Rental Car straight from CDG to MSM or D-Day beaches first?

Just got back from a second trip to Paris and France. We arrived at CDG early in the morning, drove straight to the Normandy area and did 3 nights there. Bayeux was a great base. I think trying Mont-Saint Michel on this too would be too much. We arrived in Bayeux on a Friday, left there on Monday morning after a day tour, visiting all 3 cemataries and sensing we had seen all we came to see. It was about 3-4 hours more by the time we drove to MSM, parked, caught the shuttle and got on the island for the night. I think you should do Normandy OR MSM but not both in just 2 1/2 days.

I agree with Jane. With such a short time, esp when you may have some jet lag, I would not do both. I would pick Bayeaux. It's closer to where you are starting.

Is there a way you could avoid driving on the first day? Take the train to Caen and rent a car there?

Unfortunately, there's no direct train between CDG and Caen. So the alternative to driving jet-lagged that first day is to go into Paris (RER, taxi, whatever) and train from St-Lazare to Caen. The train part is easy enough, it's getting from the airport through Paris to the station that serves Normandy.

I agree with others, MSM is "a bridge too far" on this first day. Many on this board would say don't even drive at all after an overnight flight. But if you do, Bayeux would be a good base for Normandy exploring, and you could return the car in Caen before taking the train into Paris to start your tour. Use Via Michelin for planning your driving.

Thanks for your thoughts. I haven't been able to find on Europcar's website how to pick up from the airport and drop off at another. Any tips on that?
From what you said, I think we'll skip MSM and try and return the car in Caen to take the train to Paris.
Thanks Dick, Eef, and Jane.

At Europcar.com, under Pick Up, enter CDG and select the terminal closest to your arrival terminal. When you do that the Return options should pop up. Select where you want to return the car and then enter your dates. You may want to also try AutoEurope.com.

Just thinking: You can best come to rest the first day in Paris, but can take the TGV to Rennes in the early evening if you have the energy. Stay there or drive to Le Mont-Saint-Michel for a stay on or near the island. Enjoy the place in the morning before the crowds arrive. Drive around noon the few hours to Bayeux to see the D-Day beaches. You can drop the car in Caen the next morning and take the train back to Paris to join the tour.

Likely not so much an relaxed trip, that’s op to you to decide, but for the beaches anyway enough for getting an impression. And think about opening hours car rental locations.

We rented through Europcar at CDG airport and returned it to the train station Gare Lyon in Paris. If you need more info on it let me know!

We did an overnight at MSM as you wrote about and it was awesome. Had good luck with weather so had beautiful sunset with fullish moon and electrical storms in the distance. Bucket list item so of course would recommend.

If we weren't coming from so far the only thing that might have made it easier would be to tour the monastery on the arrival afternoon (we weren't in time for that) instead of the next morning. If you did that you could see some D Day beaches the next day.

If you intend to come back just to visit MSM then you can consider leaving it till nexxt time... but, with limited travel time and tons of locations around the world to visit... If I were that close, I would give less time to each location and do both. Yes, more time is always desirable... but, reality sets in. I guess I found both Normandy and MSM to be amazing experiences so hate to see people miss it. Stayed the night with 15 year old grandson and we still think of it was one of our favorite memories.