Route Planning Help

This is one for the intrepid traveler since it might seem quicker to take a balloon or swim the English Channel-
Here’s an alternative to those modes: 1. Eurostar to Paris’ Gare du Nord. 2. Transfer in 60 minutes to Gare Montparnasse by Metro Line 4 or take a taxi. The lengthy walk to the TGV station at Gare Montparnasse requires extra time. Take TGV train in 1.5 hours to Rennes.
From Rennes’ train station, take the 70-minute bus to Mt. St. Michel. There also are trains but only 9 per day. The buses are synchronized with the arrival of trains in Rennes.

@Kenko:

So, we might be better off spending the money on a private transfer?
Any recommendations on companies for something like that?

If private transfers are available, it would save time.
In France “BlaBla Car” which is a ride-share company similar to Uber might work for you. www.BlaBlaCar.co.uk

I'm starting to think perhaps renting a car may be the best idea....

If you rent a car, it might be easier to catch the Eurostar in Lille rather than driving to the Gare du Nord in Paris. See the Michelin itineraries at Michelin.com.

From Paris to Le Mont Saint Michel, it's usually best to take the train to Rennes and either rent a car or take the bus to the Mont. There is also a direct service from Paris to Pontorson at some times of the year, with a connecting shuttle to the Mont. It is slower than the Rennes route but perhaps more convenient.

Afterwards, is your destination London, or somewhere else in the UK?
In some cases, it can make sense to take the ferry from either Saint Malo (to which you could probably arrange a taxi) or Cherbourg (car needed) to England (Portsmouth or Poole, the former is more convenient). That's especially true if you're interested in places like Salisbury or Bath.

For London proper, there are flights from Rennes to London. Not daily, but it could work - certainly better than going through Paris.
But if you must go by train, then the best way is probably to take the fast train to Rennes, cross Paris by metro, then take Eurostar to London. I would allow 2.5 hours between trains in Paris.
Driving to Lille as suggested above is a good option coming from Normandy(*), but Mont Saint Michel is quite a bit further so I am less sure in that case. Either way, it's a FULL day.

(*)Whether Mont Saint Michel is in Normandy or Brittany is a hot topic in the respective regions, one of the best ways to start a heated debate 😅

Another hot topic is whether or not anyone outside of the U.S. calls it the "Chunnel."

@balso:

Our destination is London.
Our middle child desperately wants to take the Eurotunnel (or Chunnel for this Seinfeld fan).

Trying to understand, you want to take the Eurostar from London to go to MSM and spend one night, then return to London the next day? If so, that’s a tall order. We are currently in France and will be going to London after our time here. Since we will be in Normandy and we spent a week in Paris earlier this year we are taking the Eurostar from Lille. You could take the train to Lille and rent a car to go to MSM, but it takes over 5 hours to drive in the best conditions. What you propose would require 2 very long days of travel. Personally I don’t think MSM is worth it. Why MSM? If the goal is to just take the Eurostar, why not go to Paris? It would take much less time, effort and expense. Take an early train from London and a late train back the next day. Just a suggestion.

@Andrea:

No, since we cannot easily quote a previous post in this system, I was replying to a question where a previous poster asked where I was headed in the UK after leaving MSM.

Where are you going after London? Are you flying home?
The channel tunnel is nothing to write home about. 20 minutes in the dark, and that's it.

@balso:

After London: Yes, flying back to US

Tunnel: Yes, I'm aware, but my son really wants to say he's been in it, so it's something we'd like to do for him.

Ok, then take the train back from Mont Saint Michel via Paris (see my earlier message, for example), there's no other way besides driving all the way to Lille (6 hours!) and taking the train there, which isn't better.

For clarification, you will be in Paris, want to go to MSM, then go to London via the Eurostar?

@Andrea: correct

No, since we cannot easily quote a previous post in this system,

The way to quote a previous reply is to highlight and copy, then paste into a new reply, highlight it and use the quote marks (4th icon from the left above the text box on a computer) which results in the vertical bar and indentation which I did just here.

If you don't have easy access to the edit buttons, say you're on a small phone screen, you can simply copy, paste into a new reply and put a greater than sign (">") before the first character without a space - you get the same result.

Is there a way to tag a person in a reply?

The way to quote a previous reply is to highlight and copy, then paste into a new reply, highlight it and use the quote marks (4th icon from the left above the text box on a computer) which results in the vertical bar and indentation which I did just here.
If you don't have easy access to the edit buttons, say you're on a small phone screen, you can simply copy, paste into a new reply and put a greater than sign (">") before the first character without a space - you get the same result.

no, I'm afraid we've never had tagging - just what you write...