We are 2 adults arriving on the Eurostar from London on 9/9/26 (after 2 days ) Will pick up car rental near train station (? Best company and where to pickup). Plan to drive to Giverny and see gardens/ lunch .. stop at Jumeiges and arrive Deauville. 3 nights in Deauville ; one day in Deauville; one day drive and see Honfleur. Next day drive to Bayeaux. 2 nights in Bayeaux; a full one day Overlord tour of WW2 Beaches and the American Cemetery. Next day drive to Mont St Michel; stay one night right outside the island: tour in the afternoon and maybe next am; then continue on to see Chartres Cathedral ( this is now Tues 9/15) either stay in Chartres; stay in Orleans or just push on and stay in Paris that evening. Have to drop car off and so need to find a drop off spot and it may be late.... will book hotel in Le Marais. Then we will end up with last 3 or 4 nights in Paris .. departure for JFK on Sat 9/19.
Thoughts ? We enjoy driving.. is this too ambitious ? Am I leaving out places on the way I don't know about ? We have been to Paris and have that covered .. can't wait to see Notre Dame as was almost open the last time we were there.
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
2990 posts
eamaher57,
It does sound a bit ambitious...doable...but rushed. What time does your train arrive in Paris? That will be at the Gare du Nord. Have you determined where the car rental place is and allowed for enough time to go through the rental process? Sometimes it has taken us a good hour if it is busy, or if there is just one person at the rental counter. Getting out of Paris can be a problem also, given Paris traffic. (It may be easy for you, but driving in Paris anywhere is a pain, IMO.) It can then take about 1 1/2 hours for the drive to Giverny in good traffic. You should allow 2-3 hours for your visit, plus time for lunch. Then about 2 hours to drive to Deauville. I don't see enough time in your plan to stop at Jumiege Abbey at all. This day will be very busy, but will work if your Eurostar arrives early enough to Gare du Nord. However, to me it does feel a bit marathon-like, even without Jumiege.
Maybe you could stop at Rouen overnight after Giverny, see the old town center and the cathedral and enjoy a nice dinner there, then drive the next day to Deauville and see Jumiege on the way there in the morning. You will have to adjust some of your Deauville time, but Rouen and Jumiege are worth it, IMO. Just some thoughts. Do check distances, drive times, train times, and allow yourself plenty of time to really see the sights you are visiting.
Fyi, we use viamichelin.com to determine drive times, but always add time to their suggestions because they don't allow time for gas/food/comfort stops. Also, we like to get a Michelin paper map of the area to see the overall picture of our routes. It makes a nice souvenir as well.
Posted by
OP
19 posts
Judy: Thank you so much. I am very interested in Rouen and I had not considered it. Stopping there and then the next day to Deauville makes sense. We will be on a very early train from London. I would love to hear anyone's experience with rental car companies. Any experience in Orleans ? Is that worth a stop for one night ? I really appreciate the feedback.
Posted by
OP
19 posts
I also did log on to ViaMichelin and will check all times and distances/ adding in some extra time.