Paris Airport to Normandy Area.

renting a car at the airport is pretty easy. it's not a long drive to normandy. bayeux is better - smaller, closer to the beach, and real old stuff. everything in caen is new.

Bayeux without a doubt.

For what it's worth, the last time I was through there it was with the former dirctor of a major american military museum and he thought the Bayeux museum was much better than the one at Caen.

Bayeux also has the tapestry. It's well worth the hour or so it will take you to see it.

All trains from Paris to Bayeux depart from Gare Saint-Lazare. Some go directly to Bayeux (with a stop in Caen) and others require a connection in Caen.

It's easier to rent a car in Caen because the pick up point is right by the train station. You might need to take a taxi from the Bayeux train station to the rental point.

My husband and I were just there in May and stayed in Bayeux two nights- we really enjoyed it. We had a rental car and did Rick Steves' recommended driving tour of the D-day beaches and sites. The only time we spent in Caen was at the WWII museum, however just driving by Caen it seemed like a much larger, more industrial city than Bayeux.

Jim, unless you're renting a car to do a bit of Normandy and the American D-Day beaches on your own, no reason to stop or stay in Caen. Bayeux is closer to Omaha/Utah and the hallowed ground of the US cemeteries and is all but intact since WW2 (and the centuries preceding). Caen was all but destroyed during pre D-Day bombing with little remaining from 1944.

The only advantage to stopping (but not staying) in Caen is to pick up a rental car at the Hertz/Avis/etc. outlets opposite the Caen train station and then beating down the road to Bayeux to your hotel; not far. It's a bit trickier for rental car options in Bayeux.

I stay in Caen because of Canadian/family connections to D-Day and the proximity of a WW2 cemetery in Cintheaux but for you, methinks, Bayeux is the right choice. Try the Churchill Hotel and Battlebus Tours in Bayeux and don't forget to see the tapestry at the cathedral. Geoff

I recommend the Hotel D'Argouges in Bayeux. Lovely hotel and great location. Be sure to see the tapestry too.

Thanks everyone. Bayeux it is.