Just got back from 13 days in France for a graduation trip for our daughter and best friend. Cannot thank the forum advisors for all the great information. Here's the basics of what we experienced ... Started off in Paris for 6 days in an apartment at the Palais Royal near the Louvre - great location, adorable apartment, and super beneficial with four adults on different time zones and different waking habits (I am an early riser and could not get others up, even in Paris, so I did a bit of early morning exploring/shopping on my own!).
We exchanged money in the airport using the CapitalOne 360 debit card. That is one slick card - no additional fees on the exchange rate, super easy to transfer money immediately from our banking account. The Travelex ATM in the airport had a terrible rate (the way they get their fees), but all other ATMs were at banks, and were reasonable.
Rained a bit every day, so that was a bit of a bummer. We still made due, but I ended up buying 2 umbrellas to use instead of our light weight rain jackets. The humidity was a killer with the jackets on, and just the umbrella worked out great. I have a backpack that has a separate compartment on the bottom, which worked out well for the umbrellas - wet or dry, they were easily accessible.
We got the Navigo Decouverte card and it was great! So easy to use on the metro, buses, and the RER to Versailles. Definitely worth the money. Also got the Paris Museum Pass - that was also great. Did not make it to all the museums we wanted, but still ended up saving about $20 each.
We did three Paris Walks tours - Louvre, Montmartre, and Chocolate. Was not as impressed with the Louvre one as I wanted to be; the other two were superb! Girls did the Paris Catacombs and loved it (purchased tickets in advance, saved a ton of time!). We also bought tickets in advance for the Eiffel Tower and L'Atelier Luminares (Van Gough experience). Both were fabulous and well worth the time, plus getting tickets in advance was key.
Biggest success in my book was our trip to Versailles. We left the apartment at about 11:30a, got right on the 12:00p RER to Versailles, walked off the train at 12:35, went to a great lunch spot in town prior to entering the Versailles grounds. Once on-site, line was HUGE; did not even ask for the Museum Pass entrance. Went straight to gardens and Trianons, then back to palace for touring - absolutely NO line! Walked right in about 5:00, and was able to stop, look, take pics, etc. without any shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. With the audio guide, we were done about 6:15. Only thing we "missed" was the closed souvenir station just before the Hall of Mirrors, which we did not need anyway.
Rented a car in the middle of Paris to drive out to Bayuex and Amboise - left on Sunday morning and would have been fine, except got blocked in by a marathon that morning, and delayed leaving by an hour. That did affect our stop at Giverny - got there mid-day and it was PACKED. Did not even bother going into the house as the line was so long to get in, not just the tickets. The gardens were glorious, though, and captivated our time while there.
Stayed at Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux - great place, wonderful service, comfortable rooms and beds. Took a full day Normandy tour through Overlord Tours - very good tour with a large group - total of 15. Raining, but a good tour. Had some concern with the crowds as it was just after the anniversary festivities, but all worked out well. Changed plans the next day to do some shopping and tour the Tapestry instead of going to Mont St. Michel - as others have said, saving it for the next trip!
Last stop was at Chateau du Pray for a night in Amboise (absolutely INCREDIBLE!), then Chenonceau chateau - beautiful touring, even though it rained there as well. A great cap to our fabulous trip! Sorry for the long length, but it was a great trip!