Advice - Paris - Brittany - Normandy
Aug 25th, 2013, 08:33 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Advice - Paris - Brittany - Normandy
Our reservations have been made and I would appreciate advice about what to do, where to eat, etc. in the areas where we will be staying. Our itinerary is as follows
2 nights / Paris/ near the Montparnasse Train Station
3 nights / Dinan (train to Rennes) / Rental car / Turn it in back in at Versailles after Honfleur (Visit Giverny on the way from Honfleur to Versailles).
2 nights / Bayeux
2 nights / Honfleur
5 nights / Paris / left bank / about 6 blocks SE of Luxemburg Garden and about 5 blocks from the Seine (basically the 5th Arrondissement).
I have done a lot of research, but having never been to several of these places and I would love to have some advice.
In Dinan I have looked at several day trips, but I am concerned that they may be too ambitious and unrealisitic, i.e. A one day trip to Carnac and back. A trip out to Perros-Guirec and back to Dinan,or Dinan to Josselin and Paimpont. We are staying a few B & B's and I'm sure our hosts can give us some advice also. We are planning to visit Mont St. Michel on the way to Bayeux from Dinan. Bayeux is pretty much a given, the D-Day beaches and museums will take almost all of our time. But, in Honfleur should we spend a day going to Etretat and Diepe, or visiting to Deauville and Cobourg (We can handle walking as the many of the places we plan to visit require good mobility).
I realize that without righting a book here about what we like, and what we don't, it might be very difficult for you to know what advice to give. I'll try to keep this brief:
- We will have a car in Brittany and Normandy.
- We enjoy museums.
- As far as restaurants go, curb appeal does not matter much to us, but we like good food! We don't have a checklist of "must places" to eat. The food and the experience trump everything else. We really need help in Paris, but obviously everywhere else also. Many of the best meals we have had have not been in fancy or expensive restaurants.
- Weather will probably affect our decisions of what to do each day (if it rains - we look at museums) - If it is sunny (we don't mind the wind or cool temperatures - we have lived along the coast) we tour places.
We are not much into shopping although the occasional antique shop can be fun.
Well, I did not want ramble. Thank you all for your help. I realize this is an impossible task for you, but I need some help getting focused. Thanks again!
2 nights / Paris/ near the Montparnasse Train Station
3 nights / Dinan (train to Rennes) / Rental car / Turn it in back in at Versailles after Honfleur (Visit Giverny on the way from Honfleur to Versailles).
2 nights / Bayeux
2 nights / Honfleur
5 nights / Paris / left bank / about 6 blocks SE of Luxemburg Garden and about 5 blocks from the Seine (basically the 5th Arrondissement).
I have done a lot of research, but having never been to several of these places and I would love to have some advice.
In Dinan I have looked at several day trips, but I am concerned that they may be too ambitious and unrealisitic, i.e. A one day trip to Carnac and back. A trip out to Perros-Guirec and back to Dinan,or Dinan to Josselin and Paimpont. We are staying a few B & B's and I'm sure our hosts can give us some advice also. We are planning to visit Mont St. Michel on the way to Bayeux from Dinan. Bayeux is pretty much a given, the D-Day beaches and museums will take almost all of our time. But, in Honfleur should we spend a day going to Etretat and Diepe, or visiting to Deauville and Cobourg (We can handle walking as the many of the places we plan to visit require good mobility).
I realize that without righting a book here about what we like, and what we don't, it might be very difficult for you to know what advice to give. I'll try to keep this brief:
- We will have a car in Brittany and Normandy.
- We enjoy museums.
- As far as restaurants go, curb appeal does not matter much to us, but we like good food! We don't have a checklist of "must places" to eat. The food and the experience trump everything else. We really need help in Paris, but obviously everywhere else also. Many of the best meals we have had have not been in fancy or expensive restaurants.
- Weather will probably affect our decisions of what to do each day (if it rains - we look at museums) - If it is sunny (we don't mind the wind or cool temperatures - we have lived along the coast) we tour places.
We are not much into shopping although the occasional antique shop can be fun.
Well, I did not want ramble. Thank you all for your help. I realize this is an impossible task for you, but I need some help getting focused. Thanks again!
Aug 25th, 2013, 09:21 AM
#2
hi crossen,
firstly, i think that you have been right not to be too ambitious - Dinan, Bayeux and Honfleur make very nice bases for gentle sightseeing and touring.
regarding your day trips from Dinan, have you looked at google maps or similar to give you some distances and driving times?
if you use the "get directions" function, it will tell you that Paimpol is just over an hour from Dinan, and Carnac about 2 hours. Should you decide to go to Paimpol [which is a lovely little port] on a Thursday, you'll find that it's market day in St. Brieuc - well worth an hour or so. Carnac we found on a recent trip to the area to be only so-so, but we really liked Vannes where we spent 3 nights. [again, markets on Tuesday and Saturday].
