France in January

How many nights will you sleep in FR? You need six nights to see Paris and that does not include day trips. Dragging around four people means everyone must pack light and be a good sport about train delays that occur more frequently in the winter, especially if a connection is involved.
If you’re flying in and out of Paris stay in Paris at the end of your trip. There is a direct train from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to Strasbourg (2h) but not many. There are no direct trains from Strasbourg to Bayeux (Normandy) and will take a full day. Skip Normandy which is an outlier.

As stated.I would do one or the other either Strasbourg and Paris or Normandy and Paris. We went by train from.Bayeau to St. Avold in the East and it took.about six hours and I think we had to change train stations so you don't want to use a whole.day doing that. Since you can get a train from the airport to Strasburg I would probably do that. Enjoy France whatever you decide.

Normandy beaches in January? Dear Lord, just shoot me now. I agree with the others. Stick to Strasbourg and Paris.

Where in Normandy do you want to go? I am asking because public transportation in Normandy is not great and Normandy covers a lot of possible places, some of which are easier to explore with public transportation than others.

Thank you to all of you! My son is an history buff and would like to see some the D-Day stuff. I am still trying to read up on this. I do understand public transportation is challenging. Would having a tour guide make it easier. i am still very fluid on my itinerary and looking for ideas!

I think that you should go to Strasbourg as planned and then comeback to Paris and then do a day trip tour for the D-Day stuff. It will be a long day but it will be IMO the most efficient way to see the items on your agenda. Take a look at Overlord Tours. They have a full day tour that requires an overnight stay in Bayeux because the tour starts the before the first train from Paris arrives. My niece and her husband did that tour and loved it but they also have done a half day tour which might work really well for your group if the plan is to see a couple of sites. My relatives are WWII (military history) buffs so they went back and did a one-day tour about a year or so after doing and loving the half day tour. Click on Tours from Paris under the Our Tours dropdown and you will see the options for a full or half day tour that coordinates with the trains to and from Paris. An organized tour is definitely the way to go IMO if you will not have a car of your own.
On another note, I would want to be in Paris the night before Day 8 and not have to get from Normandy to Paris on Day 8.

Edit: I just checked and the full day tour is offered only offered between March and October which makes sense because the days are short and the demand is probably not there.

Did you ever get to Strasbourg for Christmas 2019? If so you'll know the weather there. I can say that it will be lots better there than in Normandy.

I get the teen's desire to go to Normandy for the D-Day experience. You've been told of the obnoxious weather up there on the Channel in January, and I'll chime in with the wind and rain because of the storms in the Channel in January and February.

But you know the family better than we do, and if you want to go anyway, go. I think you'll need a car - and all that entails - because the guides and museums will mostly be shut down and you'll need to explore on your own.

It is nice to field questions from some of our long-term Forum (ex-Helpline) members. I hope it all works out well for you.