Traveling Paris, Normandy, London

Normandy is quite a large area, as a quick look at a map will attest, so it would be helpful to know where in Normandy you are heading. This information is necessary to advise you about trains either from the airport (presumably CDG and not Orly?) or Paris proper, and hotels as well, of course.. Also "reasonably priced" is too vague ... give your price range in dollars or euros. There are 2 modes of transportation from Normandy to Paris, it can be either train or rental car, and again the route would depend on where in Normandy you will be. So can you fill us in on the missing details?

Thank you for your response to my questions. As far as site seeing in Normandy we would like a tour of the D-Day beaches and the American Cemetery as well as Mont-Saint-Michel. If we plan to spend just two days there, is this enough time to tour the historical sites? We would like to spend no more than $120.00 per night for a hotel. We are flying into CDG and would prefer to take the train to Normandy but we do not know what train to take and where our final destination should be. Do most of the hotels arrange tours in the area? We would appreciate any recommendations and suggestions as well as advise on travel warnings or things to be leery of.

Janet: So far as I know, there are no TGVs to Normandy,only regular trains. Given the shortness of the trip, that shouldn't make any difference. To tour Normandy, your best bet is probably to train from the Gare St Lazare in Paris to Caen. Next to the Caen rail station are several car rental places. You could then drive to Bayeux (the best hotel base for the area) and tour the sights at your own pace. If you do not want to rent a car, then train to Caen as before and either continue on or change to a train for Bayeux. Stay at a hotel in Bayeux and take one of the Battlebus tours. Rick Steves' France guide has full details on all this, and you should buy a copy ASAP. At least take notes in a bookstore on it. Returning back to London from Normandy you will either need to train to Paris (Gare St Lazare) and taxi/Metro over to the Gare du Nord for the Eurostar to London, OR if driving, drive to Calais or Lille, drop the car, and take the Eurostar to London. While there is a train station at CDG airport, it does not offer service to Normandy...you will have to go in to Paris and change trains. One alternative, if you had more time, would be to TGV from the airport to Tours-St Pierre des Corps TGV in the Loire, rent a car there, and drive to Normany, returning the car at Caen. But to do this at a reasonable pace, seeing things in the Loire and Normandy that you want to see, you would need at least 6 days. Hope this is helpful...keep watching, as Lee and Tim are the real experts, and their advice would be very helpful.

Roe and Ed have given you very good information. If you limit yourselves to the D-Day beaches and Mont-St-Michel, you can get everywhere by train and bus. That way you won't have to pay for a car rental day while you're taking a D-Day tour. Battlebus only offers full-day tours and requires that you spend the night before a tour within 50 miles of Bayeux. Book your tour well in advance at www.battlebus.fr. Here's what I would suggest as an itinerary. Take the RER B from CDG to Gare du Nord, walk through the connecting tunnels to the Magenta RER station, and take the RER E to Haussmann Saint-Lazare. Walk to Gare Saint-Lazare. Take either the 10:10 or the 12:10 train to Bayeux and check into a hotel there. As time allows, see the Bayeux tapestry and/or visit the WWII museum. (There is also a WWII museum in Caen.) On the 15th take a Battlebus tour and spend a second night in Bayeux. On the 16th take the 07:30 train from Bayeux to Pontorson-Mont-St-Michel. Take either a bus or a taxi from the station to Mont-St-Michel. Return to Paris the same day by SNCF bus and train in time to catch a Eurostar train to London. If you leave Mont-St-Michel (not Pontorson) by bus at 14:30 and connect to a train in Rennes, you'll arrive at Paris Montparnasse at 18:20, in time to catch the 20:13 Eurostar which departs from Gare du Nord. You can take Metro line 4 directly from Montparnasse-Bienvenue to Gare du Nord. Be aware that you are required to check in for the Eurostar at least 30 minutes before departure and you will have to go through security. If you want to have time for dinner after you get back to Paris, take the 21:13 Eurostar to London. You could spend a week in London and not even begin to scratch the surface. Most major museums are free. What are your interests?

Thank you for the information. It is very helpful.

Actually, there is a tgv that runs from CDG to Normandy with stops in Rouen and Le Havre. Mentioned only if you wanted to say you've ridden a tgv. I don't think the schedule is that good, however, and you'd have to do some switching around at Rouen. Odds are that St Lazare to Caen is the fastest and most convenient. Unless there's a huge savings in cataching the eurostar at Calais (or you want to see something enroute), the drive from Caen to Paris is about an hour shorter than the drive from Caen to Calais. I think I'd just take the train back to St Lazare and work from there.