Help Planning -- Paris - Normandy - Loire - Paris

no leave it as is; subtract as needed as you go through it when you get there

1. I would recommend paying close attention to where you rent and return the car in Paris for an easy exit/entrance out/in the city.
2. We took the Overlord DDAY 1/2 day tour and thought it was great. For some not enough but for us it was perfect and allowed exploration time of Bayeux (water wheel, cathedral, town)
3. We had a fun canoe trip on the Cher if you decide to do something different from balloon (see RS France) in Loire.
   
4. In Amboise the www.vinci-closluce.co Chateau de Close was fun even in the rain (lots of interactive outside for teens). We had a wonderful airbb cottage in the little town of Noizay.
5. Perhaps Mont Saint Michael might be better saved for another trip as it makes for a lot of extra travel.

Hi Chris,

I think if you do this you will feel that Normandy is bit rushed, or too full depending on your point of view. I doubt it is worth going out of your way to see Mont St. Michel briefly and at its worst, and I think that Bayeux and the beaches deserve another night.

The idea of a very full day touring the beaches followed by a drive to Amboise seems especially unrealistic to me. This is a punishing pace that will interfere with your family's ability to enjoy and appreciate these places.

I think if you want to visit these destinations and you really only have 10 days (including arrival and departure!) that you will have to drop one of the destinations or else steal a day from Paris.

Mind you, I'm not saying it's physically impossible, just unwise.

Check projected driving times on ViaMichelin, understanding that they do not include time for stops, traffic delays, getting lost, finding parking, etc., or for picking up the car. The drive from Paris to Bayeux by way of Mont-St-Michel is estimated at 6 hr. 26 min., so I'm doubtful that you'd have time to see MSM (other than from a distance) and get to Bayeux that day.

The drive from Bayeux to Amboise by the fastest route is estimated at 3 hr. 10 min. The full-day Overlord Tour I took from Bayeux got us back to town around 6 PM, I believe. The lunch break was rather brief; most people just grabbed something like a sandwich and wolfed it down. I can't imagine driving all the way to Amboise without stopping for a decent dinner somewhere. (You're in France, after all.) So this seems to me another problematic day.

I very much enjoyed the Overlord Tour and the rest of my time in Normandy, but I have not been to MSM or the chateaux, and I have no interest in wineries (can't imagine your children would be thrilled with them, either). So I can't reasonably make a suggestion about what you might omit.

Some of your family will almost certainly be severely sleep-deprived and jetlagged on June 29. In addition, it may well be around noon by the time you get out of the airport and to your hotel to drop off your bags. You will definitely not have five full, usable days in Paris if you head north on July 4; I'd count it as four days and expect to do little more than wander through some picturesque neighborhoods on June 29, trying to stay awake.

I feel like you'd be better off confining your out-of-Paris time to either Normandy or the Loire, not both. Both Bayeux and Caen have good World War II museums. Caen's is so large that one can spend a full day there. If you're interested enough to do a D-Day tour, I think you'd really enjoy seeing at least one of those museums.

It's a long drive from Paris -- have you considered taking the train to Caen and picking up your car there? High praise for the Caen Peace Museum and for Bayeux Tapestry.

Thank you for all of your comments. I will certainly take these into consideration. I have traveled to London and Italy with family but did not use a car. Being from the US and driving all the time may have made me a bit ambitious. I was also mislead a bit by the latest France travel guide that has a trip of our length include Paris, Normandy and Loire. I was trying to get my head wrapped around it, but I think it would be best to focus rather than get exhausted. I could always come back!

If we chose to focus on Normandy area and exclude the Loire valley - what should be add? Giverney (Sp?) on the way up? Where would you stay. Make the return trip as scheduled back into Paris?

Thanks!

My husband and I did exactly what Laura B suggested and took the train to Caen, then got our car. We loved the Caen memorial museum and it would be appropriate for kids. We did a private DDay / Band of Brothers tour with Dale Booth and it was a travel highlight of a lifetime. He can tailor the day to your interests and provides so much information and truly made us understand what that time was like. We also stayed at the B&B run by Dale & his wife-great food and company, and made it super easy to tour with Dale that day. If time permits, consider spending the night on MSM--it's a different place at night and fabulous to explore without all of the tourists.

A stop in Giverny is definitely possible on the way up to Bayeux/Caen.

The Peace Museum in Caen is a rather lengthy bus ride from the center of town. Having a car will be very helpful there! Caen was heavily bombed during WW II and has only limited bits of historic architecture left; Bayeux is much more atmospheric.

