Hi everyone we have plans to travel to France during the last week of Apr for two weeks. I have read through the previous comments/threads and have made some preliminary itinerary. we will be arriving on 26th morning and will stay put for the day to get over jet lag expect to walk around the hotel etc. Then we will be staying in Paris for four days to see some of the highlights( this is our second visit to Paris ). Next part of the trip will take us towards Brittany/Normandy and we plan to rent a car. We would like to meander around the coast taking in the local scenery and drive back towards Loire valley for 1-2 days before returning to Paris for another 1-2 days. Is this too much in the allocated time ? We are not much for the big cities and would like to take our time. This is where I would like your comments as to smaller places that we can travel through in Brittany/Normandy/Loire valley etc. before we head back to Paris. Comment re accommodation and places to see along the way will be very appreciated. I am going to hit the library and try to get more info as well.
thanks

Four days in Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire isn't really taking your time. But I would suggest you spend two nights at one place in Normandy, perhaps in Honfleur, and two nights in the Loire.

Spending no more than two days in Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire Valley would be a whirlwind tour--you wouldn't have time for much but driving from one area to another. If you can eliminate one of those 3 areas you could have a more reasonable schedule and would certainly have more time to see and enjoy the areas you choose. Since I love Brittany, I would make them Brittany and Normandy. You could finish your trip in Rennes and take the TGV back to Paris.

thanks Underhill and calgirlsusan, for your reply. Sorry my post was not very clear. We will be spending about eight days in Normandy/Brittany and Loire valley. Reading previous posts we are looking into visiting Mont-St Michel/Bayeux/St malo/Carnac/Quimper but not sure as to how to allocate time at each place or if there are other venues worth a gander.
karl

There's much to see just in Brittany. Try this link for the 3 articles I wrote about our own trip; just click on the ones with Brittany in the title. I hope you'll get some ideas.

http://www.bonjourparis.com/pages/se...Jean+Underhill

do a search for Trip Report: Ghent, Normandy and Brittany. That's the report I wrote after our trip through that area (skip the first posting which deals only with Ghent and Bruges). You might be able to get some ideas from my report.

Here's a sample itinerary I did for a family wanting to do approximately what you are doing. Cull from it what you like:

Nights 1-4 -- Paris

Night 5 -- Honfleur. Take the train to Chartres Cathedral. Take Malcolm Miller's noon tour. Pick up a rental car and drive to Honfleur. Spend the night at the Hôtel L'Ecrin (http://www.clarel.net/adv.htm). Visit the Musée Eugène Boudin, wander the quais, and watch the fishing boats come in, have a plâteau de fruits de mer at the restaurant La Tortue, 36 rue de l'Homme de Bois.

Nights 6-7 -- Bayeux. From Honfleur, drive down the coast and check out Deauville and Trouville. Continue on and turn inland to Caen. Spend a few hours at the wonderful Mémorial museum there. Continue to Bayeux to the Château de la Bellefontaine (http://www.hotel-bellefontaine.com/). Have dinner at Le Petit Bistro near the cathedral. Next day, visit the cathedral and the Bayeux tapestry, have lunch at Le Petit Normand, then drive out to Arromanches to see the bunkers and visit the small museum there. Back in Bayeux, have dinner at La Table du Terroir. Next day, take the D6 to Port-en-Bessin and turn west along the coast. Spend the day visiting the beaches, memorials, and museums all the way to Point-du-Hoc. For a change of pace you can take the inland road (N13) back to Bayeux.

Night 8 -- Le Mont St-Michel. From Bayeux, drive to St-Malo. Tour the walled city and since you're in Brittany now, enjoy a lunch of traditional Breton gallettes. Mid- to late afternoon, drive to le Mont-St-Michel. Take your time. You don't want to get there until late afternoon, when the crowds thin. Hotel choices here are pretty thin, but it's worth it to see the place after dark when all the tourists are gone. Spend the night at the Hôtel du Guesclin (can't locate a website for it) on the Grande Rue. Avoid the temptation to have one of Mère Poulard's runny, overpriced omelettes and eat at the hotel's restaurant.

