I am taking my father-in-law (a D-Day veteran)to the 60th anversary celebrations in Normandy on June 6th, 2004. We will be flying into Paris, and taking a train from there. We have 4 nights in Bayeux, for the festivities, June 4th-8th. We are looking for a side trip before or after (returning to Paris). We have been to Paris before, and would like somthing different for 3 or 4 nights. Any suggestions? My father-in-law is a healthy/active 80 yers old.

Will you rent a car?

Yes, we thought we would take a train out of of Paris, to??? then rent a car. We would travel by car, then return the car in Bayeux or Caen and return to Paris by train. I have heard that Honfuer might be a good destination.

If you have a car, then you could do the Normandy towns and might even fit in a visit to Mont St. Michel, returning to Paris through Caen. It's about 1.5 hours from Bayeaux to the Mont.

Or, you could spend the first day at the Mont and then continue on to St. Malo, Dinard and Dinan on the north coast of Brittany. I would think that area would be lovely in June.

You can turn in the car in Rennes and take the TVG back to Paris. Rennes is not a city I would plan to stay in, though.

I agree with adding Brittany. We barely scratched the surface on an 8 day to Brittany and Normandy last September (2002), and realized that a week (or two!) in EACH would be very easy to fill.

Best wishes,

Rex