There's a new and much smaller museum in the town of Falaise (which also was pretty much destroyed during the war). This museum focuses on civilian life during the war, including the activities of the resistance. Most of the other museums in the area tend to concentrate on military matters. If you would like to see one of the musuems but will not have much time to do so, this museum of the one in Bayeux would probably be a better choice than the Peace Museum in Caen, which can be overwhelming due to its size and is also quite expensive if you contemplate only being there for an hour or so.

There are many picturesque towns to see in and near the area we are discussing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but you must be prepared for lots of other tourists in most of these places most of the time: Honfleur, Deauville, Cabourg, St-Malo, Dinan, Dinard. The towns of Fougeres and Vitre south of Mont-St-Michel get fewer American visitors. The larger cities or Rouen and Rennes are also nice.

Hi!

I have also done a D-Day tour with Dale Booth - amazing!! And we also stayed at his B&B. My advice is if you’re interested you need to contact his wife Debbie ASAP. I booked a tour with him for next June in early September. He books fast!

Good luck!

I think acraven has got it right. Train to Caen (or Rouen if it interests you), get the car, sleep in Bayeux while in Normandy, skip MSM and the Loire this time. On July 7 drive straight back to CDG, drop the car, and spend the night before your flight at an airport hotel. Don't go back into Paris. If that plan has you in Normandy too many nights, then add a day in Paris at the beginning.

"Tour Guide Recommendation":
Pasted from my post on similar inquiry last summer:
The Forum has several threads with recommendations/comments accessible thru the Search field above. We used Bertrand Saudrais (Executive D-Day Tours): excellent all-day tour, customized to your particular interests; picks you up/delivers you back to your hotel; running commentary supplemented with photos, maps, anecdotes; charming, humorous and thoughtful (suggested a carry-out lunch from cafe in Sainte-Mère-Église that we enjoyed while riding to the next stop -- not a wasted moment, all day). His website: http://www.executived-daytours.com/ (includes a button/link to TripAdvisor reviews.)

When we took our kids (21, 17 and 15) to France for a similar trip, we took the train to Versailles picked up a car there, and after our time at Versailles, we drove to MSM. We spent the night there, and all of us agreed it was a highlight of the trip. From there we went to Bayeux and spent two nights--doing the great museum in Caen, the tapestry, and a private full day tour of the Normandy beaches. We didn't have time for Giverny, but I had thought about adding a night near there and then continuing to the airport...It is really nice not to drive the car in the city!

I'd suggest you spend your time in Haute Normandie - there's lots to do there, including the Calvados and Camembert route.
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/decouvrir-110-1.html

If I see it well you can take a direct train to Bayeux needing only some 2:09 hours in the evening of the last (that is Tuesday July 3) of your 5 days stay in Paris. Next day join a D-Day tour and drive in the evening with a rental car to MSM to enjoy sunset. Best is to stay there on the island or the mainland to visit it in the early morning (of Thursday July 5) again before the crowds arrive. So leaves time till the evening of Saturday July 7 to drive to the Loire or drive back (with a detour to Fougères) to explore further Haute Normandy as chexbres suggests. Staying in Normandy is a bit more relaxing if you ask me, but that’s up to you.

A bit of a problem is getting the rental car after your D-Day tour I guess, meaning how late you will be back after the tour and till how late the rental agencies will be open.

I typically take a train out of a major city then rent a car in the area I'm going. It saves wear and tear on your energy and nerves. In this case, Rennes might be a good option. Driving from Paris to Mt. St. Michel is going to be more than four hours and likely closer to five. Driving from Rennes is a little under two hours. You won't save a lot of time, but you will save energy.

Are you fully considering traveling times in your plan? For July 4, at best you have a 4 1/2 hour drive to MSM, say three hours to see MSM, and 1 1/2 hours drive to Bayeux. Add checking out and into lodging, finding meals, gas, etc. that's a long day.

July 5 Normandie tour, then a three hour drive to Amboise as well as checking in/out, meals, etc. another very long day.

July 6, how many chateaux do you plan to visit in your leisurely day? I visited Chenonceau, Chateau Amboise and Clos Luce in a day, it's certainly achievable, but not particularly leisurely and I didn't feel like I had time to add a cave (cellar).

I think you're hoping for a relatively easy few days in the country. Stacking long days and adding travel isn't easy and begins to feel like a forced march. As long as everyone in your party understands that up front, it's fine. If everyone thinks it's going to be relaxing and it isn't, it won't be a good time. I find I always need extra time for taking the wrong exit, figuring out where things are, missing a connection, etc. It helps to intentionally keep your itinerary light and have some extra ideas in your hip pocket in case you find yourself with extra time.