Normany/Brittany

Hello Bob,
We did a similar trip in June, 2008. After Paris, we went to Chartres, Chenonceaux, *Carnac, Pont Aven, Quimper, *Ti al Lannec near Trebeurden, *Dinan, St. Malo, Bayeux, Omaha Beach, Rouen, *Les Andeleys, Giverney. We picked up our rental car at Orly, for CDG you might want to reverse the loop. ( designates our overnight stops, each of which was a two-nighter.) If you want more specifics or the names of hotels, let me know.

We did a similar trip in March. Stayed nine days in Paris first so we picked up our car in the outer city. Don't know if it's better to get the car at CDG. Our seven day driving trip consisted of Honfleur (sadly no time for Rouen but it would have been a great one day addition); Bayeux; Mt-St-Michel; day of driving through Concale (must have the fresh oysters), Pointe du Grouin, St.Malo, Dinard and spending two nights in Dinan; visit Fougeres (great castle) on way to Vitre (another interesting castle and chatteau); Chartres; return car in Paris. You can search the net to check out these small castle towns to get ideas. We had a great time. It's an easy loop and you can add or subtract towns. Have fun with your planning.

Get the car at the airport and take it back there unless you're going to be spending time in Paris. Ingess and egress are a piece of cake. Messing with trains has no advantage and only slows you down due to the time required to change modes of transportation. In the amount of time you have, you could probably combine both Cynthia's and Carol's stops. For some odd reason I like Carol's route better, but she missed Carnac and Rouen. As long as you're in Brittany you might as well hit Pointe de Corsen just to day you've done it. The closest grub is probably in Plouarzel (less than five miles east). Now for the bad news. The area doesn't lend itself to multi-night stops (except maybe for Caen/Bayeux). Unless you want to just get a gite and stay in a small village walking around, you have to keep moving. Failure to do so will result in a lot of back-tracking or making endless long loops (picture a kid's drawing of a flower blossom with all the petals).

I did a similar trip last March. The others have given some good advice on logistics. Here are just a few things you can't miss: The American Cemetery in Normandy - If you're seeing the D-Day sights you can't miss this; very powerful The Bayeux Tapestry - Take a break from D-Day stuff to stop by Bayeux. An inexpensive sight that's very impressive. Mont St. Michel - If you are going to be in Brittany you have to take at least half a day to explore this beautiful and unique island/abbey/fortress - it's incredible! Chartres Cathedral - The best stained glass windows I've ever seen. Rouen Cathedral - The town is worth seeing anyway. If you go to the Orsay in Paris and see the Monet's of it, you'll want to see the real thing. I would suggest saving Paris for the end as a grand finale if you can.

Agree with your suggestions - visited them all except for Rouen but hope to go another time. Also passed on the American Cemetary - too powerful. Although we were born towards the end of WWII, the sight of so many crosses, etc. and the loss of life they represent would have been too emotional. We did visit Juno Beach and Arromanches, more low key reminders but not as emotional.

We rented a car from Autoeurope which ended up being Hertz at CDG and drove directly from the airport to Bayeux in Normandy. It was a 3 1/2 hour ride. Easy ride, mostly toll road cruising along about 80mph. We also brought our GPS from home which I'd say is a must when driving in France. Renting is very easy at the airport. Hope this helps.

michael, it seems we all have the same idea. we are paris 5 days. picking up a car in caen to go normandy, etc 2 amboise down to oradour sur glare/limouges on the way to sarlat back to paris.