3 day excursion from Paris: to Normandy by car
 

I'm leaving next week for a 10 day trip to France. We'll be in Paris the first 4 days (including running the 20KM de Paris on sunday) and then plan on leaving for Normandy by car on Monday. Here's what we had in mind so far... thoughts?

Monday - drive to Honfleur (maybe stopping at Rouen along the way if its worth it) @3+hr drive
Tuesday - visit D-day beaches (returning to hotel in Honfleur) @ 1+ hr drive
Wednesday - check out of hotel, drive to and visit Mont St. Michel returning to Paris @2+ hr drive to Mont St. Michel and @3+ hr drive for return to Paris. Is there a town worthy of stopping at on the road back to Paris from Mont St. Michel... for late dinner and break up the ride?

Thursday we'll grab the car and head to Versailles for the day returning for the parisian night life... and leave for a quick weekend in Champagne on friday night before hopping our flight on sunday to return State-side.

I'm mostly curious whether i'm underestimating the driving times in Normandy; but i imagine -weather permiting - that seeing the countryside from the car would be worthwhile despite the hours in the car.

Thanks for stopping in and for your valuable comments!

Personally I'd stop in Champagne first then leave the car and train back to Paris, then buy a combined train and entry fee ticket to Versailles.

Dont know about the Normandy part. We based inland and saw all the things you have planned with no problems, along with some lovely Normandy villages

1. Yes, Rouen is well, well, worth a stop.

2. I wouldn't return to Honfleur after visiting the D-Day sites, as you'll just be backtracking the next day on the way to Le Mont St-Michel. I'd spend the night in St-Lô or Vire.

3. On the way back to Paris, you'll go through some lovely countryside. You might want to stop at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne and Alençon, or you could go south first to Fougères and then back east on the N12. You could also make a detour to Chartres. Lots of possibilities.

You're missing the War Memorial museum in Caen which is incredible and worth the stop.

Oh, yes, I assumed the Mémorial would be part of the day's sightseeing. If it's not, it should be!

Thanks everyone!

StCirq- any hotel recommendations in St-Lô or Vire?

Don't know what your budget is, but here's a gem in St-Lô where we stayed quite a few years back:

http://www.chateau-agneaux.fr/fr/accueil.html

Vire has a poor selection of hotels from what I remember. Last time I was in the area, we stayed in Fougères because I couldn't find much of anything in Vire.

I would prefer around Alençon to St Lô. Don't forget most of St Lô was destoyed in the war and rebuilt afterwards, so it lost most of the traditional architecture. Alençon has the advantage of being en route back to Paris, cutting the last leg of the journey. However, I live near Alençon so I'm biased - LOL!

Fougères is very nice indeed - actually in Brittany, just over the border, not in Normandy. Much prettier and more interesting than St Lô or Vire and it has a superb medieval chateâu-fort.

If you're planning your own D-Day sight visit, you may find this quick guide to the main places to visit useful as a starting pooint for what to see:

http://www.normandie-chambres.co.uk/beaches.html

great! we're adjusting our itinerary accordingly (or working on it at least!)... Alencon seems lovely, but it's a bit too far off journey to make it work between the DD beaches and Le Mont St. Michel. Looks like either St. Lo or Bayeaux would work well. Unfortunately Fougeres also seems ambitious to get to after a day in the car and sight seeing. I imagine we'll be greatful to stay somewhere a little closer to where we'll be at the end of the day.

StCirq - lovely hotel recommendation - thank you... i think we'll book there for sure if we decide on St Lo.

Visit_Normandy - thank you for that link it's very helpful and will keep us organized for our one day DD tourism extravaganza!

In 2007 DH and I stayed in Bayeux, then left the next morning to visit MSM and return to Paris. We did a self-guided tour through MSM and walked back down via the rampart walls, which was just the right amount for DH. On the way back to Paris we went through Le Mans and visited the Musee de l'Automobile. For an extra Euro we were able to go out and wander around the grounds, and someone was doing test laps or something. It was the weekend after the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and there was still massive amounts of garbage strewn around! (Including a pair of underpants, which I found hilarious.)

All in all, it was kind of a fun "ancient-culture-to-modern-culture" day and DH really enjoyed doing something different on the trip. Mind, it was mid-summer so we had the advantage of tons of daylight to drive around in. And at least from the direction we approached, the track and museum was not that easy to find. We followed parking signs but eventually had to ask directions.