Dear Friends, Your advice will be greatly appreciated. We have been to Paris once before and saw the major tourist sites. This time we want to see much more. So, our thoughts are to fly non-stop from Dulles International to Paris and spend 4 nights. We took Rick's advice and are staying in Rue Cler. We plan to do a day trip or two out and about Paris. Then we will take the train to Bayeux as our base for 4 nights there and see the Normandy beaches and various sites. My wife really wants to see Lourdes. ( Yes, I know France is a big country BUT... ) Once in Alaska we had to hire a small plane so why not here, right? Does anyone know how to contract a small private plane from Caen (CFR) to Lourdes? If they can't fly into Lourdes, then what about Bordeaux (BOD), where we could explore for a few days and take the train down to Lourdes. Then, I was thinking, should we take the train all the way back up to Paris so we can get the NON STOP BACK OR should we opt for a 1 stop flight back home from Bordeaux or Montpellier? Any and all suggestions will be MOST APPRECIATED! Thank you in advance!
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8059 posts
I have no advice on private charters, but assume it would be expensive. Alaska is not a good comparison since plane is about the only way to get to most places, so there is a very active charter market with regular routes, used by everyone. In France, it likely is more limited, reserved for those that can afford the luxury and priced for the market served, the common person can easily take the train or commercial air.
Do a simple search on getting from Caen to Lourdes. It is very long by train (9-10 hours), but you could fly commercial from Caen to Toulouse, then train to Lourdes; or train to Paris Orly and fly to Lourdes/Tarbis (LDE); cutting the trip to the 6 hour range. There are probably several other options.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2597 posts
this airline flies from Caen to Bordeaux and other airports in France
http://www.chalair.eu/index.php/en/
you could also contact Caen airport and ask about private hire. I guess anything's possible for a price.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Consider changing your path. Easier to get to Lourdes.
Paris Orly(ORY)-Lourdes/Tarbes (LDE
Hop Air flight time 1 hr 15 m.
Then bust to Lourdes around 25 min.
Look at rome2rio for options to Bayeux.