Driving in France

I can help you out on #2 and #3. Parking at MSM can be a nightmare depending on the day (weekends or holidays or if school is out) with cars lined up for a couple of miles waiting to park by late morning. Time of day counts as well so go early if at all possible and beat the hordes from the tour buses. The car returns for Hertz and others are right across the street from the Caen railroad station so it won't be a problem. Use GoogleEarth street view to see the RR station and the rental return office. MSM takes about two hours maximum to see it all and the drive to the American Cemetery is about 2-2.5 hours from MSM if you take the motorway to near Bayeux then on over to the beaches. That will be a very full day for you and the Cemetery took us 4-5 hours to fully appreciate. You might consider spending a night in Bayeux to see the 1066 Norman Conquest tapestry and relax prior to returning the car and on to Paris.

Q1: Yes there is a taxi stand at the ferry terminal, you might have to wait in line but it's no big deal. RS talks pretty extensively about parking at MSM. Getting there as early as possible is probably a good strategy for parking. Q3: The Hertz location in Caen appears to be right next to the train station, walking it shouldn't be a problem at all.

Thanks George and Sarah. My ferry arrives at 8:15am, so by the time we get the car and drive to MSM, we'll be lucky to arrive much before 10am. The good news, though, is that we are doing this mid-week (non-holiday) and high tide is ~6:15am.

Car rental at Caen is exactly across the street from the train station. MSM parking might not be what you think. I thought it was already, but somebody else posted at the end of April: the parking lot at the mont end of the causeway is being taken out and you will now park somewhere on the landward end and take a shuttle. If it's still were it was when you arrive, you can't miss it - - right hand side at the mont end of the causeway. And for what it's worth, it doesn't flood (nor does the one reserved for hotel guests) even on high springs in a storm - - spray, maybe, but that's all.

Thanks Pensacola. We are arriving mid-April, and according to MSM's site, the new parking goes live late April. Any recommendations for lunch?

Lunch: anywhere but on the mont.

yeah, eat somewhere after you've toured MSM in the morning. all the restaurants there are overpriced, most are terrible, and they will be crowded.

For lunch we drove around the bay to Cancale and ate scrumptous seafood right on the waterfront with MSM clearly visible across the bay. It's about 10-12 easy miles around the bay and Cancale is famous for oysters. Lots of great restaurants along the quay and they stop serving lunch I think at 2PM.

'It's about 10-12 easy miles around the bay' It's closer to thirty miles from MSM to Cancale and it takes the better part of an hour. If you go the shorter way (through the fields) you shave a couple or three miles and it takes way the heck over an hour. 'MSM clearly visible across the bay' It's fifteen sea miles from Cancale to MSM which is about five hundred feet high. It's probably visible on a clear day, but it sure wouldn't be impressive.

I stand corrected by Mr. Ed. It is 45 kilometers, around 28 easy miles from MSM to Cancale. Every time we make the drive it's so pleasant it just seems closer. I suppose if you piddle along at speeds that make you a menace to other drivers the trip might take an hour. The view from the waterfront cafes all the times we've eaten at Cancale is impressive with MSM clearly visible across the bay. I suppose it wouldn't be visible nor impressive on a foggy or stormy day but then you wouldn't be eating outside anyway. The seafood and the view from all the waterfront cafes is worth the drive at any rate.

There must be a two Cancales or something. The one I'm thinking of has all the places to eat close to the water along a path that looks like an inverted 'L' with a short base. Most are actually along the longer, vertical leg. Between the restaurants and the water is a parking lot that is three or four cars deep - - sometimes there's a bunch of buses in it. There isn't really a quai, just a sidewalk along the little, ungated harbor so you can smell the muck when the tide is out. Regarding the driving time: both google and michelin say it's over fifty minutes from MSM. Regarding the mass vs distance an visibility: google earth says I was wrong and it's closer to sixteen statute miles; I just walked outside and looked down my bay at a group of high-rise condos of about the same bulk that are twelve miles away. It's a clear day here - - they were fuzzy and I could cover them all with a fingernail at arm's length. There's nothing wrong with the Cancale I know, it's just not much of a destination. Besides that, the mussels are better than the oysters, anyhow.