Day trips out of Paris in Feb.?

In the past (when I was doing my research) the D-Day Tourism industry pretty much closed up shop during the winter months. Having been there in the fall (as was I), you can guess why. Icky, yucky weather. Where exactly is "up there" - Bayeux/Caen/St Lo/etc., one or more of the beaches, one or more cemeteries...? That's a long way for a day trip, especially considering the much shorter days of winter. If they really want to visit an American cemetery IN Paris (OK - just at the outskirts!), they might want to visit Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial. It's a train ride, then a short walk, to these beautiful grounds. Just a suggestion.

That's what I was thinking but wanted to know re: winter for sure. We had gorgeous warm, sunny weather in the fall when we went but we figured since it's in the north on the English Channel, that it could be cloudy, damp, and blustery in the winter, which wouldn't be much fun! They'll just have to go back in a different season some day! Thank you for your response!
Carla

Are you looking at any other day trip possibilities? Or was your only interest in the D-Day beaches?

Open to suggestions! They are already planning on going to Versailles for one day but if you have other suggestions for day trips out of Paris in the winter, we'll gladly take them! Thanks! Giverny is awesome but not right now!
:-) Carla

The basilica in St. Denis.
The cathedral in Chartres.

The basilica at St Denis is historically significant, and I was pretty much the only person there for hours...kinda sad, but nice for Me the Tourist. An easy trip to the end of the metro line!

There's a great book, "Paris To The Past", by Ina Caro, that lists a number of day trips from Paris by train. All of the trips mentioned in the book are two hours or less by train from Paris.
My wife and I took two of the trips that were in the book (Rheims and Compiegne) last year, and had a wonderful time.

Agree with Bets! Both are super. Versailles is also lovely, even in the winter.

I'd second Bets' suggestion. On the D-Day beaches. We were there in late April 2011, we did the tour as a day trip beginning in Paris very early in the morning and returning after 20:00. It was sunny and warm in Paris and pretty much miserable weather in Normandy. If you're interested in History, and particularly WWII (like my wife and I are), even with the bad weather we were glad we did the trip. However, if I were doing it again, I'd rent a car in Paris maybe the night before to get a very early start have a GPS and the coordinates of the areas to visit, then drive back to back to Paris (having arranged where you can return the rental car later in the evening). It will be a very long day. A better option (if you could spend one evening near the coast) would be to drive from Paris in the morning, see the D-Day locations and visit the Museum at the end of the day. Sleep at a place in one of the smaller towns (many suggestions on the Helpline), the next day visit Mont St-Michel then drive back to Paris in the afternoon. The weather will likely not be great in February. I checked The Weather Channel today and the high will be 41°F, 8mph wind and 70% chance of rainmay not be a lot different in February.

Agree with the suggestion of the basilica at St. Denis. And you combine that with a visit to Chateau de Chantilly. I believe you can pick up the RER "D" at St. Denis and get to the chateau in about an hour. Not positive, though, when I went we drove...

I have done many day trips while in Paris, I now just consider Paris as a home base while doing day trips. As has been mentioned above Versailles, Rouen, Reims, Veaux Le Vicomte, Chartres, Fountainbleu, St. Denis are all wonderful places to visit and are all within an hour or two train ride. The area is VERY rich in things to do and see. Enjoy