The same applies to your proposed excursions from Honfleur - only you know whether you want to drive that far or just pootle around in the immediate area. the good thing is that you don't need to decide til you get there!
THere are lots of threads about restaurants in Paris - not so much in these other places but the michelin guide is pretty reliable, or just wander around til you find somewhere full of locals, or ask in your hotel.
have a great trip!
firstly, i think that you have been right not to be too ambitious - Dinan, Bayeux and Honfleur make very nice bases for gentle sightseeing and touring.
regarding your day trips from Dinan, have you looked at google maps or similar to give you some distances and driving times?
if you use the "get directions" function, it will tell you that Paimpol is just over an hour from Dinan, and Carnac about 2 hours. Should you decide to go to Paimpol [which is a lovely little port] on a Thursday, you'll find that it's market day in St. Brieuc - well worth an hour or so. Carnac we found on a recent trip to the area to be only so-so, but we really liked Vannes where we spent 3 nights. [again, markets on Tuesday and Saturday].
The same applies to your proposed excursions from Honfleur - only you know whether you want to drive that far or just pootle around in the immediate area. the good thing is that you don't need to decide til you get there!
THere are lots of threads about restaurants in Paris - not so much in these other places but the michelin guide is pretty reliable, or just wander around til you find somewhere full of locals, or ask in your hotel.
have a great trip!
Aug 25th, 2013, 10:15 AM
#4
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,552
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I can give you some links to look through to help you with ideas. For your time in Dinan you can look at my photo report about spending 5 days exploring that area. At the end of the report are links to every major tourist office website in Brittany: http://tinyurl.com/82azcyh
Tourist office websites are one of the best travel planning resources for vacationing in France. They'll tell you all about what to see and do in a town and its environs as well as info about any sort of tourist related question/activity (food, restaurants, hiking, leisure, sports, gastronomy, local products etc.).
I really love Carnac but it is a 2-1/4 hour drive from Dinan. If it is an absolute must see for you then go for it. But there are so many places closer to Dinan worth visiting that don't require so much driving. I was rather unimpressed with Paimpont and its forest (Merlin legends). Paimpont consists of about 3 or 4 small streets. Josselin is a lovely place but still an hour and a half from Dinan. Ultimately I think you'll have to decide what is worth it for you because what do I know about how you want to spend your vacation.
If you feel like it you can look at this link, which will discuss some of the well known and less well known places you can visit in the various part of Brittany. It's broken down region by region.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#37748007
For Normandy you can look at this link which covers the main sites in Lower Normandy from Giverny in the east to Bayeux in the west and has links to all the important tourist office websites:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#39058384
You might consider touring the Pays d'Auge, the cheese and cidre area south of Honfleur. It is quite a pretty area and many of the places of note to visit here are noted in the above thread. There is also a link to a photo album I made about exploring this area so you can see some pictures.
Etretat is lovely but I wouldn't bother with Dieppe. If you're in Etretat then go to nearby Fécamp instead of Dieppe.
http://www.etretat.net/office-de-tou...p?page=accueil
http://www.fecamptourisme.com/
It is a one hour drive to Etretat from Honfleur. If you're going to explore closer to Honfleur then I wouldn't bother with Cabourg as it's not terribly interesting when compared to Deauville and Trouville. I like Trouville better than Deauville but they are adjacent to each other and only separated by a harbor so you can easily walk between them.
Tourist office websites are one of the best travel planning resources for vacationing in France. They'll tell you all about what to see and do in a town and its environs as well as info about any sort of tourist related question/activity (food, restaurants, hiking, leisure, sports, gastronomy, local products etc.).
I really love Carnac but it is a 2-1/4 hour drive from Dinan. If it is an absolute must see for you then go for it. But there are so many places closer to Dinan worth visiting that don't require so much driving. I was rather unimpressed with Paimpont and its forest (Merlin legends). Paimpont consists of about 3 or 4 small streets. Josselin is a lovely place but still an hour and a half from Dinan. Ultimately I think you'll have to decide what is worth it for you because what do I know about how you want to spend your vacation.
If you feel like it you can look at this link, which will discuss some of the well known and less well known places you can visit in the various part of Brittany. It's broken down region by region.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#37748007
For Normandy you can look at this link which covers the main sites in Lower Normandy from Giverny in the east to Bayeux in the west and has links to all the important tourist office websites:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#39058384
You might consider touring the Pays d'Auge, the cheese and cidre area south of Honfleur. It is quite a pretty area and many of the places of note to visit here are noted in the above thread. There is also a link to a photo album I made about exploring this area so you can see some pictures.
