kja

Take the train from Paris to Rennes and spend at least one night before renting a car!

Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! Driving for just 2 hours is no solution -- that's like saying, oh sure, drive after drinking, just don't drive far, and I'm sure that isn't really what anyone means to suggest. And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….

scrb11

Also if you want to acclimate the best to the time change, you want to make use of that first day.

Leave the bags at the hotel and go see something.

Avoid the temptation to nap, though if you don't get much sleep on the flight, it would be difficult. You want to go bed at night.

So if the day is nice, walk around Paris. If it isn't, pop into museums or have a long meal somewhere.

Boarding a train for a long ride will make it difficult to stay awake.

StCirq

Buy your tickets from Roissy to Rennes NOW. You will save lots and lots of money versus the hassle of buying them once you get there.

Do NOT get in a car and drive to Rennes after your all-night flight. Take the train.

Do NOT rent a car in Rennes. It will cost you the equivalent of a 3-day rental to rent a car for one day, and there is no need - there is a direct bus from Rennes to le MSM that is cheap and reliable. There is plenty to enjoy in Rennes itself without roaming around its environs.

wendyanne75

Ok so I have convinced hubby to take a train the first day to Rennes (yes we are coming from US and that trip is way too long for my comfort) He still wants to rent a car from there the next day though and I am in agreement after researching options. I found a car rental for 45-50 euros a day from Rennes which I didn't think was bad at all, taking into account cost of bus tickets and time we would save. He would like to visit Dinan and I'm looking into St Malo also (other suggestions in that area of smaller picturesque villages?). StCirq - what specifically would you recommend we do/see in Rennes? I am trying to decide if we should stay there the whole time and do day trips, or perhaps or possibly spend one or two nights in Dinan, or even one on MSM and one in Dinan...we love visiting places off season to experience less crowds, but will these smaller towns be alive in March?!

StuDudley

Get the Michelin Green Guide for Brittany & decide what to do yourself. If you plan on spending 3 nights in the region - stay the first night in Rennes to recover from jet lag & get oriented. Then the next two nights in Dinan. Plenty of stuff to do around Dinan. It's a picturesque town - and so is St Malo. We've spent 2 weeks in a gite just outside of Dinan & we're going back for 2 more weeks next year.

Here is a section in my 20+ page Normandy & Brittany itinerary that describes what to do in the Dinan region. Looks like you''ll be there on their Thursday morning farmer's market day - all the more reason to go to Dinan & spend 2 nights there.Use Michelin Map # 309 Dinan** See DINAN in GGFollow the walking itinerary marked in green in the GGThis is perhaps our favorite “smaller” town in Brittany/NormandyMarket day is Thursday morning – very nice market Valle de la Rance** See RANCE in the GGIf you need to see some countryside instead of “City” today, then follow the itinerary in the guide (skipping St Malo , Dinan, & Dinard) Hotel, 3 nights – we stayed in a Gite for 2 weeks in this area, so we don’t have any hotel recommendations. The best location would be near Dinan. There is too much urban sprawl and it is too crowded the closer you get to St Malo & Dinard.Here is the gite we stayed in. They must have done some remodeling, because the prices have risen.

http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...22G521005.html

Days 11 - 13

Take the Rance drive if you didn’t do it yesterday Cote d’Emeraude*** See COTE D’EMERAUDE in the GGBypass St Malo & Dinard – visit them laterCancale*Pointe du Grouin**St Lunaire (villas) See LUNAIRE in GGPointe du Decolle** Forte la Latte** See LATTE in GG. Wonderful siteCap Frehel*** See FREHEL in GG If it’s rainy or overcast & not good coast-viewing weather, here are some interesting chateaux: Vitre** See VITRE Chateau & villageFougeres ** See FOUGERES in GG chateau & villageBourbansais* see BOURBANSAIS If you want to get some exercise, there is a beautiful walk along the shore in Dinard. See DINARD in the GG. The walk starts to the left of the beach. There are cliffs above the shore with Gothic/Victorian houses. The Jardin du Port Riou on top of the cliffs (access from below on the shore walk) is quite nice with a good view.St Malo ***- See ST MALO in the GG. Get there at 9:00 & walk along the ramparts first so that you will be finished with them by the time the shops open. The museum is only OK

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

It seems like the "new" Fodors has trouble with the cut & paste. Separate paragraphs are not separated.

