Have 2 weeks in April Paris, MsM, Loire Valley, then Nice to Paris and Alsace too much?

With such a short amount of time, I would definitely skip Nice. Although I really love Alsace, I'm not sure you have enough time for it, unless you want to spend much of your time in trains. I would suggest looking at the. bahn.com website to plot out how long it's going to take you to get between all these destinations by train. In my experience, most trains are routed through Paris, so some trips take longer than I expect. You will lose one-half day to a full day of touring time each time you change locations.

okay thanks. do you think i should rent a car for the trips? is it a hassle for an american or does it go smoothly? if i go to the loire valley it is very spread out and we may want a tour if we dont have a car ive read. alsace is where great
great people are from so i wanted to got there to visit. maybe with a car we can manage all trips.

Bird, if you are really only going to see MSM in Normandy then you only need to stay overnight for a good visit; in that case if you are nimble you could fit in 5 regions. But I think you'd have a better trip with only 4, so save Nice for another time. And maybe consider some other stops in Normandy; 2 nights in Bayeux or Honfleur would be great.

A car would be very helpful for much of this itinerary, but you might consider renting 2 of them, one to get about in Normandy and the Loire, and another for Alsace if you want to see the smaller towns (or not, there are buses and the car thing can be a hassle). It's a long drive from Amboise to Colmar.

Great idea for the car. I would like to see the dday beaches and a museum in that area prior to MsM. The more I read the more Im seeimg the touristy -ness of MsM. I do t know if we want that. May be better if we go right to the Loire valley. I think we will stay north of the Loire this trip thanks!

Nice may no longer be part of your plan, but I also didn't understand why Paris was repeated before Alsace; it's not the route of the most direct trains from Nice to Alsace. From the Loire valley to Alasace, it is also nice to avoid train connections in Paris, which would also require changing stations. There are a couple of direct TGV trains per day from St-Pierre-des-Corps to Strasbourg. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.

Regarding your concerns that MSM is too touristy – I think it's easy to write it off that way if one makes no effort to really experience the place, and I think a lot of people do exactly that. They just march through with the hoards.

I think it's one of the most beautiful and most spiritually moving places I've been. You'd be going in the spring, before the start of tourist season,which will help. Also, there's a path to the monastery along the ramparts that allows you to completely avoid the shops, if you want to do that. In addition, the monastic community that's in residence there welcomes visitors to their sung liturgies. And it's a community that is particularly known for the beauty of their liturgy. If you want information about them you can check their website – the monastic fraternities of Jerusalem. The website lists all of their churches, so just click the link to MSM. They have one quiet day a week during which there are no public liturgies; I believe it's on Mondays. If you go, it's definitely worth staying on the island and enjoying it when it's lit after dark.

Okay thats an angle of MsM that I had not looked into. The rooms im seeing though are very expensive so i dont think we will stay kn the mount. Regarding the no stop thru Paris to Alsace. looks like we can take the train directly . I thought we needed to go thru Paris. BTW we have an apt in Paris for the 15 days. That will be our homebase. Its parallel to Rue Cler on Rue Duvelier. In Arris. 7 . We rented it through VRBO. Thanks to all for your INVALUABLE INFORMATION! YOU GUYS ROCK!
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So you are paying for an apartment in Paris for 15 days but will only be using it for 5 or 6 ? Personally, I would just enjoy 15 nights in Paris and avoid all the rushing around. Loire could be an overnight with bus tour, as could Normandy -- and/or day trip to Giverny, Chartres, Fontainbleu (all day-trips still on my to-do list after four trips to Paris.) But everyone has different travel style.