First time visitor to France with Adult Children

Start with a quick survey and/or your knowledge about what the interests are that your adult children have. Make sure everyone on the trip gets some of their top interests addressed in your planning. What do they think is important for this trip? For example, my daughter-in-law loves flea markets. I could go my whole life without visiting one. When we are traveling together we always schedule in flea market or thrift store time. Everyone in the travel party deserves to have a favorite activity included!

I don’t know if budget matters, but Paris is expensive. I would definitely split my time between Paris and Normandy. Some days in Paris and then train to Bayeux. From here day trip operators provide tours of D day sites as well as day tours to Mont St-Michel. You could rely on public transport/day tours.

Try a Rick Steves travel guid? Always worked for us early on in Europe. Assuming you may pay for your entire family…..ask them to do research. You have a busy schedule even with most tentative plans. Two weeks in France will go by in a flash.

On to Paris in a few days ourselves...we will do a train day trip to Normandy...early train, arrange guide & transportation to meet us in Caen & take a late train back to Paris. We are going with our adult kids & grandkids...they can sleep on the train.
We are also spending a full day at Versailles & half a day at Giverny.

Thought about linking the Normandy trip to a day trip visit to Bayeux & Mont-Saint-Michel, but the bucket list of Paris wouldn't allow the time.
Spend the rest of the time getting lost in Paris museums, churchs, towers, parks, eatting & Harry's.
Enjoy

WE took our adult kids to Paris when they were in their 20s -- rented an apartment in the Marais (it was slightly less tourist ridden then) and our son brought his girlfriend. For us the key to a good family trip is the chance to spend quality time one on one (we didn't all live in the same city). So on many days we split up in pairs or threes and everyone got to do the things they most wanted to do -- sometimes all 5 of us were together and almost always for dinner -- we did Christmas dinner in the apartment. THe shops are full of wonderful treats -- main course was a boned duck stuffed with pate prepared for the oven by the butcher and the dessert looked like an architect had designed it.

Paris is a great city for indoor activities if weather is bad and glorious outdoors when it is bright. If folks are into music -- the Opera is wonderful -- we just saw Rusulka last night at the Bastille house which is our favorite house. The Philharmonie building is itself a destination and you can catch a variety of types of concerts in their main hall. Last time we did that it was Beethoven's 9th.

If you arrange you week in Paris to run mostly Mon-Sun everyone can get Navigo Decouverte weekly passes and zip around the ile de France for that one 30 or so Euro pass. I'd do Normandy first and rent a car and finish in Paris so you are there for the trip home and don't waste your last day getting back to Paris for the flight. Re Chateaux. There is Vincennes in Paris -- an old fashioned castle with keep and rampart. An easy train ride with your weekly pass is Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte while a bit more complicated to reach -- probably train and cab, is fabulous. (there are also Rambouillet, Sceaux, Ecouen and Malmaison nearby and in Paris the gorgeous old Hotel de la Marine.

Thanks for all the helpful information. Anybody have suggestions on apartment rentals in Paris?