Help with itinerary to Normandy and Loire Valley please
Dec 19th, 2002, 11:18 AM
#1
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Help with itinerary to Normandy and Loire Valley please
How does this tentative itinerary sound? This is our first trip to France and we(my husband and two sons ages 12 and 15) will have 3 weeks in Paris next August with this trip scheduled for the middle week. Leave Paris Monday morning to Caen for half day in museum then on to lodging in Bayeux - see tapestries in afternoon. Tuesday tour d-day sights and beaches then on to Deauville/Honfleur for supper and back to Bayeux for lodging second night. Wednesday to Mont St. Michel early am then in afternoon on to Amboise for tour of castle and DaVinci's house with lodging in Amboise (likely LeFleury). Thursday on to other castle tours ie Villandry then back to Amboise for lodging. Friday return to Paris via Chartres for cathedral tour with Malcolm Miller. Save Giverny/Rouen for a day trip from Paris. What do you think? Makes sense in terms of travel and lodging? Should we add on St. Malo? Thanks for any input.
Dec 19th, 2002, 11:38 AM
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Why are you spending two nights in Bayeux?<BR><BR>Have you thought to drive to Deauville and Honfleur and stay overnight in one of them since Deauville is before Caen? Then go to Caen for 1/2 day (not a very interesting city since it was bombed so much in WWII) then to Bayeux for lodging overnight since Bayeux is about 20 minutes from Caen. Bayeux to Mont St-Michel is almost 2 hour drive so you'll want to spend 1/2 day there just to see the place. You can't do Mont St-Michel and then Amboise in the same day. The driving distance is far!<BR><BR>On another note, I understand many people like Giverny. Auvers-sur-Oise is a very pleasant drive from Paris (Vincent Van Gogh died and is buried there next to his brother). If you want an entire day trip, have you thought Versailles or Fontainebleau? They are both wonderful if not exceedingly vast.<BR><BR>Rouen has a lovely old center (a lot of pedestrian streets). You could take the train there up and back to Paris in one day. That would be enough.<BR><BR>A lot of people will give you their advice too. I don't profess to have really gone into detail about what I would do.
Dec 19th, 2002, 12:18 PM
#3
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I agree with Eye Spy. You have way too much planned for Tuesday, and there is no reason to go all the way to Deauville/Honfleur for dinner and then double back to Bayeux. I would take the train from Paris to Deauville (or drive, if that's what you planned to do)and spend the night there, then go on next morning to the Mémorial in Caen, then the tapestry and spend the night in Bayeux. Next day you can wend your way down the coast and see the D-Day beaches and memorials and either go back to Bayeux for the night or better still keep going and spend the night near le Mont-St-Michel (in Avranches or St-Lo, maybe). I would definitely try to avoid driving back and forth within the same area.
Dec 19th, 2002, 12:23 PM
#4
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Sounds like I need a better map. Basically what we want to do is spend two days seeing d-day sights/museum/beaches and tour around small towns of Normandy ie Honfleur, then go to Loire Valley likely staying in Amboise for two days to tour castles. Somewhere in there we'd like to see Mont St. Michele, Chartres and Giverny if possible but can save Chartres and Giverny for day trips from Paris. Will plan to also see Versailles as a day trip too. I've been doing lots of research but seems I can't get this itinerary straight for 4 to 5 day trip to Normandy and Loire Valley! Any feedback to put this trip together better? Should do it in two seperate trips of 2 days each instead? I had chosen 2 nights in Bayeux just as a central point.
