Paris to Normandy - car vs train

I would rent the car at CDG and drive to Normandy. If jet lagged, stay in Vernon area and visit Monet's Giverny.
Then drive to Provence when finished exploring Normandy. When do you visit Paris in your itinerary?

Many would say it is dangerous to drive after an overnight flight, but you have to make that decision for yourself. I have both driven and taken the train from CDG to Normandy. They both have their pros and cons. Where in Normandy will you be going first? The train to the Caen/Bayeux area leaves from Gare Saint-Lazare. The train to Rennes (closest big city to Mont Saint Michel) leaves from Gare Montparnasse. Either station takes about an hour to get to from CDG. The train to Caen is a little over two hours, while the TGV to Rennes is about an hour and a half. I find when going to the Caen area, it is a little quicker to drive (traffic dependent) than to get across Paris, and wait for whatever train is next. Although being on vacation, the train is somewhat more relaxing. My usual lately is to take the Roissybus from CDG to Opera Garnier, walk seven minutes to the train station, and pick up a car once in Caen. I usually take a chance and book a train a reasonable time after my scheduled landing. That way if I'm early, I sit in a café soaking in the city. If I'm late (hasn't happened yet), I just lose my fare and have to buy a ticket at the station. Last September I took the TGV to Rennes where I rented a car to MSM, but I had spent the previous night in Paris, so it didn't go right from CDG.

I've rented a car at CDG after a 10-hour flight, so this is possible, but you'll have to deal with jet-lag and Paris traffic. Another alternative is to take a TGV from CDG directly to Rennes--there are four or five every day. Then rent your car in Rennes at the station and drive to Mont St-Michel--about 1.5 hours away. This way you don't have to transfer from the airport to a train station in the center of Paris.

Check out the rental car options available in Rennes. If you need an automatic transmission and/or if you're arriving on a Sunday, options may be limited or not what you want. Of course if your train gets you there late-ish in the evening, after the rental facility is closed, you can stay in a hotel and get your car in the morning.

Getting off an intercontinental flight and behind a wheel could be a bad idea so yes I'd get a train. I took a train to Rouen, spent a few hours looking around, then picked up a car and drove to Etretat to start. The rental agents are closed for a fairly long lunch. If you don't pick up the car before their lunch, they'll be closed for a while. I got off the train and first checked with them to verify their lunch closure before walking down into the center.

If you're thinking of Normandie for only WWII sights, I'd suggest a train direct [from Paris] to either Caen or Bayeux. Those are both convenient for D-day tours. Caen has a great D-Day museum. I was more interested in the Bayeux Tapestry so went there instead. I still hope to get back to Caen on future trips.

For Provence. I'd consider taking a flight to save time. Do you need to return to Paris? If not, maybe fly/train from Rennes to Avignon? If you need to go back through Paris, maybe Orly to Avignon?

Last month we took an overnight flight into Paris and then rented a car and drove to Normandy. My husband and I are in our late 50s, and we both drove, so that helped. We stopped for a few hours in Honfleur on the way to Normandy. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

More options:

If you want to perhaps visit MSM later and take a train from Normandy to Provence without going through Paris, that is possible on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays in September, when a direct TGV usually departs Rennes at 9:39 and arrives to Nimes at 15:00 (it also continues to Montpellier). You can easily connect from Nimes to Avignon, etc by train and pick up a car when you're ready to head to smaller towns.

Or, if you had time to break up the long drive with an overnight stop, it might not cost any more rental fees to keep the same car. But there would of course be expenses for fuel and some tolls.

We have done this a couple of times. Both times we took the train to Caen and rented a car there. The train ride is pleasant and renting a car near train station is easy. Driving in and out of Paris is doable but a bit stressful. My husband is an experienced European driver (Ireland included) and it was a bit intense (we drove back into Paris to drop off car due to train strike).

Have fun!

Every time I went out to Normandy from Paris, either to Caen or Bayeux, more often to Bayeux, I took the train at least one day after arriving in Paris either by EuroStar or the tran-Atlantic flight from SFO. More convenient that way, and never by car. Obviously, the car offers more flexibility if you intend to see 2-3 villages en route.

No problems sleeping on the non-stop flight coming over either.