Planning five days in Paris and surrounding area

With only three full days in Paris (don't expect to do very much on the 7th, especially if you are coming off a transatlantic flight), I would not bother with any trips out of town, except possibly Versailles if you really want to. Versailles may well already be extremely crowded on an April weekend, so you might want to try Fontainebleau instead. The other possibility is Vaux-le-Vicomte - it used to be quite hard to reach by public transport but this spring/summer they are launching a new shuttle service from the nearest railway station - see http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/useful-information/the-useful-informations/access/

Once in Paris be not surprised you want to spend all your time there, so start to make a planning for that. A few daytrips remains always possible ofcourse like to Versailles and Giverny but not everything you have in your mind now. Visiting Bayeux and D-Day beaches are more doable if you can stay in Paris for a longer period, but that´s the way I see it. However there are organized daytrips to the beaches from Paris, others will certainly have an opinion how it is about that. Plan flexible so you can make some changes on the spot.

Giverny will only have been open for two weeks so you cannot expect the full effect of the flowers in summer, particularly not the rose gardens. Maybe you could save it for a visit at a more seasonal time of year. On the other hand, it probably won't be as crowded as middle of the summer.

I would spend two days Paris seeing all the sites and the third day take the metro to Versailles very early and be the first ones in to view the palace in the morning then spend the afternoon in the gardens (good place for lunch). Versailles is an amazing place and the heart and soul of French culture, I have recommended to several people to go and they always come back so amazed at the beauty of both the palace and gardens. I love France, your going to have a great time!

Is this your first time to Paris? If the answer is yes, I would plan on spending the time there. You could do Versailles as a day trip. There is so much to see in Paris. On the otherhand, if you have been to Paris in the past and done the things you want to do there you can definitely fit day trips in.

You want to spend a day or so in Rouen. Does that mean you want to spend a night there? If you are willing to spend the night away from Paris I would suggest staying in Giverny or Vernon instead. Vernon is where you get off the train for Giverny and it's on the way to Rouen. You could see Giverny, then continue on to Rouen the next day. I don't know if they have a place to leave luggage in Vernon, but if they do you could even stop off there on the way to or from Rouen. If there is no left luggage there you may be able to arrange with a hotel near the train station to store it for you. As for Giverny to being at its peak only two weeks after opening, it is still worth going there. We can't all go when the roses are in bloom. We go when we are there, no matter what is in bloom. I was there in mid-October, two weeks before they closed for the season. It was beautiful and there were plenty of plants in bloom.

You really only have three full days in Paris and (depending on arrival and departure times) a part of two other days. That being the case, consider spending the entire time in Paris. There is way more than enough to keep one happily occupied for that length of time. In addition, it almost always takes more time to go from Point A to Point B than one would think. Good memories of people, places, and things in Paris will be much better than memories of train stations and running hither, thither, and yon.

I just paid attention to your dates, as opposed to the number of days you stated you have. You really need to count how many nights you have, and TC is right. You only have 3 full days. You can't really count your arrival and departure day. I would spend the entire time in Paris. One exception would be that if you have already been there and have satisfied your must see things, you could do a day trip to Versailles and/or Giverny. Not on the same day.

It comes down to what do you really want to see. Do you just want to check things off a list and spend the minimal amount of time there or really get a chance to spend more time at a specific site.
Paris City Vision, http://www.pariscityvision.com, offers many packages that will visit the sites your are looking at. If using a tour company, go with them or a local service over Viator, Viator is a third-party company.
Giverny & Versailles: http://www.pariscityvision.com/en/giverny
Normandy: http://www.pariscityvision.com/en/france/normandy

Enjoy

Thanks everyone! We have never been to Paris before and based on the replies will probably just stick to Paris and Versailles!

Curious as to your train to Barcelona, as there are no longer any overnight services. All services are same day in 6.5 hours.