Dec 19th, 2002, 12:55 PM
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You Lucky Dogs! 3 wks! Here's a trip I have planned for myself for someday:<BR>1. Paris-Deauville-Bayeaux. <BR>2. D-Day beaches. <BR>3. Dinan (ck into hotel), St Malo, Cancale for oyster dinner<BR>4. Mt. St. Michel for as long as it takes to absorb. Stop in Dol on drive back to Dinan for 2nd night.<BR>5. to Chartres, via Vitre, ck into hotel. Visit stained glass showroom. <BR>6. Noon tour of cathedral with M.M.<BR>Drive to Blois. Visit Chateau, if there's time.<BR>7. 2 Chateaux. Return to Paris.<BR>If you can stay one more day, do another Chateau - I would suggest Loches especially because of the ages of your sons. It has a dungeon with chains and stuff.<BR>I completely skipped Caen because it's no longer authentic and the boys would probably be bored with the museum. Since it's not far from Bayeux, you could go there before the beaches on day 2. Also - there are some hotels near the water just North of Caen that might be an option instead of in Bayeux center. You could play football on the beach in the evening to use up some teenage energy. It seems you have read quite a bit about Amboise and that is only about 10 miles from Blois, so you would probably prefer that as your Loire base. Let me know what you think of this itinerary if you have a chance. You Lucky Dogs!<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
Dec 19th, 2002, 01:17 PM
#6
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Anne has a great itinerary. Bravo. And I agree with StCirq too.<BR><BR>I have spent a lot of time in Normandy, especially Bayeux and Coutances. I took my parents to Bayeux where we saw the lovely cathedral and then the Bayeux tapestry (very close to each other). The morning we had spent at the beaches at that was plenty of time. The beaches are very thought provoking considering the vast American cemetary which is very well maintained but spending the entire day walking around it I don't believe would serve its purpose. Bring some flowers to lay before one of the American veterans' graves.<BR><BR>Meander your way down to Mont St-Michel. Stop in some of the villages for coffee and pastries. Normans are very friendly people. 1/2 a day in Mont St-Michel is sufficient as long as you are not there when the tide comes in and you can't get back over the bridge to the large parking lot. The Abbey is Benedictine and very sparse inside, but the views from the top are fantastic on a clear day.<BR><BR>Your sons might like to be able to say they were also in Brittany because from Mont St-Michel you can drive just a few kilometers to one of the villages and technically be in Brittany.<BR><BR>Check out these websites:<BR><BR>www.franceguide.com (official French National Tourism Office)<BR><BR>www.viamichelin.com<BR><BR>www.sncf.com (French railroads -- also in English)<BR><BR>www.ratp.fr (Parisian Transit Authority -- also in English on top right-hand side of home screen)<BR><BR>From Paris, day trips could be: Chartres, Blois (on TGV -- lovely chateau there), Fontainebleau and many other places.<BR><BR>Have fun!<BR>
Dec 19th, 2002, 04:38 PM
#7
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Bravo Ann! I have to agree w/all. Lived with a host family in Caen for a week--much too big, boring, new when there is so many more interesting sites to see. Lived in Brittany for 3 yrs and Vitre was one of my favorites. Personally prefer Dinan and the Emerald Coast to the west of it, over St. Malo if time became an issue. (But I prefer smaller, more intimate over conjested and noisy) Honfleur is a much more picturesque town to stay in than Caen, or even Bayeux IMHO. Do go see the tapestries for sure, however. As to chateaux-all that is great and Loches is one of my dearest, but you might check into Blois which may have a wider variety of things to see/do that are family oriented. The double spiral staircase at the chateau (by L.da Vinci if I remember correctly)where 2 people go up/down and never meet and the secret wall compartments of Catherine de Medici might pique the kids interest. Hope you'll let us know how the trip went.
Dec 20th, 2002, 06:55 AM
#9
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I think you are right to spend at least 2 days in each of your major areas - Normandy (Bayeaux) and Loire (Amboise). I think your adding on Mont St Michel makes for a little too much driving. But if you want to see it, why not add a day jor two more to your trip and cut out time in Paris?
Dec 20th, 2002, 03:04 PM
#10
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I think you are risking trying to fit in too much - the trip to Mont St Michel would mean plenty of driving, as would St Malo.<BR><BR>An earlier reply mentioned Rouen, by train. The old part of the town is attractive - take a look at www.odd-stuff.info/travel for an article on a few days in Rouen.<BR><BR>
Dec 23rd, 2002, 01:48 PM
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The above pros and cons are facts to consider. I personally agree w/the Michelin green guide rating for Mont St. Michel of "Vaux le Voyage"-worth the trip in intself. I do not know that Rouen has that same rating or if it is a "merite un detour"-merits a detour if in the vicinity. I've been to both, can't stay away from the Mont. and return whenever I'm in the Brittany/Normandie region. Rouen was nice but I prefer to try a new, untried city before returning there. Just my personal preference though.
