drive vs train to Giverny

You could pick up a rental car at CDG or at Mantes-de Jolie. I'd base it on how jet lagged you will be. Also, we had a rental car while in Rouen as part of a larger trip. We found a 24 hour parking garage and just left our car parked while there. It worked out fine.
I liked having a car in that part of France; and it was easy to drive there.

Thanks! Yes we are definitely going to have a car. We plan to go to Normandy, Brittany and the Loire. We'll probably return the car in Tours and take a TGV into CDG. Had toyed with the idea of driving back to the airport but all the reports of car rental return hell convinced me otherwise.

I have returned a car to CDG and don't remember it being that difficult. Maybe I was just lucky, IDK. But keep in mind that returning a car to a different location often results in an extra charge. And if returning to CDG make sure you leave yourself a lot of time to deal with airport traffic. Plus, the drop-off hours may be longer at CDG than some more remote rental office. Always check hours regardless—particularly for pick up (drop-off can usually be done after hours, but document the car's condition with photos/video if you choose to do this).

Drive from CDG to Giverny is a bit over an hour and pretty straight forward after you leave the airport jumble. Google maps works very well there. Rental counters at 2E/2F can be a zoo depending upon arrivals and time of day.

There is an underground garage in Rouen (not cheap?) near the historic district. Pretty easy walk into where you wish to be. It is in Rick's guide.

Many thanks to all of you who responded and provided your input. I've reserved a car with Avis. I have their app and they have my information so theoretically I should just be able to go to their fast track location and my car will be there with the keys in it. Theoretically! I thought long and hard about taking a train out of CDG but we always seem to end up on the wrong side of the tracks and have to haul our luggage up and down the stairs again. I've managed to get out of Seattle, LA, Maui, Bordeaux and other airports in rentals and I can follow French road signs (generally) so I think I will be okay.
I am able to return the car in the Tours TGV station. Did not want to drive through Paris and to the airport. By turning the car in there I avoid the extra hour or two that would result in an added day charge for the rental and there wasn't a significant difference in cost with a different drop-off location. My understanding is that the TVG arrives at CDG so we should be able to find the Sheraton there.

This was my first hurdle in planning this trip. We are going to Giverny, Normandy, Brittany and the Loire so I am sure I will encounter more hurdles.

Thank you all again for getting me over this one.

Driving to Giverny on a Saturday morning will indeed be hassle-free, and the drive from CDG is short enough to be safe after the overnight flight (my limit is 1.5-2 hours).

2 nights is a long time in Giverny proper: make sure to tour the area! La Roche Guyon is not to be missed, and you could easily visit Château-Gaillard in Les Andelys as well.

Since you will be driving from Paris, I second the recommendation of stopping at La Roche-Guyon. Among other things, this was the headquarters for Field Marshall Erwin Rommel when he commanded the German forces in Normandy. It also has a wonderful high up view of the lower Seine River. On my way out of there, my GPS directed me to a small car ferry that crosses the river. Also, on your way out of Rouen, I highly recommend seeing Abbaye de Jumièges. This monastery was founded in 654, but the newer church was consecrated in 1067 when William the Conqueror returned from his successful invasion of England. It is now a wonderful ruin and a fascinating place to wander around. It is also en route from Rouen to the Battle of Normandy sites if you happen to be heading that way.

I second Pharmer Phil about the Abbe de Jumieges. Take the D982 from Rouen there. It is a beautiful drive along the Serine River. You pass through Villequier, where there is a small Victor Hugo Museum. We drove all the way to Bayeux on the D roads. Much, much nicer than the autoroute, no tolls, a bit slower, but well worth it. Have fun! Rouen is a great place to visit, as well!

OOPs! Abbaye, not Abbe! The Abbe would not be a pleasant sight after all this time!

Month of trip? Giverny is VERY crowded in season. But having rented a bike long ago to get from the train station, I'd use the car for your itinerary.

Make sure you check the exact days, hours, and 2-hour lunch hours of the Tours (or perhaps St Pierre des Corps) rental office. Take a screen shot.

I found it to be an easy drive. I would do it again without hesitation.

We will be travelling in early May. We arrive at CDG on a Wednesday at 8:05 AM. I have given us until 11:00 to jump through all the hoops and arrive at the Avis location in Terminal 2. We will need to stop in about an hour for lunch. La Roche-Guyon might be a little too far and big for that but it does look like a great place to stop and wander so thanks for the suggestion.

Any thoughts on where to stop for lunch? It seems like we will be driving on the bigger highway until La Roche Guyon so I'd be looking for an easy on easy off small, charming town with a good sit down restaurant. Is that too much to hope for? Just quickly looking at the map, I thought Saint Eustache might fit the bill and found a restaurant, Le Bouche A Oreille that sounded promising. Too many of the smaller towns near the airport only seemed to have fast food chain restaurants.

