flats and one for heels) and a pair of white cropped boot-cut pants I bought recently at J. Crew. I sized up since white pants can be a bit thin. These are thicker, which is fabulous.

Tops

For the tops, I went with a few Breton striped 3/4 length tops by Saint James, two Emerson Fry tops, and several white cotton poplin ones (one of my favorite seersucker ones). You can’t go wrong with any of these really. They worked well by themselves and underneath one of the sweater-blazers as you can see below.

I loved my outfit for the plane ride over. It was put-together and so, so comfortable. You can read about what I wore over during our red eye flight in my earlier post.

Dresses for day and night

Of course, a few dresses made it into my suitcase. Since we were spending several days in the south of France, I packed the vintage Lilly Pulitzer dress in this post that I snagged at the Tuckernuck sample sale earlier in the year. I also packed two glam dresses for going out in Paris and Monaco.

I always bring a few cotton dresses when I travel for touring. I’m glad I did this time around since Bordeaux was experiencing seasonally high temps while we were there.

Shoes

For my shoes, I packed simply. A pair of Loeffler Randall wedges (similar), my Jack Rogers platinum sandals, a pair of nude block heel mules from Tuckernuck, and my white Tretorn’s for daily touring. I wore those Treton tennies almost every day.

I also packed some roll-able ballet flats that my sweet friend, Tristin, gave me years ago. You could also pack Rothy’s or Tieks. My thought was that I’d pack them in my evening clutch on our way to dinner, thinking that I’d change out of my wedges and into them if the weather was nice and we wanted to walk through Paris on our way back to the hotel. Just like DC! I actually didn’t end up using them though.

I brought one set of workout clothes that I was ready to launder if I needed to. My plan was to let my Tretorn’s play double duty as my workout tennies so as not to take up unnecessary space in my suitcase. As expected, we ended up walking so much and soaking up the cities we were in that we didn’t have time for even a quick run!

Other necessary items

I brought a one-piece swimsuit (my favorite style is the Anne Marie by Solid and Striped – here’s one that’s similar to the one I have).

My only regret this time around was that I had space for one bag: my black Henri Bendel clutch that I’ve had for ages. It’s compact yet forgiving when it comes to how many items you can fit in there.

I have to say that my friend, Tristin, totally saved me this time around on a carry-on bag. I had been all over ShopBop, J. Crew, and so many other sites to find a chic straw or rattan bag that zipped to keep my valuables out of sight, but was still big enough to hold my camera and everything else. She answered the call and was so kind to lend me her large black Longchamp. C’est parfait!

Bon voyage!

This post contains affiliate links, but all are tried and true Magnolia Stripes favorites.