dac

I've read through many posts here on both areas and I'm just wondering if the weather will be too cold - 60's - 50's are fine for us.
If we pick up car at CDG and go to Alsace, explore and then drive to Normandy (7 hours on via michelin) is there a good place to stop in between? we would get rid of the car in Normandy and take train back to Paris for a few days.
We've been to Dordogne, Burgundy, Provence -so these are two places we've not been to. this is a last minute trip as I'm able to use FF hence the dates.
thank you as always for any info that you can give me.
DAC

Michael

The logical stop geographically speaking is Paris, which is illogical if you have a car. But why Alsace and Normandy? Why not Normandy and Brittany, which eliminates the two days of driving between the areas.

You might want to look at my Trip report: Ghent, Normandy & Brittany, although prices are out of date.

nytraveler

That time of Oct you;re looking more at 50's than 60s and it can get chilly at night. If you have 14 days I think that's plenty of time and there are a lot of place to stay in between. If you haven;t seen Vezelay you could easily do that on the way. We stayed at the Moulin des Ruats in Avallon - which has a fantastic restaurant.

kerouac

The weather should still be all right in October, and the autumn colors in the Vosges mountains are breathtaking.

grandmere

I was in Alsace at that time last Oct., and the weather was cool but very pretty. It was a great time to be there w/o loads of tourists. In the week we were there, we had only one day of light rain. It was a bit foggy some mornings, but the sun would burn it off by afternoon.

I would probably not choose to go to Normandy in late Oct. if you're planning to spend much time on the coast, such as WW II sites. I don't have first hand knowledge of the area in Oct., but we were there one May, and it was about as chilly, windy, and rainy as I would want it to be for touring.

ira

Hi dac,

That time of year, I would train from Paris to Caen (or other town) see Normandy, train via Paris to Strasbourg (5 hr) and get a car there.

You can fly home out of Strasbourg via CDG.

dac

Thank you everyone for your information.

Ira - I've read all your reports and gotten good ideas from them. We've been to Burgundy - is Alsace similar to that but different enough that it warrants a trip? How many days would you suggest there?
Also you think we can get around Normandy without a car? The only problem with getting a car in Strasborg is that we need an automatic - when I went on Auto Europe's website there were no automatics available at that office.
Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
DAC

kerouac

Ira, you clearly took the train to Strasbourg before the TGV-Est entered into operation. The ride is now 2h19.

Sue4

Dac, I've visited Alsace in October, and it was beautiful - cool, but bright and sunny for the most part. And, yes, it's rather different from Burgundy, with the German influence. The food is German, too, and very good. I saw many German tourists, almost no Americans. I stayed in Strasbourg for a couple of days before picking up my car at the train station, then driving along the Route du Vins. I spent almost 10 days in Alsace, ending up in Colmar.

As to Normandy, it'll probably be a little cold
on the coast in October. I was there in May, and it was chilly then, as Grandmere said. I would want a car in Normandy, to really see the countryside. But basing in Bayeux for a few days, maybe it wouldn't be needed, as there are many tours available for the WWII sites. Also, I'm sure there are some tours to Mont St. Michel from Bayeux. I loved having a car, but I stayed in Normandy for 2 weeks. I did the same in Brittany, which is also gorgeous. Maybe sort of cold that time of year, though. You would find plenty to do in Normandy and Brittany for those 2 weeks, without the crowds.

grandmere

As Sue4 said, Alsace is very different from Burgundy, and our experience was much the same, with most tourists being from Germany, etc. Lovely part of France, as is Normandy.

We rented an automatic car in Strasbourg; not sure who it was through ( the other couple made the car reservations), but I would call Auto Europe rather than just relying on the info online.

Happy planning!