Nights 9-10 -- Angers. Leaving le MSM, drive to Fougères. Take a walk through town and the public gardens to the largest château in Europe. After your visit, go south 30 kms to Vitré. Park and admire the old quarter with its half-timbered houses. Have lunch at the Auberge St-Louis, at 31 rue Notre-Dame in the center of town. Visit the château if you like. Continue on to Angers via Laval. Stay at the Best Western Anjou (http://gensite-uk.worldres.com/scrip...;misc_id=39909). Have dinner at the hotel restaurant - La Salamandre. Next morning, explore Angers. Visit the château and its beautiful tapestry exhibit, the cathedral of St-Maurice, La Maison d'Adam in the old quarter of town ("La Doutre&quot, the cointreau distillery , and the Musée des Beaux Arts, then cross town to see the modern tapestries at the Jean Lurçat museum that were inspired by those at the château. Have dinner at Le Bouchon Angevin, 44, rue Beau-repaire - a wine cellar turned restaurant. Next day drive to Saumur and admire its wonderful château, churches, and architecture. Be sure to have lunch at Restaurant Les Ménestrels. Saumur also has a mushroom, and tank, and a masque museum, and in the suburb of Bagneux there is an impressive dolmen. From Saumur drive to Chinon and visit the château where Jeanne d'Arc first laid eyes on the Dauphin. The town is also well worth meandering around in. Back to Angers on the route north of the river.

Nights 11-12 --Amboise. Drive leisurely along the river from Angers. A ways past Saumur, stop at Fontevraud l'Abbaye, which was a remarkable women-run abbey in the Middle Ages. The abbey houses remains of 15 members of the Plantagenet family, including effigies of Eléanore d'Aquitaine, Henri Plantagenet, and Richar the Lionheart. You may want to pick a château or two to see along the way, too: VIllandry, Chenonceau, and Langeais are all right there. In Amboise, stay at the beautiful Le Choiseul (in the main building, not the annex - http://www.le-choiseul.com/geexhchd0.htm). Have dinner at the hotel. Next day, check out the foreboding château where Catherine de Medici invited the Huguenots to dinner and then defenestrated them, then walk up the hill to the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo Davinci spent his last days. In the basement are models of his extraordinary inventions. Have lunch at l'Epicerie. In the afternoon, visit the vast château de Chambord. Have dinner this evening in Bléré at Le Cheval Blanc, one of my favorite restaurants in France.

Night 13 - Paris. If you're not too chateaux-ed out, leave Amboise and drive to Blois and tour the château there. Then head north to Versailles. Spend the better part of the day visiting the château and gardens and Marie Antoinnette's hameau. Drop the rental car off at the train station and take the train into Paris for your final night.

Hello,
Thanks to everyone who helped with the itinerary. My next question pertains to availability of BB places as we drive through and site see the country side. Should we make arrangements prior to departure or will it be possible to make arrangements after arrival or perhaps as we go along. Are there reasonable bed/breakfast place along these places. we stayed at BB places on our trip through lake District / Scotland few years ago and enjoyed it.
KarlKK

Hi Karl-this isn't a B&B but rather a small hotel we like in the Loire in Chenonceaux called the Hotel La Roseraie. We started going there 20 years ago and is now pretty well known:

Hotel La Roseraie
7, rue du Docteur Bretonneau
F 37150 - Chenonceaux
Tel : (02) 47 23 90 09 - Fax : (02) 47 23 91 59

from Frommers:

La Roseraie is the most charming hotel in Chenonceaux, with individually decorated rooms and well-kept gardens. Each unit contains a small bathroom with shower. In the 1940s, its guests included Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. Some of the finest meals in town are served at lunch and dinner in the restaurant, which is open to the public.

StCirc suggests "Back in Bayeux, have dinner at La Table du Terroir." Please note that this restaurant is under new management. The owner denied all knowledge of me, after I had booked in person, on the same day!!

If you stop in Honfleur, just a few minutes North past LeHavre, there are a couple of quaint little villages. Fecamp, visit the Benedictine Monestary and tour the B&B factory/history.

Etretat is a nice little fishing village also worth a visit -- have lunch on the beach.