Normandy leisure and luxury

Steve is correct. When I checked the timetables I didn't look late enough into the evening. I did some further checking and found that there is a direct TGV from CDG to Caen that departs at 18:58. And there is a direct TGV from CDG to Rouen that departs at 19:34. However, those are the only ones all day long.

By contrast there are one or more trains/hour from Gare Saint-Lazare to Rouen and trains about every two hours from Gare Saint-Lazare to either Caen or Bayeux.

Tina,

If you end up in Bayeux (and I would personally suggest that), don't miss their Normandy War Museum and the War Cemetery cater-corner from the museum. I thought that the town itself was beautiful, the cathedral gorgeous, and I never got used to seeing all of the "Thank You for Liberating Us" signs in the shop windows and all of the American flags flying everywhere. Normandy is a very unique place.

And I also recommend Battlebus.

I'll recommend 'Le Pommier' restaurant in Bayeux for a special celebration (their menus, photos, etc. at restaurantlepommier.com), but you Do Not Want to stay where I did!!! Luxury, special, ummm, No.

8-P

Tina - There's a special exhibition at Rouen's Musée des Beaux-Arts, A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro and Gauguin in Rouen (June 4-September 26).

I'd put the Bayeux tapestry near the top of my list, along with the DDay beaches and American cemetery.

I agree with Grier, and I'd also add the town of St. Mere Eglise. You might also enjoy a Battlebus Tour, they're very good.

I would also recommend the Battle Bus Tours.

http://www.battlebus.fr/

Although they are in Brittany, Dinan and St. Malo are very close to that part of Normandy. In the other direction, Rouen and Honfleur are both quite interesting. A little googling will help you decide which you might prefer. Our time frame was Dinan and St. Malo four hours each, Rouen and Honfleur three hours each, including a nice lunch. But that's our pace---others will differ.

There are no trains that go directly from CDG to Normandy. You would have to go into Paris and depart from Gare Saint-Lazare. And when you add in the time it takes to get to and from airports, taking the Eurostar from London to Paris is nearly twice as fast as flying. Book your ticket today to get the best fare still available. (The cheapest discount fares will be long gone at this late date, but you'll pay a lot more if you wait until you get to London to buy your ticket.)

The Eurostar arrives at Gare du Nord. Take the RER E from Magenta (attached to Gare du Nord) to Haussmann--Saint-Lazare. It's a four-minute ride and the fare is 1.70 EUR. There is frequent train service from Gare Saint-Lazare to Caen and Bayeux.

We will be in Normandy at the exact same time. There are impressionist art exhibits going on in the area - one at the Bodin museum in Honfleur and the other in Rouen. We will be spending a bit longer there than you but our time will be in Bayeux, Mt. St. Michel, Honfleur and Rouen.

Thank You All !!

Does anyone know of any five-star hotels and a driving service that will give me a fair price and not a fancy one?

Mary is so right, I forgot about the WWII museum in Bayeux. We thought it was the best one of all of them - including the Caen museum which we did not like.

Tina,

I assume you're refering to Bayeux; if not, please come back and correct me! Here's the easiest way for me to do this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187181-Bayeux_Basse_Normandie_Normandy-Hotels.html

Here's a list of Bayeux hotels, and you can see guests' photos, too. Several get rave reviews.

There really aren't that many hotels - this is pretty much an exhaustive list. My suggestion is to start by seeing where you can actually get a reservation (you can get their website addresses from the Trip Advisor pages). For Bayeux, this is very late in the reservations game.

I have no recommedations for a driving service - we took Battlebus tours that pick you up in town, and we stayed in town the rest of the time.

The fact that so many English-speaking visitors go to Bayeux means that you could easily phone/email any of the hotels IN ENGLISH. They very well could help you with a driving service, too.

Tina,

Two years ago my wife talked me into doing a "luxury" chateau stay while in Normandy. Personally, I prefer the usual Rick Steves one-star hotels, but I have to admit that our stay at the Chateau La Cheneviere in Port-en-Bessin was amazing. It's an 18th century chateau in a perfact location with every amenity possible. At 400 euro a night, it better be amazing. One of the highlights was a hot air balloon adventure. Four hours floating over Normandy was a highlight I will always treasure. They also have their own private D-Day tour service. Truely first class!

As an aside, I have a small bet with myself every time that Normandy is the subject of a thread on the message board. The bet is: I pay myself (actually the big Jim Beam bottle sitting in my den)a dollar every time someone pimps "Battlebus Tours." There's at least $400 bucks in that bottle this year alone!

Have a great time!

Ed - I actually pimped 'The Tours' once, merely mentioned them once.

That's only $1 !!!

That WOULD make a great drinking game...Perhaps the hardier constitutions could handle changing beverages for each of the other tour companies...