We are not driving on a Saturday as PharmPhil thought so I hope a weekday will not make it too difficult.

I plan on driving on the D roads as much as possible. Even getting a little lost on them is fun with serendipitous finds as a result.

As usual merci beaucoup for your collective assistance.

Please ignore the city I mentioned, Saint Eustache. Now when I look again the restaurant seems to be just before LRG. Sorry for the misinformation.

Just fyi...We always drive and prefer the D roads. We have found it helpful to get a Michelin paper map for the areas we will drive in. Looking at the "big" picture inspires and informs us about our adventure. I mark our routes taken with a marker and keep it as an aide-memoir, or souvenir of the trip. Just a thought. You can order them from Amazon. I don't think Barnes and Noble brick and mortar stores carry them anymore. Amusez-vous bien!

Instead of driving through the outskirts of Paris from CDG to Giverny you can take the N104 just at the northside of the airport to Cergy-Pontoise. The N104 also known as the Francilienne is the largest circular road around Paris and way lesser busy than those closer to the city center.

This way you can visit Auvers-sur-Oise, the town where Vincent van Gogh spent his last days. You can visit among other sites the Ravoux Inn where he stayed and his tomb next to the one of his brother Theo.

From Cergy-Pontoise you can take the A15 / D14 to Rouen and turn off to Guiry-en-Vexin and drive further through the lovely Vexin countryside to La Roche-Guyon and Giverny. The Vexin Region is a so called natural regonal park with the aim to protect it’s original character as much as possible. Other charming places there are Ambleville, Genainville, Omerville and so on. And as already noticed before La Roche-Guyon is not to miss.

It’s a longer route, but not that much and way more scenic and relaxing (Vexin is just local traffic) than the usual route through Paris where you can join the notorious traffic jams and stare at others tailpipe.

For following the D-roads you need a satnav or detailed roadmap like Judy remarks. For the bigger picture the Michelin “Red” maps are useful, for driving through the countryside I always rely on the Michelin “Yellow” maps. The latter gives much more detail, but cover smaller areas.

What Wil said.

Personally I like the IGN maps—especially the blue ones (1:25,000). The Orange "Normandy" Map is useful for Normandy overall when driving long distances (1:200,000 - 1 inch = 3.16 miles) , but when looking for small locations and little lanes or battle sites, the blue ones are preferable. However, they can be hard to find in the States.

I agree with Wil about taking the francilienne as far as Cergy and then cutting off to take the charming small roads through Guiry and Wy dit joli village on your way to La Roche- Guyon and then Giverny.

There is a roadside waffle stand in Guiry that might do for a light lunch. Even better would be the Auberge du Prieuré Normand in Gasny if the timing works out. It's probably best to reserve, even if you call only an hour or so ahead.

Such wonderful suggestions. Merci! I had been looking at the N104 and wondering about it. Will definitely plan on taking that. A visit to Auvers-sur-Oise will be on the itinerary.
I love looking at maps and then keeping them as souvenirs of our trips. I have the red France map for a general idea of things and then get the orange maps for the areas I plan to visit. I have found the yellow maps extremely useful but can rarely acquire one except in country and in the locality.
After leaving Giverny we will spend nights in Rouen so on our way back to Rouen we can spend a little more time exploring the countryside. From Rouen we go to coastal Normandy and the D-Day beaches and then to Brittany and then on to the Loire. I'm a little stalled in my trip planning at the moment as we are cat sitting and watching the Mariners.

Crumbs – Good you followed the same route and had a good experience. In the past I have proposed this several times here on the forum, but no one seemed to see it as a good alternative. Reluctance leaving the beaten path I guess.

Driving from Giverny to Rouen is as already mentioned by balso, Château Gaillard not to miss. The view of the ruins with Les Andelys and the Seine at the background is stunning. I went inside during my visit, but it doesn’t really add to the experience to my opinion. So I would skipp that.

Further a detour to charming Lyons-la-Forêt before arriving at Rouen should be to my opinon on your list too.

Our best trips have always been with the detailed road maps where a dolmen is indicated or a very old chapel or fountain that inspires us to go out of our way down a tiny departmental road to see it. The GPS has been useful and a life saver but it lacks the exploration and romance of the map.
We’ve been fortunate that for work use we always had a very large-scale complete atlas of France to use, where even houses in a hamlet were marked.

Thank you all again for the input and suggestions. I think this part of the trip is pretty well outlined and I am moving on now to our south Normandy portion. I will post questions about this on another thread on the forum.