Our flight comes into CDG early in the morning and our plan is to take the train to Caen then rent a car and drive to Bayeaux. Wake the next morning and tour the DDay beaches all day. The next day we plan on driving to MSM in the morning and then drive back to Caen and take a late train back to Paris, where we will spend 5 days before traveling down to Provence. Is it doable to drive to MSM and back from Bayeaux and then take the train to Paris all in one day?
Posted by
partout
71 posts
Yes, definitely doabole. I was done with MSM after two after hours. Trains between Caen/Paris are rather frequent, and run well into the evening.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"Is it doable to drive to MSM and back from Bayeaux and then take the train to Paris all in one day?" Yes. Just try to get to Mont St. Michel before 10 in the morning, when the first tour busses start vomiting the daytrippers onto the Mont's narrow streets.
Posted by
Stafford, Virginia, USA
143 posts
I don't understand why you would want to take the train to Caen and then drive to Bayeux? Why not take the train all the way to Bayeux - it's just the next stop past Caen. And you can rent a car right at the Bayeux train station. Check it out.
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
We did much the same thing two years ago. We fetched our reserved rental car right across the street from the Caen RR station from EuropCar, then drove to our hotel in Bayeux. We didn't rent in Bayeux at that time because the rental agency there was too far from the RR station, but maybe it's changed now. The larger of the 3 agencies at Caen had a greater ion of cars, were open longer hours in the evening, and also on Saturdays.
If you arise early and get on the road to MSM, you can arrive before the tour busses, about 2 hours there via the motorway from Bayeux. Two hours max at MSM and you should be on your way back to Caen to catch your train to Paris. We stayed an additional night in Bayeux, arose around 0700 and easily made our way to return the rental car and walked across the street to catch our train to Paris. Just be sure to top off the gas or diesel near Bayeux, where the traffic is so much less. You can do it with ease.
Posted by
Northridge, CA, USA
124 posts
it's totally doable, I did it last year. But I agree with Tom, go all the way to Bayeaux
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9222 posts
So, after a trans-Atlantic flight from California, you will then ride a couple of hours on a train, and then get in a car and drive? Does this not sound a bit dangerous, driving while so fatigued? Consider taking the train all the way to Bayeux, stay overnight, and take one of the wonderful tours on offer here, that will show you many more things than what you would probably see on your own, then rent your car to go out to MSM the next day.