Stu Dudley.

TDudette

I just had a paste spacing problem also, Stu. Mine was the opposite--extra spacing between paragraphs!

wendyanne75, here's my Paris/Bordeaux TR for your information for side trips:

April in Paris...with a Side of Bordeaux

Again, have a great time and please report back so other travelers can learn from you experiences.

thursdaysd

I've had a similar problem. But you can now edit your post to fix it.

TDudette

wendyanne, if you do read my TR, go to page 46 to get to my first day trip--Giverny. There is a lot of discussion before that.

wendyanne75

Thanks Stu Dudley, Rennes night 1 and Dinan for night 2 and 3 is right in line with what we were thinking, that sounds about perfect. I just ordered the Michelin green guide on Amazon prime, thx for the recommendation!!

Christina

I guess you are decided on Rennes.

An alternative would be just to take the train to Reims, I think those leave from CDG. I am not sure what you want out of wine tasting, I taste all the wine I want in wine bars, I never know what people mean when they say that. But in Reims, you can tour champagne houses if you want some industry tor, and Reims has lots of interest to see for a couple days. You wouldn't even need a car, probably, there are champagne houses right in town or a short taxi drive if not walkable.

StuDudley

>> I've had a similar problem. But you can now edit your post to fix it. <<

I did. Same results in the "Go Advanced"

Stu Dudley

thursdaysd

I meant the edit option, not "Go Advanced", but the edit option disappears after "x" amount of time. I was able to fix my problem with edit.

kja

Rennes is delightful, IMO. Don't miss the half-timbered medieval houses there!

StuDudley

On my first post I had lots of extra lines between paragraphs just like you had. I took the extra lines out & then posted & got the mess.

I tried again. In the edit format my post looked something like this:

Visit Rennes. See the green guide for details on the walking tour

Then visit these sites
Dinan
St Malo,
Rance
Emerald

If it is a rainy day visit a couple of Chateaux


I then put periods after each line, and after each site on the list of sites (Dinan, St Malo)

I did the Preview thing and got the same mess & did not bother to post the final reply. I think maybe some hidden Word control characters fouled things up. I had zero problems doing the same thing on the "old" Fodors.

Here is the post without any edits in reply mode

Use Michelin Map # 309 Dinan** See DINAN in GGFollow the walking itinerary marked in green in the GGThis is perhaps our favorite “smaller” town in Brittany/NormandyMarket day is Thursday morning – very nice market Valle de la Rance** See RANCE in the GGIf you need to see some countryside instead of “City” today, then follow the itinerary in the guide (skipping St Malo , Dinan, & Dinard) Hotel, 3 nights – we stayed in a Gite for 2 weeks in this area, so we don’t have any hotel recommendations. The best location would be near Dinan. There is too much urban sprawl and it is too crowded the closer you get to St Malo & Dinard. Here is the gite we stayed in. They must have done some remodeling, because the prices have risen.

http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...22G521005.html

Days 11 - 13

Take the Rance drive if you didn’t do it yesterday Cote d’Emeraude*** See COTE D’EMERAUDE in the GGBypass St Malo & Dinard – visit them laterCancale*Pointe du Grouin**St Lunaire (villas) See LUNAIRE in GGPointe du Decolle** Forte la Latte** See LATTE in GG. Wonderful siteCap Frehel*** See FREHEL in GG If it’s rainy or overcast & not good coast-viewing weather, here are some interesting chateaux: Vitre** See VITRE Chateau & villageFougeres ** See FOUGERES in GG chateau & villageBourbansais* see BOURBANSAIS If you want to get some exercise, there is a beautiful walk along the shore in Dinard. See DINARD in the GG. The walk starts to the left of the beach. There are cliffs above the shore with Gothic/Victorian houses. The Jardin du Port Riou on top of the cliffs (access from below on the shore walk) is quite nice with a good view. St Malo ***- See ST MALO in the GG. Get there at 9:00 & walk along the ramparts first so that you will be finished with them by the time the shops open. The museum is only OK

