Normandy Region or Alcase Region

You will be traveling with kids?? They may not be interested in MSM, the Loire, or Normanday. Would four nights in Paris, two in Bruges, and four in Amsterdam work? Starting in Paris and then returning to Paris seems wasteful of your precious travel nights.

My family started traveling all around France when I was 4 yrs old (we lived in Paris) and I loved Mont St. Michel, Normandy and the Loire at that age! What child doesn't like a magical island and chateaux? You could easily spend all your time in Paris, especially with all the wonderful day trip options, and not get to see/do everything. I'm not good at figuring out itineraries for people, but luckily lots of people on the Helpline are and hopefully will respond. In Paris for kids: Luxembourg Gardens (amazing playground, donkey rides, marionette shows, carousel, boat sailing on pond, cotton candy, ice cream), Jardin d'Acclimatation (old fashioned, very French, low key amusement park), Tuilleries Gardens (carnival rides), stairs to the top of Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Sewer tour, Catacombs, street entertainers at night by Notre Dame and day and night on the pedestrian bridge behind Notre Dame, Fat Tire Bike Tours in Paris or to Giverny or Versailles, Pastries, Crepes, Seine boat rides, Hop-On Hop-Off bus, the Metro, Napoleon's Tomb and Military Museum... Fun Day Trips: Vaux-le-Vicomte (castle with wonderful grounds, stables, cafe, gift shop - was in the film "Man in the Iron Mask" w/Leonardo diCaprio), Fontainebleau, Giverny (you can rent bikes at the train station if you'd like), Versailles (especially the grounds), Rouen, Chantilly, Chartres, Provins, Parc Asterix...

First, 10 nights in total is better than 0 nights in total IMO. I would say to take the trip. Mont St Michel and Normandy are one area. THe Loire is another area. Alsace is a third. I think it's unrealistic to try to do MSM, Normandy and Loire in 4 days. What ages are your kids? Mine have been to MSM, Normandy, Alsace and Brugges. You know which one they didn't like - Brugges. They enjoyed Normandy more than we expected (and we had high hopes), thoroughly enjoyed the Loire, were kinda "meh" on Alsace - with the exception of a trip across the border to Germany to enjoy Europa Park which is one of their highlights of all their travels in France. I'd be happy to go into more details about what you can do in any and all of the areas if you need. And depending on their ages, the parks in Paris may not appeal. They are geared more towards the little ones, and once the kids are 10+, they may not find them interesting. But there's still tons to interest them.

Thank you for your responses. I should have clarified that I am traveling with two teenage girls 17 and hubby. I really liked your ideas about Amsterdam or just staying in Paris and doing day trips and not being so rushed. Maybe I should wait until she's in college and go in September mmmmmhhh that might be and idea...... I could than do a month! I think I need to give this some more thought.

Yes, most all of my family is from Germany. I have been to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy. In 2015 I will be going to Germany again visiting family, Czech, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Montenegro. I am trying to squeeze a trip to France; however for only 10 nights I'm thinking I should wait and go when I have more time and without teenagers. Missing Europe.....
Still on the bucket list is France, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Belgium, etc..

Almost all of my trips to Europe are only 10 days (that's all I can usually get). The trick to making this work is to limit, strictly, how much ground I cover in that time. So, Paris and 1-2 other close-by places works well, but more does not. You can see Paris and (some of) Normandy, or Paris and the Loire Valley, or Paris and Alsace, or Paris/Bruges/Amsterdam, but you can only do one of these and still have a good time. Since you know you will return, just plan to see other places on a future trip. Which places you should see will depend on your and your family's interests. Before committing to any itinerary, research train travel times on the Bahn website: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en and driving times on the Viamichelin website: http://www.viamichelin.com/. Make sure the travel times are acceptable to you, and that you include these in your planning (if it takes 5 hours to drive from one hotel to the next, that's most of the sightseeing day gone). One other thing to consider. While Paris is my favorite city, there's no rule that says you have to go there. If other parts of France draw you more on this trip, you can see them this time, and see Paris another time.

These are all feasible options. It depends on what your family is up for. That includes Amsterdam (if you fly open jaw) or even London (open jaw). I would be a little concerned about the weather in Normandy in April. This is less of an issue in cities, where there's great stuff to do indoors. If you are flexible you can travel without reservations and make your decision on the ground based on weather reports.

I'd consider a loop out of Paris to Normandy (including Mont St Michel), then down to the Loire Valley. It's a bit of driving and as pointed out above the weather could be hit-or-miss, but if you give it 4 or 5 days, this is feasible (I did it in less, but then I drive like a madman). If time in school for the kids is a constraint that's really quashing your plans, maybe it would be OK to have them miss a day (or two) at the beginning/end of the trip. I know this is blasphemy in some circles, but most kids I know would learn a lot more on an extra day in Europe than they would in one more day in their school. Just sayin' if you need to tweak something to make it work...