Train vs car rental beyond Paris

There is not much space for a carry on bag at your seat, but on the trains we took, the shelves for the bags were near the exit. It didn't add any significant time to grab them on the way out. For our one tight connection I think we stood by the door as the train was coming into the station.
We like trains because we can both relax for most of the trip.
Local train tickets can be bought at the station or on the app, but you would need to have enough time to stand in line. Local trains often don't have reserved seats. For some of the trains, like TGV, the seats are much cheaper in advance, but exchange might not be allowed or might have a fee (it seemed like every train on our trip was different).

You are responsible for carrying your luggage onto trains and for storing it on the racks at the end of each car or in the racks above your seat. Your bags will be with you since they are 100% your responsibility. This is why you are told to use small , lightweight suitcases, tops 22” each, carry on size.
We always rent cars except in cities. We like the freedom and the availability of a car so we can explore smaller villages off the tourist path. Keep luggage in trunk out of sight when parking and leaving car.

Thanks, Plannermom & Suki. Another ? Are rental cars WITH enclosed trunks readily available? Going online I see mostly hatchback or small SUV types where you can see into the "trunk".

What class car are you entering online?

I think it depends on what your trip looks like. Are you going a long distance? Train. Between mid/large cities? Train. Do you want to explore, for example, small villages around in the Alsace or the Loire Valley? A car would be better.

OR you can mix it up. We just visited the Loire Valley from Paris. We took a train to (mid-sized city) Tours, then rented a car to visit the rural chateaus. Again, long distances between cities is usually the best time for train travel.

I like to purchase tickets online in advance to have our itinerary planned out personally.

All of the hatchback cars I have rented had a retractable cover in the luggage compartment that covered my bags. Bottom line is not to leave any valuables or non-replaceable items in your vehicle.

Hi from Wisconsin,
We once rented a Nissan Cherry. We MADE our suit cases fit. But all other cars, including that little Fiat 500 worked.

Some one said, if city to city, then train. If you want to see villages, you have to have a car. And that same person said or hinted, that you probably don't want to rent in Paris. Getting out of town...Youch. Best to train to a medium sized place like Caen or such and rent a car there.

Returning a car to Paris is easy if you return to CDG airport. It is four lane highway, just like in the US, and the airport and rental return are well signposted. So why not rent a car at the airport? Leaving the airport there is no sign that says, "this is your road", or "you turn here". It can be a mess depending upon where to you are launching yourself. Finding the correct road can be time consuming.

Trains and luggage: Yes, there is overhead storage if your shoulders can handle lifting your baggage that high. And there is generally a rack at one end of the wagon (car) for luggage. It can fill up. Using the rack makes me a bit nervous as I always seem to end up sitting, facing away from the luggage. I feel better with a bungie cord securing the luggage. And I watch when the train stops to see which bags get removed.

Nervous Nellie. I love traveling by train. I also love poking around back roads with a rental.
wayne iNWI

Thanks for the feedback. If traveling by car and stopping to visit the Royal Chateau at Amboise or any other site of interest, are there ever any accomodations for suitcases so we don't have to leave them in the car?

No, you would have to leave suitcases in the car.
Provided everything is hidden in the trunk, I would not worry that much in northern France including the Loire. Just do not leave passports and other valuables in the car.

For what it's worth, I'm packing a bike-chain-combo-lock and will be threading it through the suitcase handles during misc stops en route. I figure if someone breaks in and sees them chained together, they will not bother with the hassel.

After they have already gone through the hassle to break into the car ???

I will just add that if you are going to leave luggage "hidden" in the trunk, do your hiding and stashing many miles from where you end up parking. Don't pull into the parking lot and show the ne'er-do-wells that you are hiding stuff in your trunk.

As far as a train versus a car, it really depends on where you are going. I go to small villages Normandy a lot and can't imagine not having a car—they are simply not served by train or any other public transportation. But if you are only visiting larger places served by a train, and don't want to leave the city center, trains work fine.

I have driven to Normandy and also taken the train. It's a long drive to Normandy, so I preferred taking the train to maximize my time in Normandy. As a previous poster said, take the train to Caen or Bayeux, then rent your car there. You will profit from having a car to tour the smaller sights in this area. Bayeux is a nice town for a home base...close to the sights and not too busy, so it's easy with the car.

I would add that it's best to take the train to Caen and rent your car there. At least five car rental agencies are within walking distance of the train station--Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Sixt, and Enterprise. In Bayeux the only rental agency is a franchise on the outskirts of the town operating out of a gas station.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I do appreciate it. It looks like we will use trains & a car rental.
Day I - Paris, rest acclimate
Day 2 - Day Trip on Train to & back from Fontainbleau Forest & Chateau
Day 3 - Train from Paris to Tours, short train over to Amboise & back to Tours.
Day 4 - Car rental in Tours traveling up through LeMans, Rennes, to Mt. St. Michel.
Day 5 - Flexible , looking for suggestions in the area going west and south. ie. towns, villages, sites where having the car will be advantageous. Somewhere, not neccessarily in the wilderness but where we can experience the ambience of small town away from the big city vibe. We will end up back in Rennes to drop off the car the next day, then train back to Paris. Perhaps this should be posted under a new topic... ?? Thanks

We took the train to Caen and rented a car there for exploring Normandy. We then took a train to Bordeaux and rented a car to explore the Dordogne. It worked out well.