StuDudley

OK - I did not know the function of the "Advanced" here is the post without changes.




Use Michelin Map # 309 Dinan** See DINAN in GGFollow the walking itinerary marked in green in the GGThis is perhaps our favorite “smaller” town in Brittany/NormandyMarket day is Thursday morning – very nice market Valle de la Rance** See RANCE in the GGIf you need to see some countryside instead of “City” today, then follow the itinerary in the guide (skipping St Malo , Dinan, & Dinard) Hotel, 3 nights – we stayed in a Gite for 2 weeks in this area, so we don’t have any hotel recommendations. The best location would be near Dinan. There is too much urban sprawl and it is too crowded the closer you get to St Malo & Dinard. Here is the gite we stayed in. They must have done some remodeling, because the prices have risen.

http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...22G521005.html

Days 11 - 13

Take the Rance drive if you didn’t do it yesterday Cote d’Emeraude*** See COTE D’EMERAUDE in the GGBypass St Malo & Dinard – visit them laterCancale*Pointe du Grouin**St Lunaire (villas) See LUNAIRE in GGPointe du Decolle** Forte la Latte** See LATTE in GG. Wonderful siteCap Frehel*** See FREHEL in GG If it’s rainy or overcast & not good coast-viewing weather, here are some interesting chateaux: Vitre** See VITRE Chateau & villageFougeres ** See FOUGERES in GG chateau & villageBourbansais* see BOURBANSAIS If you want to get some exercise, there is a beautiful walk along the shore in Dinard. See DINARD in the GG. The walk starts to the left of the beach. There are cliffs above the shore with Gothic/Victorian houses. The Jardin du Port Riou on top of the cliffs (access from below on the shore walk) is quite nice with a good view.

St Malo ***- See ST MALO in the GG. Get there at 9:00 & walk along the ramparts first so that you will be finished with them by the time the shops open. The museum is only OK



Same mess. I suppose I could edit it - but that is WAAAAAYYYYY too much time fussing around with it. I never had to do this before and this one was one of my shorter "Cut and Paste" from my various itineraries.

PalenQ

Tell you hubby that taking a bullet train will be an experience in itself -going up to about 190 mph at places - when two pass each other from different directions there is a noticeable swoosh sound.

wendyanne75

I am not sure what you want out of wine tasting, I taste all the wine I want in wine bars, I never know what people mean when they say that.

The term "wine tasting" is usually reserved for when people go to actual vineyards to learn about and taste small amounts of each kind of wine that is made there. I did however find O Chateau in Paris which does tastings. Since our time of year isn't really conducive to visiting vineyards, we will go there to learn about the different varieties of grapes and wine in France and taste many of them to decide what we like. Check it out if you want to find out what "tasting" is all about
O Chateau: Wine Tasting in Paris, Wine Bar, Wine Tours, Good fun!


wendyanne, if you do read my TR, go to page 46 to get to my first day trip--Giverny. There is a lot of discussion before that.

Thank you, will check this out!!

StCirq

That's a good idea to do your wine tasting in Paris, because it's probably not going to happen much in Brittany and Normandy, which is cider country.

PalenQ

The old wine warehouses at Bercy in eastern Paris have been in turned into wine bars and tasting places - others into neat restaurants. Bercy is where tons of wine was once brought by trains to Paris - the old warehouses remain.

There is a vineyard in Paris itself - in Monmartre!