To all,

It looks like this trip is finally going to happen!!! DH couldn't commit with the 401K a 201K and now he has. Delta kept changing the story with the free business class tickets. Went to the airport and booked into Paris out of London. It's been nuts!!!

OK we arrive on May 22 at 1:30 to CDG. I want to take the train to somewhere for the night and drive on to MSM on Sat. Help with where to get the train and where to go.

Should we take the train to Caen which would allow us to see the museum on Sat. and then drive to Chateau Bouceel on Sat. or should we take the train to Rennes and drive from there on Sat.?

We are going to Bayeaux on Sunday and will be there until we leave on Tuesday night for England. We could do the museum on Sunday on our way to Bayeaux before our Battlebus tour on Monday. We then have Tuesday to see what we have not seen in Bayeaux.

Should we go all the way to Pontorson and spend 2 nights in that area. We'll rent a car on Saturday if we can. I'm trying not to run too much, but I also want the travel to make sense.

We were originally going to rent a car at the airport. It just seems that since we are arriving so late, there's not much to see on the way to anywhere. We'll just have to drive straight to where we are going and I am afraid a 3.5 hour car ride will be too long for that day.

Thanks

Caen might be a good place to stop for the first night. There are a number of hotels right next to the museum, which is not in the center of town, but after a transatlantic flight and a train ride, you probably won't be doing very much that first night.

You might consider taking the TGV from CDG to Rennes, about 2 and 1/2 hr train ride. The rental car agencies are right at the train station. Mont St. Michel is only about 35 miles from Rennes, an easy drive.

To get to Caen, I'm almost positive you'd have to go into Paris to catch a train. Langcraft's suggestion makes more sense, since you can get to Rennes directly from CDG. Then you could go to le MSM early next morning before the hordes arrive, then on to Bayeux (which is where I'd stay) for a couple of nights.

I love the idea of taking the train to Rennes from the airport. I am getting a one way fare of $190. Can this be correct?

Where are you looking? I'm seeing 46 € per person (about $125 for the two of you) at http://www.voyages-sncf.com

I should also add if money is an issue the price can be cut in half by going into the city and taking a train from there. Kerouac's Caen suggestion cuts the price by 2/3. However, with both of these options you loose the convenience factor of catching the train at the airport.

I was on the TGV website. Can someone tell me if there is an English transalation of the www.voyages-sncf.com page anywhere?

Since our flight arrives at CDG at 1:30, I am looking at that 3:42 train. Do you think that's a good time? It runs at 97 E for 2 of us.

If we decided to go into Paris, how would we do it if we wanted to go to MSM area and not Caen?

I like the idea of not having to go into Paris. Now I have to make sure I can rent a car in Rennes on Sat. It looks like we will be too late to get it on Friday the 22nd.

What's the city like? Any place worth staying near the train station?

I'd go with the 3:42 train from CDG to Rennes. It will be so much easier to get to MSM from Rennes rather than from Paris.

Rennes has a good Musee des Beaux Arts, the Parc de Thabor with its' gardens and some buildings that survived the fire of 1720, which date back to the 15h century. There are several hotels in Rennes relatively close to the train station/rental car agencies so lodging isn't a problem

Thanks Langcraft. That helps.

No matter how I try to plan this, I realize that since we are arriving so late, Friday really becomes a lost day.

Now that I have all of these options, I will now get DH involved. Since he'll be the driver, he can make the final decision. We'll be on vacation, so there really are no bad decisions here.

Thanks