Visiting Normandy

Depends what you want to see but it's a bit of a hike from Paris and I'd be doing an overnighter. My preference to sleep is Caen for a bunch of reasons not the least of which is easy train from Paris, easy city to navigate, and a great spot to rent a car which will be the only way to 'do' Normandy in a couple of days. The D-Day beaches for example are only feasible with either a guide/tour or a rental car (my preference).

Visiting a single destination as a day trip is feasible, but otherwise, you'll need to spend more time, and probably rent a car. Normandy is comparable in size to the state of Delaware.

I vote for spend the night. Once you get there, you will want to see more than you can do by going out and back in one day. I highly recommend La Marine hotel in Arromanches (in Rick's book too). Close to Bayeaux and I think the train goes there.

I would also HIGHLY recommend Overload Tours with guide Alain Chesnal. There is a lot written about them on this site in the forums. You see so much in a very short time.

Don't miss the American Cemetery- very moving.

The memorial in Caen is good, (expensive) and you could spend a whole day there. I didn't enjoy it as much as many people on this board, however, I think I was in WWII overload because we had seen so many other WWII sites on our trip.

Have a great trip!

Not a good day-trip from Paris. A close reading of Geoff's post will be helpful, also the other posts.