Normandy -- Scenic Driving Routes?

I'm starting to fine tune our Normandy trip planned for the last full week in July. I'm anticipating this being a fairly casual pace for us and our itinerary will be quite flexible.

Quick recap: family of 4 (DD13, DS10) driving down from the UK.

Day 1 (Saturday): drive via Eurotunnel arrive in Rouen around 3 pm. Check-in, walk around, see some Joan of Arc sites.

Day 2: finish off Rouen sites by mid-day. Scenic drive #1 to Bayeux. (Stay in Bayeux for the remainder of trip).

Days 3-6:
Caen Memorial / Bayeux Tapestry + Cathedral
MSM (Scenic drive #2)
Guided D-Day beaches (full day private tour)
Pays D'Auge (Scenic drive #3)

Day 7: Honfleur, coastal drive, etc. -- return to Caen (Ouistreham) by 8 pm for overnight ferry back to UK.

Lodging and transportation are set. I have a few books including the Michelin Green Guide (which I find hard to use; must be in the minority) and various Michelin regional and locals maps.

For scenic drive #1 (Rouen to Bayeux), I thought we would visit a few abbeys (St Martin de Boscherville, Jumieges, etc.) and then head on to Bayeux. Any other recommendations?

For MSM, we will leave early to get there early and we will likely have some time in the afternoon. Suggestions for a more leisurely route back to Bayeux?

For scenic drive #3 (Pays D'Auge) I've got the fine advice from FrenchMystique:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187181-i947-k5197426-o10-Paris_and_Normandy_help-Bayeux_Calvados_Basse_Normandie_Normandy.html

Plenty to work with there.

For Honfleur, we'll probably go straight there and then work our way back along the coast stopping where we'd like.

If we find we'd like more time for the D-Day sites or Bayeux or Caen or whatever, we'll be able to fit that in and cut out something without too much trouble.

Any other suggestions? Thanks.

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FrenchMystiqueTours on Jun 16, 12 at 12:22 PM

For your drive from MSM back to Bayeux I'll recommend an area to do a scenic drive, even though I've never been there. Take the autoroute back to Bayeux and get off at exit 42 and head southeast (on the D54 to the D6) to an area known as the Suisse-Normande:

http://www.otourisme.com/otv2-sn/?-Welcome-to-Normandy-

http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/en/344/pages/d/heritage/tourist-routes/page/0

If you've got your Michelin map for the area you'll see lots of designated scenic roads and a few château you can pass by in the vicinity of the Orne river from Thury-Harcourt heading south.
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Barbara_in_FL on Jun 16, 12 at 03:15 PM

The D54 is quite scenic in places (we were just there) as is the area around Thury-Harcourt. Just south of there is a little miniature train "museum" - I don't know if your son is too old for this or not:

http://www.chemin-fer-miniature-clecy.com/

If that seems too out of the way you could get off the autoroute and head for the Cerisy-la-Foret area; there is a pretty abbey there that we recently drove past (we were on a D-Day mission and could not stop) and lots of scenic little towns in that area.
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Gina_07 on Jun 16, 12 at 07:52 PM

Bookmarking for my upcoming trip. Thanks.

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indy_dad on Jun 17, 12 at 12:30 PM

Thanks FMT and Barbara. I particularly like the Calvados tourism link and the various scenic routes it suggests. Very easy to follow.

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