Anniversary in Paris - September 2018

I think you'll need 3 nights in Normandy if you want to see both the WWII / D-Day areas and Mont St Michel, because the two are not all that near to each other that there's a lot to see. You'll want a rental car for that portion of your trip. Given the general advice against driving while jetlagged, I suggest you see Paris first, then head out to Normandy when you're acclimated to not only the time zone but also the language, currency, etc.

At Mont St Michel, many people recommend getting a room on the mainland with a view of the mont instead of sleeping on the mont itself. In the D-Day area, we very much liked the Hotel Logis du Casino in Vierville-sur-Mer. (There is no casino, that's just the name of the hotel chain.) It is right on the beach with great picture windows. The breakfast croissants were heavenly.

For rental car pickup & dropoff, the airports are better than any location in Paris itself because the latter requires navigating in city traffic, stressful and not fun. If your flight back to the US is in the morning, turn in your car at the airport the night before and sleep in an airport hotel (one that provides shuttle service).

I agree that it would likely be better to stay in Paris for the first 3 nights. It will allow you a bit of time to explore the city, although with so few days you'll barely scratch the surface.

Then head to Normandy. You can rent a car and drive from Orly, or take the train to Caen and pick up the car there.

There are plenty of charming small towns either on the coast or a few km inland. We stayed in a lovely little hotel on the beach at Courseulles sur Mer because we were more interested on the Canadian and British areas. Many people stay instead in Bayeux. It's a very nice town that really should be appreciated for more than its D DAY museum and, of course the Bayeux tapestry. Two nights should be sufficient. You might want to look at joining an all day D Day tour. The guides are very knowledgeable, and they are definitely a great value.

I also agree that staying on the mainland, within sight of MSM is a good idea. Some of my favorite photos were taken from the road that goes to the Mont, just after sunset, with the lights shining on the walls .

Drop off the car before returning to Paris for your last night. If your flight is in the afternoon or evening, I'd stay in Paris. If it's in the morning, stay by the airport.

Just got home from our third time to Paris. What a wonderful city! We stayed on the Ile St. Louis on our second trip and loved that location. The Hotel Lutece was where we stayed and it put us in a great spot. There was a great bakery with almond croissants right down the street where we grabbed a bite every morning on our way out. We purposely did not take a Metro anywhere as we wanted to see the city as we walked, get some good exercise and eat those croissants without guilt. We had seen the sights on our first trip so that was not pressing for us to do. We love to sit in the beautiful garden at the back of Notre Dame, enjoy the flowers and people watch. Take the Seine River cruise ( called Vedettes du Pont Neuf) at night around 9 -it will take you right by the Eiffel Tower just as the sun is setting and the flickering lights come on and its a sight to behold-really inexpensive and so worth the 14 euros or so that it costs. We attended 2 concerts while there-one at Notre Dame and the other at Saint Chapelle- and they were outstanding.
We went to Normandy on the front end of a Paris trip 2 years ago. We stayed in Bayeux and took an Overlord American tour from Hotel Churchill and were so pleased with it. We were surprised at how much we liked Bayeux-the tapestry, the cathedral- a charming town. We drove to Mont St Michel and stayed on the island for one night-a bucket trip goal that was so special. Never will forget walking the island after the tour groups left and having it all to ourselves.
If you rent a car like we did-turned it in when we got to Paris-I would suggest you go to the MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN FRANCE website. You can drive through so many of these if you are in a car as you go from one place to another in France and their charm is captivating. I was so glad to know how many of these were scattered around on roads we were traveling as we went from Paris to Normandy to Mont St Michel.
Have a great trip-just celebrated our 44th anniversary! Congrats to you!

I would start in the countryside. Take a train to Bayeux the day of arrival and book an all day tour of the beaches the next day; we used overlord. You could take a van trip from the Churchill hotel to Mont St Michel the following day. Or you could pick up a rental car in Caen. By starting in NOrmandy you don't have the rush back to the airport the day before your flight but are in Paris for the flight home. You use jet lag day to get to your furthest destination.

