Paris and Normandy Itinerary Help

Looks like a good trip. You're using the train and car the right way, for the Rouen to Bayeux leg. That way you have the car's flexibility to see the D-Day Beaches the way you want; but you'll want to closely research the D-Day Beaches, since you're not taking a tour. I've done it the way you're doing it.

2 nights in Rouen would give you one full day there. But I'm not sure you need 2 nights there, or that you have that many nights available. If you do 1 night that will of course give you only a partial day in Rouen.
I'd take a close look at what's in Rouen and then decide whether you want a partial day there or a full day (which will mean 2 hotel nights). I've done one night there and a partial day there and had enough time to see the highlights of the historical core area: the cathedral (if you remember Monet's paintings of it!), horloge, Joan d'Arc execution sight and memorial. And a nice dinner.
Driving in and out of Rouen can be challenging, esp. since that will be your first day with the car. You can avoid some of the traffic hassle by sleeping on the outskirts instead of in the historic core, but then you have a problem getting into the historic core for sight-seeing.

IMO spending a night in Mont St. Michel is special, on the island I mean. There are limited hotel rooms on the island so I'd book that lodging as soon as you know your dates. The island is magical at night after the day-time hordes have left, which is by about 6pm.

I'd do Honfleur instead of Caen (they are very different places). Caen is a bigger city, was bombed heavily by the Allies in WW2, so many "historical" structures are rebuilt after the war, that's my impression, but I haven't spent much time in Caen so that's just my guess, I could be wrong. It does have some D-Day and Normandy fighting sights/museums, but I think you'll see that on the Bayeux and D-Day Beaches portion of your itinerary.

You'll be glad to have the car to explore the Loire chateaus, but you'll want to pay attention to where you sleep, in some of the towns, though they're smaller, parking can be a hassle if you're sleeping in a place that's not car-friendly, for example, a hotel in a pedestrian zone.

I think your itinerary looks great! I would actually do just one night in Rouen because I found that seeing the beautiful cathedral and walking around for the evening are all you need to do there. Check out a restaurant in Rouen called Le 37. It was excellent.

If you are flying out of CDG on the 20th you need to be in Paris the 19th. If it were me I would start with Normandy and end in Paris. Take the train to Caen or Bayeux after arriving in Paris (give yourself about 4 hours to catch the train to allow for late plane) and then do the NOrmandy leg first dropping the rental coming into Paris and finish in Paris. I'd do at least 6 nights in Paris and that is short if you plan on two days out of Paris -- if you want to do two day trips consider a week in Paris and get an apartment.

Thanks so much for all the info so far!
I thought about starting in Normandy and ending in Paris but thought it would nice to end our trip on a more relaxing note in the Loire...Paris will be a bit of a whirlwind, lots of walking, lots of sites, etc...
Good info on Rouen - thank you! I will plan on 2 days, 1 night there then will head to Bayeux.
RE: renting the car. I am planning on a train from Rouen to Bayeux and renting the car there since it's a smaller town.
I would love to spend the night on Mont St. Michel but I already looked at all the hotels on the island and none of them have a room big enough for the 4 of us to stay together or they are already booked - not sure. Either way, getting 2 rooms is just too spendy so we'll likely drive there or take the day tour from Bayeux.
Our flight out of Paris isn't until the afternoon so we thought that the 1-hour train ride from Tours-Paris would be fine to do in the morning. Am I crazy?

Thanks again!!

Actually, I see now that it's more like a 2-hour trip from Tours to CDG going transferring at Gare de Lyon.
Is there something I'm missing about trying to do this in the AM for an afternoon flight?
Thanks!

I didn't realize from your first post that you were planning to return from Tours to Paris to CDG on the day of your flight.
I guess what people are trying to suggest is that it's high stakes, because if something doesn't go according to plan between Tours, Gare de Lyon and CDG, and you miss that flight, the airline would say it's your fault and I think that means, at best, that you're buying 4 tickets on the day of travel, if there are 4 seats. That would be expensive. It would make me nervous, but maybe I'm just not the adventurous type.

I guess part of the calculus, a question for you to answer, is: what is gained by spending the last night in Tours, versus returning to Paris the evening before the flight. Both choices are problematical. You're the traveler so you get to decide.

The rest of your itinerary looks great!

We have an iron rule that we are always in the town of a high stakes flight the night before. Stuff happens. We were once on a Thalys scheduled to arrive in Paris at noon from Amsterdam. It was full of people planning to fly out of CDG that evening. We came in 5 hours late after killing someone near Rotterdam and sitting in the countryside for hours while they brought in an investigation team and then a new crew. (we have also been in train strikes, in traffic jams, on a plane that turned back halfway to Europe and landed in Gander and on a tram that broke down on the way to the train station -- stuff happens sometimes)

You need to be at the airport 3 hours ahead for a US flight -- at check in, not just arriving at the train station or dropping the car. You probably can drive up that day, but if things don't go perfectly you run a huge risk. And personally I hate that feeling of anguish as the clock ticks and traffic is a parking lot and I live in anxiety for hours about whether we will make it.

I am a huge train fan. But for Rouen-Bayeux, I suspect a rental will be cheaper for a family of 4 and I'd be tempted to take it.

The train is about two hours fifteen minutes, with a change in Caen.

It will cost a good deal of money for a family of four to take a guided tour of the D-Day beaches but you will certainly see and learn a lot more through the information and context imparted by the guide. After 70 years the beaches look mostly like, well, beaches, with a few remnants of the invasion and surviving buildings recognizable from newsreel footage of the action. Yes, there are memorials and museums, but the guide remains implanted in my memory most of all. Then you could rent a car for the longer trips. I'm told it is easier to rent in Caen, which also has more choice of accommodations and restaurants than Bayeux. Its well-respected war museum runs tours (most others go from Bayeux, a 20-minute drive or train from Caen.) As well, further back in the history of warfare, William the Conqueror's castle/fort dominates the centre of Caen, with its own small museum. I imagine young teens might enjoy it more than the Bayeux tapestry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Caen