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Itinerary Advice: Loire Valley, Mont St. Michele, Bayeux, Giverny.

We're traveling to France this month and I have a few questions regarding our planned itinerary. We will be flying into CDG, taking train to Tours St. Pierre des Corps, picking up a rental car and continuing on to Amboise.

Days 1 -5 Loire Valley: Based in Amboise - staying at two different hotels. We will be visiting 4 chateaux during this time as well as the town of Blois. We will visit the final home of Leonardo da Vinci in Amboise. Does anyone have ideas of specific things to do or see in Amboise? Any wineries or small villages we should see in this area? Any wonderful casual restaurants in Amboise near Le Clos d'Amboise?

Day 6 Drive from Amboise to Mont St. Michele: Any interesting stops/villages along the way that are must sees?

Day 6-7 Mont St. Michele: We will be staying in Ardevon. Any suggestions for a casual restaurant in this area?

Day 7-10 Bayeux: Staying here and doing the World War II all-day tour with OverLord Tours. My father in law landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. What are the must sees in Bayeux since the tapestry is not currently there? Any restaurant suggestions?
Also will visit Honfleur one day.

Day 10-12 Giverny. Anywhere interesting to stop on drive from Bayeux to Giverny? Restaurant suggestions in or near Giverny?
I know restaurants are probably very limited. We plan to also visit Vernon. Any other cute towns nearby?

Day 13 Drive from Giverny to CDG airport: We would like to drive northeast of Paris and around to CDG to avoid Paris traffic. Thinking of stopping in Chantilly and/or Senlis. We will most likely have a late lunch or early dinner before dropping off our rental car at CDG and staying at a hotel at the airport. Is this a good plan? Anywhere to eat in Chantilly or Senlis before returning to the airport? Assume it will be difficult to obtain food once we drop off our car at CDG.

Any thoughts on this itinerary? We are keeping our plans minimal so that we can have time to explore and make unplanned stops along the way!

Posted by
3645 posts

baseballmom94,
One question. Is your Day One your arrival in France day? If so, I would expect to not be doing much of anything by the time you get to your lodgings in Amboise. Maybe a stroll around and dinner. Your Days 2 through 5 are a good amount of time in the Loire Valley for your plans (4 full days). Any reason you are changing hotels there? I haven't any specific recs for eateries, etc. around Amboise.
Drive to Ardevon from Amboise is about 4 hours, including food/gas/comfort stops. You can have the afternoon and evening at Mt. St. Michel. No dining recs from me for that area either. (Day6/Night 6)
On Day 7 the drive to Bayeux is fairly short, so you have a half-day on Day 7 and 2 full days (8th and 9th). Leave on Day 10.
Giverny is small and IMO doesn't need 2 1/2 to 3 days. I would drive along D982, and stop at Jumieges Abbey on the way from Bayeux to Rouen to spend that night of day 10. The drive is partly along the Seine River in a more rural area and is a lovely route to take. You could take 4-5 hours to meander this route, get to Rouen early enough to visit the famous cathedral, stroll along the medieval area, and enjoy a good meal. There are some interesting museums in Rouen also (e.g. Beaux-Arts, established by Napoleon) and the Joan of Arc connection, if you find you have more time.
Day 11 continue from Rouen to Giverny (2-5 hour drive, depending on how much you want to meander and explore). Explore the town of Vernon and the area around Giverny that afternoon/evening. Or see the garden in the later afternoon if you arrive early enough. It depends on how soon it starts to get dark in October. Or on Day 12 get the earliest reservation time in Giverny for the house and gardens before the big crowds hit. Most people seem to feel 4 hours there is more than enough time. (It is not huge.) You could then head back to Paris that afternoon to spend the night of Day 12 at a hotel at the airport. Return the car that day and take the RER into Paris for a last night's dinner. Then RER back to your CDG airport to sleep and leave the next day.
This is, of course, just my vision. In April 2017 we did this in reverse...Paris to Giverny to Rouen to Bayeux to Mont St. Michel. We went to Brittany from there, then on to the Loire Valley after that, but pretty much the same trip in reverse.
Have a great time!

Posted by
1655 posts

Bayeux is a great base for exploring the D-day sites. And since you will have a car, you can visit many places your tour guide doesn't take you, or go back to places you found interesting and in which you wish you had more time. Most tours won't give you too much time in museums, and the one in Bayeux is one of the best in the region. It gives a good, balanced overview of the entire battle. Across the street is the Bayeux War Cemetery (British). The Cathédrale Notre‑Dame de Bayeux is very impressive and well worth visiting. Search this forum for multiple recommendations for dining in Bayeux. Walking along the short paths by the river is very pleasant and can provide some classic places for photos, such as the water wheel.

I would stop at Honfleur on my way to Giverny (or Rouen as noted, wonderful town). It seems too out of the way as a day trip from Bayeux, and is right on the way when heading to places further East.

Here's another vote for Jumièges Abbey. It is a fascinating ruin well worth walking around, and the church was consecrated by William the Conquerer—for whom the Bayeux Tapestry is largely about. Another stop en route to Paris is the Castle of La Roche-Guyon. It sits on a hillside overlooking the Seine River and was the home and headquarters of Field-Marshall Erwin Rommel during the battle of Normandy.

Posted by
3645 posts

seballmom94,
We usually have a car in France. I have found that viamichelin.com is a good site to get main routes and approximate drive times. In planning, I do always add to their times, as they don't factor in time for gas/food/comfort stops. Use Google maps or your map of choice for specific directions in towns. We also get a local Michelin map to plot out routes on the smaller "D" roads....a bit slower than the Autoroutes, but generally more scenic and interesting. The driving distances I have suggested are not long, so you have some time to meander between locations, if you choose to. Or not...there is no right or wrong way to travel here. Enjoy your time in France!

Posted by
214 posts

We enjoyed our time in Amboise and had several good meals there. I would recommend L'Ambacia near the base of the Royal Chateau. The food was excellent and you can sit inside or outside on the patio. The beef confit was wonderful!

We ate at other restaurants which we thought were fine even though they get mixed reviews from others. We had a dinner reservation at Le Parvis and liked the coq au vin. La Florentine is casual and has good pizza. We ate outside there.
La Reserve had a great caramel mousse and Anne de Bretagne had a very good omelet.

Amorino Gelato is wonderful. It has many flavors and the gelato is shaped like a lovely flower in a cone with 3 flavors.

Patisserie Bigot is good for coffee and hot chocolate and pastries.

While you are in Amboise we would recommend seeing the Amboise Chateau Royal. It is a beautiful castle and has outstanding views from the upper garden to the Loire River and the town of Amboise.

You will enjoy L'Clos d'Amboise also. It is very interesting and is a pretty setting.