Normandy - One Long Travel Day or break up time in Paris?

dmacario77 which town are you coming from exactly?

And what is your mode of transportation?

And where are you going in Normandy? Sometimes, when the logistics are too hairy, I just decide, "Not this trip".

Acraven - Yes, I agree. I’ve done that with Normandy on a couple of other trips. Wanted to go but couldn’t figure out how without adding in a lot of travel time and/or backtracking. However, this time it is this trip. Now I just need to find the least frustrating/disruptive way to do it as it is something we really want to see and I’ve put it off long enough.

Mona - I’ve been looking into a combination of trains, rental cars, etc. We’ll want a rental car while we’re in Normandy - I’d like to spend 3 full days there. What transportation we use would depend on where we’re coming from.

RJean - The plan would be to spend 3 nights in Bayeux and 1 night on MSM. I want to spend 5 full days in Paris. That gives us 10 full days to play with (setting aside a day to travel from Destination A to Normandy). Loire Valley and/or Brittney are the two most logical spots travel-wise but for various reasons neither appeal to our family. I’ve considered Amsterdam/Belgium/Luxembourg as an option and that’s probably the best but it’s still a train from Luxembourg to Paris, transfer, train to Normandy and pick up rental car. I’m guessing you’re looking at 7-8 hours when you factor everything in. I’ve been considering a number of more far-flung options and flying from another European city into Paris, then train. , etc.

No matter which way I slice it, it’s a hassle. I think it’s a pick your poison situation and am wondering what poison others would choose.

I would split my time in Paris.. but do it so I had 4 nights at the beginning and one night at the end. You could take a train to Chartres and pick up a car there, then drive to Mont Saint-Michel. You would see MSM in the evening that way and it would be less crowded. Next day, head to Bayeux stopping where you like along the way and spending the next 3 nights there, exploring. Then, head back to Paris and drop your car at Charles de Gaulle... maybe stay in a hotel near the airport if you have an early flight and to minimize toting luggage around.

Alternatively, you could take a train from Paris to Caen and pick up/return your car there and do a big loop. Just note that it looks like car rental agencies are not open there on sundays. :) I would still split my time 4/1 staying near Gare montparnasse on the last day to minimize luggage fun. I am always seriously jet lagged the first day I fly into Europe and any more travel makes for a very long day/recovery.

We've done both ways - taking train from Paris, getting car rental in Caen, then seeing MSM and spending a couple of days in Bayeux. That worked out well and was my preferred way to see Normandy. However, on another trip, like you, we had to make a decision between a random night enroute, or a horribly long travel day. We opted for the horrible travel day. We tried to plan it out with excruciating detail to minimize the stress, but I will say that it was exhausting - but when you know that's what you have to deal with, it made it "okay" for me. Reward yourself with a nice bottle of wine and dinner upon arrival in Bayeux. It is definitely, as another poster mentioned, a "pick your poison" type of situation. Good luck!

Sleep in Bayeux the night before you connect with Overlord or other tour.

It doesn’t seem so brutal if you take the TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Rennes, which only takes two hours, pick up your car and make the one-hour drive to Mont St. Michel. Then go to Bayeux the next day. Finally, you can turn your car in in Caen and take the slower intercity back to Gare St. Lazare or keep the car and drive to CDG.
Even if you’re coming from Amsterdam, it wouldn’t be too bad because you’d have very little driving to do yourself. The high-speed train to Rennes instead of the slow train to Bayeux is the key. Certainly, don’t take the 1-hour TER to Chartres because it would leave you with a 3.5 hour drive.

Finally, I hope you change your mind about Brittany, a wonderful, varied, gracious and delicious place to visit.