Paris to Honfleur to Bayeux

Where will you be driving from? If it is Paris, I urge you to reconsider your plan to drive to Bayeux via Honfleur--you'll be spending most of the day in the car.

Honfleur is lovely, though (and makes a great overnight stop). But maybe it doesn't work with your itinerary.

The museum you mention sounds like the Peace Museum in Caen, which is not too far from Bayeux. It is worth a visit. You may want to save it as your "inclement weather" activity.

Have a great trip!

Sorry - I wasn't very clear. We are renting the car in Paris on Sun morning and our destination is Bayeux (we'll be there for two nights). Our "plan" was to drive to Bayeux via Honfleur. I was thinking we'd stop and see the museum in Arromanches. The next day, Monday, the plan was to see the beaches and Point du Hoc and I'd like to drive up to Barfleur. Then, the next day - Tues - we drive back to Paris.

So, all that is set in stone is we have 2 days to explore Normandy and we're staying in Bayeux and we have a car and there are three of us and one of us is an 8 year old boy.

Any itinerary suggestions? Pretty scenic roads, charming town, short hikes, places we can get a tasty lunch?

How about train to Caen from Paris, rent car in Caen, do your thing in Normandy, and back to Paris on train. With a youngster along, IMO, you don't want the car drive from Paris (especially the getting out of Paris part) and the time saved will allow a few snifters of Calvados upon arrival in Normandy.

I don't know how your 8-year-old will do in the car, but the drive from Paris to Bayeux via Honfleur is doable. DH and I did it last June.

It took us longer to get the car and get out of Paris than I hoped, so our lunch in Honfleur was late--about 2pm. We drove along the coast (D513/D514) which is quite leisurely as the roads are small (though not overly twisty) and you do have to slow down when going through all the towns. We visited the Pegasus Bridge museum--I'd recommend that as the original bridge and lots of jeeps and guns are on the grounds. After the Pegasus Bridge we stuck to the "freeway", went around Caen and arrived at our B&B in Bayeux in the early evening, with time to settle into our room and chat with the hosts a bit before heading out to dinner.

If you get the car and get out of Paris by mid-morning, and break up the trip with stops in some of the coastal towns and/or the Pegasus museum, your child should do okay and it will be a nice day in Normandy.

Geoff - that was our original plan but a Sunday car rental was tough to find. We plan to pick up our rental car at 10:00 am.