Paris & Normandy Trip

It will be easier if you rent a car for the Normand part of your trip. With public transport, you lose time with connections and also the freedom to stop in beautiful small towns you would not suspect ahead to stop.
I'm not a specialist for Normandy, so I will let others advise the amount of time to spend in each place (Giverny, Vaux le Vicomte, Fontainebleau).
About Honfleur I would say that a couple hours is enough.

About Mont Saint Michel you can spend 3 or 4 hours (from the parking area), a bit more if it is really a special event for you (and if you want to spend the night there). I would advise to drive a bit further to the entrance of Brittany (Saint Malo, and maybe Cancale, especially if you enjoy oysters and sea food in general). You can have a look at http://visite.bretagne.free.fr/index.php/en/nature/mont-saint-michel.html for some information about MSM.

About hiring a guide, it's never mandatory, but of course you learn much more about the area with locals (it is really a personal choice depending on your curiosity, wish for complete independence...).

Last year, we spent a week in Paris followed by 2 nights in Bayeux. We took the TGV train and it was an efficient and low stress way to travel. But given that you want to cover more ground than we did in Normandy, you could certainly rent a car. I would probably opt to do tours out of Bayeux for MSM and Honfleur rather than drive it because I find driving in a foreign country more stress than I care to take on while on vacation. In Bayeux, we stayed at the Villa Lara hotel (pricey but worth it) and did a full day tour with Overlord Tours. While we enjoyed a full day tour, that might be a bit too much history for your 18 year old daughter, so I'd recommend one of their half day tours (if you do one at all). Bayeux would make a good home base in Normandy given that you want to go to Honfleur and Mont St. Michel as well.
I'd also not make Rue Cler a destination ...by any means.

March 28th-30th
Giverney-Honfluer-Normandy-Mont St Michel

I suggest dropping MSM because its out of the way. Here is a sample itinerary off the top of my head. Visit Giverny, sleep that nite in Rouen. Next morning pick up a car and visit Etretat then Honfleur, as well as the coastline in the area. Drop the car in Caen (more dropoff places than Bayeux), sleep in Bayeux. 3rd day do a full-day D-day tour. Or on day 2 sleep in Honfleur, the next day visit the Calvados countryside and end up at Bayeux to see the town and especially the Tapestry.

If MSM is a priority then do what RS suggests and arrive late in the afternoon when the day-trippers are leaving. I stayed at one of the hotels just over the bridge, there are frequent shuttles. Visit MSM, have dinner on mainland, go back. It is beautiful lit up at nite!

The region of Normandy/Brittany is filled with sights worth visiting. I spent 10 days there last year and felt like there was so much I did not have time to see. 3 days is quite rushed.

I did a similar trip with my 14 year old daughter last summer. I would also suggest skipping rue Cler and definitely recommend Paris Walks. I would also suggest skipping Giverny, given the time of year you are visiting. I don't think there will be a lot to see in the gardens and it is probably just re-opening at the end of March. Last August, we took the train from Paris to Vernon, dropped our bags off at the tabac (recommended in the RS guide) and spent the afternoon in Giverny. I have visited before and always enjoy and it was beautiful in mid August. We then took the train to Caen and picked up a rental car directly across from the train station. We spent 3 days touring Normandy and Mont St Michel. MSM was a first visit and I would definitely recommend, we stayed at one of the hotels on the causeway and it worked well. It is lovely to visit at the end of the day and first thing again the next morning. We spent a second day at Fort de Latte and Dinan. On the 3rd day, we left very early and drove to Bayeux to visit the cathedral and then drove along the coast, making many stops from Arromanches to Caen. It was important to my 14 to visit several WW2 sights including for us, the Canadian Cemetery and Juno Beach centre. I would have enjoyed a guided tour but I have visited before and my daughter didn't want to do a tour, she did a lot of reading ahead of our visit and without committing to a tour we did have a flexible schedule. We got back to Caen around 8pm, dropped the car off (its very easy) and took a late train back to Paris, getting back to Gare du Nord around 11:30. We had 3 very busy and very long days but for us, it worked and you take the time that you have. I have visited Honfleur and would like to visit again but it just didn't work with our itinerary this time. I think if you only have 3 days you may have to make the same choices whether to go to MSM or to Honfleur.