Etretat is lovely but I wouldn't bother with Dieppe. If you're in Etretat then go to nearby Fécamp instead of Dieppe.
http://www.etretat.net/office-de-tou...p?page=accueil
http://www.fecamptourisme.com/
It is a one hour drive to Etretat from Honfleur. If you're going to explore closer to Honfleur then I wouldn't bother with Cabourg as it's not terribly interesting when compared to Deauville and Trouville. I like Trouville better than Deauville but they are adjacent to each other and only separated by a harbor so you can easily walk between them.
Aug 26th, 2013, 07:29 AM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you all very much. In the spring I started working on this trip and I began using this forum for the first time and I received some wonderful advice and I took much of that information to heart as I began creating this itinerary. I looked at one of your trip reports FMT about your a holiday near Dinard. From that report I notoced that menhirs were scattered throughout Brittany an that maybe we didn't need to drive all the way down to Carnac to see them.
We probably would have not chosen to spend as much time in Brittany except for the fact that we are very proud of our Celtic ancestry. Also, we are not fond of crowds and we thought Brittany might give us a few days of wandering around without the crowds, but we have friends who enjoy traveling on tours and they told us that on one of their tours their buss stopped in Rochefort-en-Terre and Josselin so maybe our thoughts about getting away from the crowds and tour busses in Brittany are a bit naive. I think the British Film festival is beng held in Dinard on the weekend we arrive in Dinan (October 5) so we thought a drive inland or down to Carnac might be less crowded. Mont St. Michel and Bayeux will probalby both be crowded than along the coast. We want to see Dinard and St. Malo so maybe a drive up the Rance River Valley on Monday might be the way to go.
Also, maybe visiting Mont St. Michele and the D-Day area beaches on weekdays in October might cut down on the number of people visiting those areas, but I don't know. Thanks for the advice about the Pays's d'Auge. It sounds very intersting.
We probably would have not chosen to spend as much time in Brittany except for the fact that we are very proud of our Celtic ancestry. Also, we are not fond of crowds and we thought Brittany might give us a few days of wandering around without the crowds, but we have friends who enjoy traveling on tours and they told us that on one of their tours their buss stopped in Rochefort-en-Terre and Josselin so maybe our thoughts about getting away from the crowds and tour busses in Brittany are a bit naive. I think the British Film festival is beng held in Dinard on the weekend we arrive in Dinan (October 5) so we thought a drive inland or down to Carnac might be less crowded. Mont St. Michel and Bayeux will probalby both be crowded than along the coast. We want to see Dinard and St. Malo so maybe a drive up the Rance River Valley on Monday might be the way to go.
Also, maybe visiting Mont St. Michele and the D-Day area beaches on weekdays in October might cut down on the number of people visiting those areas, but I don't know. Thanks for the advice about the Pays's d'Auge. It sounds very intersting.
Aug 26th, 2013, 08:56 AM
#6
Dieppe is a bit of a dump, so avoid.
Paimpol is a lovely little port (I learnt to sail there)
TI in Dinan used to do a self guided walking tour of the old (upper) town, I'd certainly spend time understanding the old buildings.
Driving around Britanny can be a bit of a faff, but you may miss out by not going to Fougeres (accent in there somewhere) with its old castle (one of the line the Duchess had between Britanny and France).
St Malo (when you get there just pay to park under the town, to the left as you drive up) it saves all the looking around for the spare space.
Other than that FMT's advice is pretty spot on
Paimpol is a lovely little port (I learnt to sail there)
TI in Dinan used to do a self guided walking tour of the old (upper) town, I'd certainly spend time understanding the old buildings.
Driving around Britanny can be a bit of a faff, but you may miss out by not going to Fougeres (accent in there somewhere) with its old castle (one of the line the Duchess had between Britanny and France).
St Malo (when you get there just pay to park under the town, to the left as you drive up) it saves all the looking around for the spare space.
Other than that FMT's advice is pretty spot on
Aug 26th, 2013, 09:45 AM
#7
crossen - I, like bilbo, thought you were talking about Paimpol, but I see that FMT has repeated your spelling, so I looked up Paimpont, and discovered that there is indeed a place south of Rennes with that name.
question is, why you think you want to go there? it's not on any tourist radar that I'm aware of, and as neither Bilbo or I have heard of it, it's somewhere possibly that one tends to come across rather than go to.
I think that there are probably other places that would be more rewarding, given the limited amount of time you have to Dinan.
like Paimpol for example!
question is, why you think you want to go there? it's not on any tourist radar that I'm aware of, and as neither Bilbo or I have heard of it, it's somewhere possibly that one tends to come across rather than go to.
