NAL

Four of us (not quite seniors) will be staying in Paris for five days and then taking train to Dijon, renting a car and making our way to Provence for five nights with the fifth night having to be close to Nice Airport for departure.

First quesion is has anyone a suggestion on a half day tour of Normandy beaches? and which tour company to use. We leave in a couple of weeks. We would take the train to Bayeax, have the tour then return by train to Paris that night. Any suggestions?

Any suggestions on inns/hotels in Beaune? That appears to be our first scheduled night after getting the car in Dijon. How about the vineyards for wine tastings. We also are looking for an inn in a central location in Provence....one that we can stay and not unpack each day....kind of a central location.

And finally, any place outside of Nice that we can get to the airport quickly in the morning, or a great place in Nice that we should stay at.

Thisis all of our first time in Paris and France, so any suggestions would be great. We are interested int he wines and definitely want to get in a short trip to Normandy. Maybe the great lesser known wines!

Thanks so much!

StCirq

I suppose half-day tours of Normandy might exist, but I can't imagine you'd get much of anywhere in that short a time. Anyway, there are Battlebus Tours a lot of people mention here, and tours run out of the Mémorial in Caen.

Am I right that you have 10 days total? And five of those are in Paris? Then five more for Beaune, Provence, and Nice? If I read that right, you end up with three days in Provence, actually less because you'll be driving from Beaune on the first of those days. That's not much time.

I would skip Beaune and take the TVG directly to Avignon and base yourself somewhere like St-Rémy in the Bouches-du Rhône, or skip central Provence and go directly to Nice, or spend 2-3 nights in Beaune and go directly to Nice from there. I really don't see any benefit to breaking up the trip for just one night in Beaune.

Cathinjoetown

The web site for the tours StCirq mentions is www.memorial-caen.fr

They have several options and I believe will meet your train at Caen station. It makes for a long day, but I would combine a tour of the beaches with some time at the museum itself, which is excellent. Also referred to as Museum of Peace if you're Googling.

charlesg

We can highly, highly recommend

http://www.victorytours.com/

We stayed at the chateau and went on Roel's whole day tour. We lucked out and were the only two that day so he took us several places he usually doesn't have time to go. Six is the max number he will take. It is worth an overnight stay to take the whole day tour.

The chateau is about ten minutes from Bayeux and Roel will come and pick you up.

Had found Roel on my ownand booked the tour. then read about him in Rick Steves's book. He is very passionate about D-Day.
I still can't retell a couple of his stories without tearing up.

tilburg

You need to stay at least one night in Normandy. My family and I stayed at Hotel Churchill in Bayeux for two nights. We hired Elwood, ownder of D Day Battle Tours for a private tour (expensive, but well worth it).
www.dddaybattletours.com

As children of WWW II veterans,who served in the Pacific, we loved Normandy. So reconsider your plans.

jpie

I think tilburg is right about Normandy. One half day is really short given the travel time to and from Paris.

In terms of hotels in Nice-I posted this on another thread awhile back and have cut and pasted it below:

The airport is not too far from the main part of Nice, but if you are concerned about being close to the airport for an early flight-I used to stay at the Holiday Inn resort in St. Laurent du Var-which is just across from the airport-2 minutes away. Take a look at the photo on the link-it is really nice and it has double pane glass so it is quiet even though it is right next to the airport practically:

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/rs/1/en/hotel/NCEAB

I used to have to go to Nice twice a week on business from Paris and this is the hotel my company used. It is much better than your run of the mill Holiday Inn-and where it is situated is on the beach along a promenade with all sorts of little restaurants to choose from-so especially good if you won't have a car. Not your typical airport hotel at all. In my recollection, they also have a free shuttle to the airport in the morning.

Holiday Inn Hôtel Resort Port St. Laurent
167 Promenade Des Flots Bleus,
06700 Saint Laurent Du Var, France‎
Tel: 04 93 14 80 00‎

TimS

Battlebus only offer all-day tours and they require that you spend the night before the tour in Bayeux or close by.

A tour company that gets favorable reviews and offers half-day tours out of Bayeux is www.overlordtour.com.