I have done the Normandy portion of your trip twice. Giverney was enjoyable for a couple of hours. Honfluer: We spent a night there because we were traveling up to Lille. The town is very nice,but 1/2 a day and you can see it Our first trip we spent a morning at Mont St. Michel and then went up and spent the afternoon at the Utah beach area. We then spent a full day exploring the Omaha area and Gold beach area. The next morning we visited a couple more sights and then drove to Giverney and landed in Versailles for the night. Our second trip: We left Versailles area (where we picked up our car and spent the night) and drove to Giverney. We were there when they opened. Then we spent a 1/2 a day in Bayeux seeing the tapestry and other sights. Spent a full day with a private tour guide seeing Omaha and Utah area and the following morning visiting the German cemetery, American cemetery visitor's center and Gold beach In the afternoon, we drove to Honfleur Both times we had a car and both times we stayed on a farm about 12 minutes from Bayeux and just a few miles from Omaha beach.

Based on that experience, I can tell you what I would do...but only your know how much you want to see each place. If it were me, I would skip Honfluer this trip. However, I will assume that is unacceptable.

Day one:Travel to Giverney early and get there before it opens. Spend a couple of hours, than drive to Honfluer. Explore the town, eat dinner, and then drive to Bayeux for 2 nights. (alternate idea: overnight in Honfluer and get up early and be to Mont St Michel by 10) Get up the next day and be at Mont. San Michel by 10. Spend the morning then drive back up to the Utah beach area and spend the afternoon. (the museum at Utah beach is very good and will give you a good introduction to what you will be seeing.) Day 3, spend the day seeing the sights in the Omaha beach area (must sees are the American cemetery, Pont du Hoc, Omaha beach.) Drive back to Paris that night (You don't say you have to be back then, I am just assuming based on your comments).

Alternate route 1:
Day one: Get up REALLY early and be at Mont St. Michel by 10. Spend the morning then head up to Utah beach for the afternoon. Overnight in Bayeux 2 nights. Day 2 spend all day exploring Omaha and Gold beach area. Day 3: get up early and drive to Honfluer, spend the morning, eat lunch. Then drive to Giverney and tour the gardens. Head back to Paris.

Alternate 2:
Be to Giverney when it opens. Spend no more than 2 hours, hustle to down to Mont San Michel and spend the afternoon and evening. Overnight there. Get up early the next morning and drive up to D-day are and spend a full day there. Day 3 visit Honfluer and head back to Paris. It looks good on paper, but I would choose one of the other options if it were me. I like staying in one place for 2 nights and having more time at D-day sites.

The only way you will do all this is to get up early and be at sights when they open. Driving takes a lot longer than what google maps or via michelin shows. Our first trip we came up from Amboise . We left our hotel early (My journal shows we were on the road by 6:00 and arrived at 10). You are doing a lot in 3 days and you could easily spend more time doing it. But if 3 days is all you have...go for it. When I have a tight schedule, I plan it out carefully ahead of time. (What time do we need to be where, how long can we spend, etc.) Have good directions (getting lost costs valuable time), know your logistics (Where are we staying, what are my parking options for towns, etc)

If you want to do it by train...talk to some else (smile) as I have no experience with that. Have fun! It is a great trip.

This sounds like a great trip. We took our 18-year-old daughter to France for the first time last summer.

Vaux and Fontainbleau in the same day is a lot, and arguably too much of the same sort of thing. Piling it on like that risks blurring the whole experience. I think you would need a car (or a long taxi ride) to cover all this ground in a day too.

Your Norman itinerary really calls for a car. Rail and bus connections are just not that good for your destinations. You might be able to rent one at the train station in Vernon, I don't know.

Giverney and Honfleur work well for the first day. Giverney can be crowded, I would try to get there at or before opening time. If you find yourself running ahead of schedule, Rouen makes a charming stop. You can pick up a walking tour at the TI.

Your next day is unclear, and probably too much. If "Normandy" is code for the D-Day beaches, you could probably visit one or two on your way to Mont St. Michel if you get an early start, but it is a lot and there is lots more to see.

You should also consider that northern France, and especially Normandy will probably be (frequently) cold and rainy that time of year.

What is your plan for flying home? Is there another day in there for that?

A few more notes: A trip to Giverney, in my opinion, is enhanced by seeing Monet's work ahead of time (there are no paintings at Giverney). In Paris you will find him at the Orangerie and Orsay, but especially at the Marmatton museum in the 16eme. Perhaps that is something to do if you do not attempt two chateaux in one day on the 27th.

If MSM is not a must-see for this trip, Bayeux is a charming town with some sights of its own and a train that goes to Paris. I'm not against MSM but I do not know your priorities and just wanted to share that as an option.

In that same spirit, Giverney also makes a fine day trip from Paris.

I hope you have a splendid time.

To all -Thank you for the thoughtful replies, which provide great ideas/suggestions.