I will be in Paris July 24-31 with 4 other friends. We are lucky enough to have a couple of tickets to some olympic events. One day we will do a day trip to Reims to do a tour at one of the champagne houses (anniversary and bday fun). Otherwise plan to be in Paris for the week.
So my question is...I will be solo from the morning of the 31 to Aug. 3. Originally I thought maybe I would find a place in Paris and do some day trips. Then I went down a rabbit hole about the coast of Normandy (I love to swim and see beautiful villages/cities) and booked a night in Honfleur. Is it worth travelling that way for 2 nights? My flight leaves from CDG at 11 in the morning on Aug 3 so a 3rd night is iffy. It looks like there is a bus I can take, a train not so easy....I would rent a car but tres expensive with the Olympics going on...thoughts? Merci Beacoup in advance!

Spending that time in Normandy would be a good use of time, imho. I found it to be worth traveling to but I am fascinated with WW2 history. Edit: NOT *quite* sure the beaches would be ideal to swim in. Just something to think about. Hopefully other Fodorites can chime in on their experience with swimming in that region.

Have you priced a car rental out of the Normandy area? It might be much more affordable compared to Paris. Getting to Normandy via bus or train s typically very simple. What difficulties are you having with the train - I find that surprising.

Good luck being in Paris during the Olympics - that is probably going to be a madhouse but would love to hear about your experience. Make sure you are not running into any Olympic events in the area as well while you are in Normandy. The are not JUST Paris.

There is no train directly to Honfleur, is what I think the OP is saying. I am looking at a day trip from Paris to Rouen when I'm there in September, as it's a straight shot on the train. Only and hour and a half or so. You could always rent a car at the train station there, and drive to the coast. (Just an idea.) I have been looking at various options as well when I'm in Normandy for a week. I would not try to get to CDG from Normandy for an 11 a.m. flight; in fact it is probably impossible to do so. I'm not even going to chance it for a 2 p.m. flight. You could also head to Caen as it gets you closer to the coast.

ETA: Only you can decide if it's worth it for two nights. Remember, it only equals one full day; the other days will be eaten up by travel.

Yes, I have spent two days trying to figure this out and it just doesn't look like I can make it work. Thanks for confirming, I thought I wasn't looking at the right train tables. And yes, I can get to Honfleur or Deuville, but I just can't get back to the airport on the second or third day. (I can get back yes, but not easily our even reasonably quickly
I have not been able to find an available car rental either for the one way trip. I'm so sad as I found a lovely place to stay.
OK, back to the drawing board! Perhaps I should just stay in Paris and try to find some more Olympic tickets that won't cost me my house. Or if any of you have a suggestion of where to go for 2.5 days from Paris please let me know! I love to swim, walk, explore in a small town (I will have been in Paris) and big bonus points if I can find a place to swim.

Besides the Olympics, what else are you planning on seeing in Paris?

I cannot think of any place to swim in this region but there are many, many things to do in/around the city that do not involve Paris itself. Versailles, Giverny, etc. etc.

You could always do a couple of day trips from Paris. Giverny as mentioned, Rouen, where I will likely go for a day. If you like small villages, consider a day trip to Auvers Sur Oise, where Van Gogh painted a lot, and sadly shot himself. He and Theo are buried there. It is small and not much going on, but they have signs set up throughout the village where he painted, and there is a small museum there. We enjoyed the quiet for a day. Paris during the Olympics sounds like a nightmare to me, lol, but we like what we like, eh?? ;-)

You can easily spend two nights in Rouen as there is much to see and do there and it is a fairly compact city and my first choice would likely however be Bayeux. You can easily do a day tour or a half day tour of the primary Normandy sites. It is very moving to be on Omaha Beach and Pont du Hoc and to visit the American cemetery. The Bayeux Cathedral reviles Notre Dame and it is awesome to see the Bayeux Tapistry. Plus Bayeux is a foodie city and it is so charming.

I suppose it might be interesting to swim in the very waters of Omaha Beach, if one could. Water temps on August 1st would probably be about the same as June 6th

Wouldnt that be an amazing experience? ! I dont want to be disrespectful. I will look into it.

i have the same challenge getting back to the airport when going to Bayeux. But perhaps i could do a day trip from Rouen.

Thank you for the suggestions! I am thinking day trips might be the best idea at this point.
And personally i am so excited to be going to Paris for the Olympics! I know it seems that everybody is trying to avoid it, but I have tickets to one swimming event, and one women's basketball event. Hoping to see the opening ceremonies come along the river with the rest of the folks who don't have the expensive tickets. And perhaps I'll be able to see the triathloners swim in the river if they decide is clean enough.... ??
I'm going to love just walking around the city and people watching, and eating and drinking good food and wine. I will leave the museums and tourist destinations for another trip.
Oh! I do have an afternoon trip planned for a tour of the veuve clicquot house with my friends.

Honestly I am very jealous. I'm a huge Olympics junkie and Paris being my favorite city....

I'm trying for LA 2028 tix. Particularly gymnastics or rhythmic gymnastics.

I think your idea for day trips sounds fine - one can never get enough time in Paris! Chartres is easily reachable from Paris for the day and has that lovely small-town vibe, beautiful cathedral, river, etc.

However, if you didn't want to abandon your Normandy plans, I actually planned something similar to your Honfleur idea, except with better connections. Go to Rouen, spend the day and one night in Rouen, then take the train to nearby Dieppe which supposedly is very quaint AND has great beaches where you can swim, spend the day there, train back to Paris (I believe there is a direct one. ) Or if it works for your schedule, you could spend the night in Dieppe too.

I had a wonderful 10 days in Paris for the Olympics! Although I only went to three events, it was wonderful to be around all of the excitement in the city. I spent the first week at an Airbnb with friends near the Place de la Republique, and the last 3 in the Latin Quater at a new hotel near Luxembourg parc. I did two day trips, or I should say afternoon trips, one to Reims via train and the other to Lille, via car (wasnt first choice. Would have much rather gone by train but trains stopped running before the basketball game finished). Would love to go back to Lille, what a beautiful city!
The atmosphere around the Olympics was incredibly positive. Things were very well organized and people helpful and friendly. I'm sorry so many people were scared away from Paris during this time. I was able to get same day tickets to the Musee d'Orsey and never had a problem with finding a spot at a restaurant or cafe.

Thank you for reporting back!