First time traveling abroad and need help
 

Daughter and I are interested in seeing the sites of Paris, husband not interested in Paris but interested in sites of interest to World War II , in Bayeux, Caen. Therefore we need help with locating a town to stay in that would be accessible to Paris and Caen by train. Can anyone help with a location and transportation info?

Rouen would be good because of TGV access to Paris; from Rouen you could take a local train to Caen. Staying in Bayeux would be ideal.

sorry, I suggest a different sort of compromise, Rouen is not a short enough commute to Paris unless you only want to go to Paris for one day.

Split the trip, spend x days in Paris, and x days in Bayeux or Caen.

Do a search here on Normandy or Bayeux or Caen, you will find suggestions on places to stay, tours of the WWII sites, etc.

I also have a file on Paris with a little Normandy info; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

We were in a similar situation. We flew into Paris (the round-trip flight to Paris was priced right), and immediately took the train to Caen (many people prefer Bayeux, but other that the invasion sites, which are accessible from either, more of what we wanted to see was at Caen) and stayed there four days, then took the train back to Paris and spent our remaining time there (being retired is wonderful; you can add time at will to your trips). Everything we wanted to see in Paris was within walking or metro distance, so the only time we needed a car was to visit the invasion sites. I didn't find a single affordable tour that hit all the invasion sites I wanted to see (look at their itineraries and make a list of what you want to see) so we had our hotelier arrange for a driver and car, and we went on our own tour; I liked this because the tour was customized, and we could linger or not as we wished, rather than having to keep up with a group. The downside was that we didn't have the narrative that a tour guide would have provided, but I felt that my time in preparing the itinerary gave me all the information we would need.

Enjoy your trip.

Pushing this message thread back up "to the top" since you have duplicate posts, and this one has actual answers. I am guessing you could not find your posts and that is why you started a duplicate. You can always find your own posts by clicking on your own name (upper left hand corner, once you have logged in).

And I agree, there is no good ONE compromise location - - it's as if daughter and mother are interested in Manhattan, and Dad wants to spend time in Atlantic City - - no place in New Jersey is really a suitable midpoint.

Best wishes,

Rex

if u go to Caen definately go to the memorial de la Paix (Peace memorial) its amazing and i definately second splitting the trip in 2 thats what my family did when they came to visit me! additionally the sites of WWII r amazing, i recommend renting a car for that b/c everything is out of the way, being on the coast and whatnot, im not sure how SNCF trains work for that. another idea is to try to find a tour, but im not sure how those work (we rented a car) also go see Pointe du Hoc, thats really amazing, the cemetary at Omaha, Bayeux, and of course Caen. its worth the trip even if ur not interested. and Paris is well amazing, but then again its Paris (even my dad was impressed with it and he only wanted to see the WWII stuff too)

Hi hh,

>...husband not interested in Paris..<

Husband needs to be educated.

Send him to the Crazy Horse.

Best wishes,

Rex

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