Has anyone rented an apartment in Paris and used it as a base and then used rail to make day/overnight trips to other parts of France like Normandy and the wine country?
Matthew
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
Yes, only we trained to Caen and fetched our reserved rental car across the street from the Caen RR station. We drove the 15 miles to Bayeux, stayed there at the Churchill Hotel, and drove all around Normandy, to MSM, about 90 minutes, and the D Day beaches, about 20 minutes. With a car, Normandy and Brittany are at your feet. Driving in Normandy is SO easy and SO delightful, with a GPS and a Michelin map. Keep the apartment or even book two segments of a hotel room so you won't be charged for the apartment you have vacated for a couple nights. Worked for us.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
My personal preference is for an itinerary that moves from place to place without returning repeatedly to Paris. However, France's excellent rail networkof which Paris is the hubcertainly makes this possible. Indeed there is a whole guidebook about seeing Europe by rail, using several central cities as bases. It's just too much time on the train for me, for destinations more than an hour or so from Paris.