With only 7 nights it is a shame to only have 4 and 3 days for Paris but you have to decide your priorities.

I'm tempted to agree with those who have suggested starting in Bayeux and finishing the trip in Paris. That way you're already within reach of the airport when it comes time to go home. I hate moving hotels. so would find it a nuisance to finish the trip with a single night (assuming something like a noon flight home). On the other hand I get over jet lag better if I'm out walking around rather than taking a long train ride. So that's a reason to put Paris at the beginning of your trip.

We were in Normandy for five nights in 2013 (stayed in La Reine Mathilde in Bayeux) and in Paris for eight nights in April 2018. In Normandy we took the two-day American tour with Dale Booth and found it fabulous. He has a B & B, too, if you want to stay in the countryside.

For activities in Paris it all depends on your interests. This website has suggestions - read up on the sites mentioned and decide which ones appeal to you most. In two or three days you will get a sampling of the city (don't try to do it all, you will be exhausted).
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary

Check out the trip reports to see how others have filled their days. Search for France, Normandy, or Paris:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports

Have a great time!

Thank you all very much for the feedback! I'm inclined once we land to head right to Normandy and spend a few nights there. That way we'd return to spend our anniversary in Paris on Sunday 9/9. We'll also be closer to the airport for our flight home Monday mid-day.

We land around 8am Monday morning and suspect we'll get to Bayeux before too late in the afternoon. Would you definitely suggest a guided tour as opposed to self-tour for the WWII sites and beaches? Would we not be able to tackle some of the sites Monday afternoon, then take our time Tuesday to see the rest and enjoy Bayeux?

I know we're restricting ourselves only staying 7 nights. We obviously want to maximize our time in Paris. With the Parisian sites at the top of our list, does the following make sense:

• Monday + Tuesday nights in Normandy
• Wednesday drive to see MSM, then back to Paris
• Wednesday - Sunday nights in Paris

I understand Monet's home in Giverny is an easy stop en route to Bayeux. Are there any other worthwhile stops along the way?

If you do your homework you can definitely do the beaches on your own but we, who generally dislike and don't do tours, really appreciated not having to do this ourselves -- we visited Omaha and Utah,Pointe du Hoc, the airborne museum, the American cemetery and a couple of important small towns. It was a full day and well done.

Thank you, Janet. We're not huge tour people either but by the sounds of it, this might be a good place to make an exception. The description on Overlord for the full-day tour including the sites you mention check just about all of the boxes on our list. With that in mind, perhaps we drive to Bayeux Monday, enjoy the town and a meal Monday evening, then spend all of Tuesday doing the full-day tour.

That'll keep us on track to see MSM Wednesday then making it back for 5 nights in Paris.

Some people have written in that they don't recommend driving while jet lagged, so you might consider the train to your accommodations in Normandy.

The train to Normandy stops in Vernon, a 15-minute bus ride from Giverny. So you could get off and take a later train to your final destination, where you could pick up a rental car the next morning if you decide to go the self-guided route.

I spent two and a half hours in Monet's Garden and didn't have time to see Monet's house. It's very crowded, but as Rick Steves says, "go if you love Monet more than you hate crowds."

Good to know about the train option, Marty, and Monet's house. If the crowds get to be too much of an annoyance, it'll be an easy site to pass on.

Where do you live Dan? With so much to see, you'll want to beat jet lag as much as you can right away. I just came back from 10 days in France and I live on PST. My strategy was about 12 days before the trip to start waking up 30 minutes earlier every day or every other day, until I was up at 4:30 am for about 3 days before the trip. I was adjusting my body clock to East Coast time, which shortened the "time difference" for me. I woke up at 4 on the day of my 2:30 pm flight so that when it was 6 pm or so, I was tired enough to just go to sleep... We also used miles to spring for business class seats. Very worth it if you want to get a good amount of sleep on the plane so you're ready to go when you hit the ground... Enjoy! Sounds like a lovely itinerary...