I think that there are probably other places that would be more rewarding, given the limited amount of time you have to Dinan.
like Paimpol for example!
Aug 26th, 2013, 06:30 PM
#8
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,117
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Given your interest in the Celtic history of Brittany, you might want to visit some of the Parish Closes with their astounding stone carvings. (I was particularly impressed with Saint Thégonnec and Guimiliau.) You've already mentioned Carnac and surrounding menhirs etc. And I thought the Museum of Brittany in Rennes well worth seeing.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Aug 26th, 2013, 10:21 PM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,962
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds great to me! 6 of us pretty much did the same thing a couple of years ago, picking up the car at the Rennes train station and heading up to MSM etc.
Dinan is one of my favorite Breton towns. Enjoy! You might also consider a drive on the northern coast, much more "sauvage" than the southern coast of Brittany. Ploumanach and its red rocks, and Forte La Latte is something special to visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort-la-Latte
Dinan is one of my favorite Breton towns. Enjoy! You might also consider a drive on the northern coast, much more "sauvage" than the southern coast of Brittany. Ploumanach and its red rocks, and Forte La Latte is something special to visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort-la-Latte
Aug 27th, 2013, 09:50 AM
#10
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It is an hour out of the way, but if you are the museum type (as we are), the detour to Chartres for the Cathedral on the drive back to Paris may be worth it.
There is a German War Cemetery near Mont St Michel.
Recommend the restaurant at Hotel de la Croix d'Or in Avranches.
There is a German War Cemetery near Mont St Michel.
Recommend the restaurant at Hotel de la Croix d'Or in Avranches.
Aug 28th, 2013, 05:20 AM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The advice about skipping Dieppe is really a help. That will save us a lot of time. I'm sure I must have spelled the name of a place incorrectly. I was thinking of Paimpol. I had been reading about the Cote de Granite Rose and I was looking at Paimpol being on the way.
Chartres is a great suggestion. We had thought of taking the train to Chartres, then picking up a rental car and doing a great circle route out to Dinan, etc., and after visiting Giverny we would drive down to Chartres and turn the car back in. At the last minute I decided to take the train to Rennes to save time and after our travels to just drop it of at the Versailles Train Station. Then we could take a train back to the Montparnasse Station and a cab to our hotel.
We have also been thinking about driving through Rouen on the way to Giverny and back to Versailles. It seems like this would not take us much out of the way and Rouen sounds like a wonderful city also. My biggest concern with that is that the rental car needs to be turned in by 4:00PM on a Saturday. I am not sure how long it will take to travel to Rouen (and spend some time) and Giverny (and spend some time) and get back to Versailles by 4:00PM. We might be trying to do too much. Thank you for your help.
Chartres is a great suggestion. We had thought of taking the train to Chartres, then picking up a rental car and doing a great circle route out to Dinan, etc., and after visiting Giverny we would drive down to Chartres and turn the car back in. At the last minute I decided to take the train to Rennes to save time and after our travels to just drop it of at the Versailles Train Station. Then we could take a train back to the Montparnasse Station and a cab to our hotel.
We have also been thinking about driving through Rouen on the way to Giverny and back to Versailles. It seems like this would not take us much out of the way and Rouen sounds like a wonderful city also. My biggest concern with that is that the rental car needs to be turned in by 4:00PM on a Saturday. I am not sure how long it will take to travel to Rouen (and spend some time) and Giverny (and spend some time) and get back to Versailles by 4:00PM. We might be trying to do too much. Thank you for your help.
Aug 28th, 2013, 05:42 AM
#12
Rouen has a cathedral, a square where the Burgundians burnt Joan of Arc (long swept up now) and some river/canal junctions. The road down the Seine from Giverney is worth a drive (either side) but I hesitate to say "go to Rouen it will be great" so I'd drop it in favour of just stumbling upon a little restaurant on the Seine.
Aug 28th, 2013, 05:47 AM
#13
. It seems like this would not take us much out of the way and Rouen sounds like a wonderful city also. My biggest concern with that is that the rental car needs to be turned in by 4:00PM on a Saturday. I am not sure how long it will take to travel to Rouen (and spend some time) and Giverny (and spend some time) and get back to Versailles by 4:00PM. We might be trying to do too much.>
I think that you are taking on too much there. you will regret having so little time in Rouen - it's lovely and very interesting. sadly there is never time for everything that we want to do, wherever we go.
I think that you are taking on too much there. you will regret having so little time in Rouen - it's lovely and very interesting. sadly there is never time for everything that we want to do, wherever we go.
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
crossen
Europe
14
Jun 26th, 2013 05:45 AM
