We will be spending 9 nights in France in May (first time for my husband and I). We will be staying 4 nights in Paris, 2 nights in Amboise, and 2 nights in either Honfleur in Normandy or Cancale or Dinan in Brittany. We will have a rental car, and were intially considering spending our last night at CDG but wondering if Versailles might work for our last night as well? Just would like the end of the trip to be as stress free as possible. Any thoughts?

What time is your flight the next day? Would you have enough time to get to the rental drop off and then checked in for your flight? Versailles to CDG is roughly an hour (but remember the traffic factor!)

Versailles is a very lovely small town, obviously made famous by the Versailles palace! It might be safer to spend the day in Versailles (visit the city of Versailles, see the palace, have a nice dinner, and then go to an airport hotel).

I tend to be a bit of a worrywart in these types of situations, and would err on the safe side by staying close to the airport on the night before.

The first question is, when is your flight the next day? It will always take you twice as long as you think it will.

We will be in France in May also (I've been to France too many times to count).

We have an early flight so we are using Hertz, which compares well in price, for our 2+ weeks. It has a rental return right at Terminal 2.

We will be spending 3 nights in Amboise, a good choice for you (I've stayed there before). Check out Le Clos d'Amboise. Time a chateau on your arrival for the best exposure. I've trained to Tours and rented a car there a couple of times.

After Amboise we're going to Le Mont-St-Michel (spectacular if you've never been to France before). You might want to check that out as an alternative to your Normandy / Brittany choices. It's an easy drive to CDG from there.

Check out www.viamichelin.com if you haven't seen this sight yet. It's of great help for first time drivers in France.

An alternative is to go to the St. Mont... and spend one night there. It's a couple hour, easy drive from Amboise and tack a day onto Paris. One cannot spend enough time in Paris.

In Paris, either stay on the left bank or in the Ile de la Cite. Nothing is going on at night on the right bank.

Hi T,

It's less than an hour, but you do have to take the motorway around Paris, which could be a problem at AM rush hour.

>would like the end of the trip to be as stress free as possible.

Stay in Paris and have your hotel arrange for a shuttle or a cab.

Many thanks for the quick responses. Thanks for the hotel suggestions but we do have our hotels for Paris and Amboise booked...we are staying at Villa d'Estrees in Paris in the Latin Quarter and Manoir les Minimes in Amboise. We have not yet booked the last three nights of our trip though and I'd like to get that decided so we can reserve the car. I would be interesetd in staying in Paris the last night but thought perhaps the car drop off would be simpler at the airport. I also had originally thought about returning to Paris for the last 3 nights but would really like to check out the coast. I also have not ruled out Mont St Michel for Normandy.

I forgot...to answer your questions about the flight it is not very early, we depart around 1PM.

I think rastaguy was referring to the Clos Lucé in Amboise, which is not a hotel but rather the place Leonardo Davinci lived (and died). It's got a fabulous collection of models of his inventions in the basement and some nice artifacts from his life.

I wouldn't spend the last night in Versailles. I'd spend the day there, ditch the car, and take the train into Paris for the last night, then a taxi to the airport in the morning. You need to be at CGD about 3 hours before your flight.

I agree with StCirq-- spend the last night in Paris. You'll be glad to have a nice final morning there. 4 days is way too short for a first (or even 6th) visit.

Travel3373, I hope you wont mind my tacking a question onto your post. I will be flying in and out of Paris on a trip to Italy this May/June. I would like to travel to Mont Saint Michelle on the day of arrival as my apt accommodations in Paris do not start for another day. My plane arrives at 9:30AM. I woud love suggestions on the easiest way to get from the airport to MSM. Also my last night in Paris (10:30AM flight) any hotel suggestions?

You'll love Les Minimes. Try to get a room where the view looks out toward the bridge over the river. They light it up at night.

A hint for turning that car in. Remember the words "voiture" and "gare". We drove back and forth, back and forth looking for the airport not realizing that we were already there and just needed to be looking for terminal two. I knew "gare" was a train station but didn't realize it seemingly applied to airports too.

Hi, travel -

where are you hiring the car?

you could pick it up in central paris, then drive to Versailles on your way to Amboise, or you could train [RER] to Versailles and pick it up there.

Last days in a place should always be as stress-free as possible IMO - you don't want to be worrying about transport, luggage, etc.

Alternatively, do it as a day trip from Paris - the RER takes only 30 minutes or so, and you can buy a combined RER and entrance ticket.

regards, ann

here2there:

That's not a sensible plan at all. You'll be tired when you arrive and it's about 4 hours or so to le Mont-St-Michel (note, it's not Michelle, it's named after Saint Michel, a man) if you're driving, and it sounds like you're not.By train, anyone's guess depending on what day and time you arrive, and you can't even get there directly by train - you have to take a bus after the train. So in all likelihood you'd be traveling 6-7 hours after landing at CDG and then the same back to Paris the next day. Really doubt you want to do that.

Hi just back from Paris and had 4 hours to kill before the flight, we went to the Hilton Hotel for a snack and drink. 1 cesar salad, 1 club sandwich, 1 gin and tonic, 2 small beers. 78 Euros - I kid you not. Stay in town and get better value for money, you have time

Hello Travel!
We, too, loved Les Minimes during our tay in Amboise. On the same trip, we had a rental car and spent our last night in Versailles at the Trianon Westin, driving the last morning to CDG, returned our rental car, and caught our flight. We loved staying there - it was a very special place. I would do it, again!

flybob, thanks! I'll be staying at the Hilton my last night before flight home(following trip to Normandy). Think I will eat a nice,big, late lunch (I'll be in Chartres where I'll turn in my car and train back to Paris and CDG) and not plan on a nice dinner at the Hilton. I'll bring plenty of snacks!

StCirq

I was actually referring to the hotel. Here is its web site, rather nice and clos(e) to Clos Lucie.
http://www.leclosamboise.com/ Check it out, a nice hotel for the price. We have rooms facing the park with no traffic noise and a free car park nearby.

I guess I wasn't clear, we're staying in Le Mont-St-Michel and then driving to CDG to spend the night.

We stayed at Minimes but walked by the Clos d'Amboise... very pretty mansion set in the middle of town.

If you go to Place St Denis, then turn right on rue Nationale, there was an internet cafe, if that's of interest to you. Of course, this was 2004, couple years ago. Also, I want to say there was a grocery store on the quai Gen.de Gaulle... You can see some of those 'troglodyte' homes carved into the rock as you walk along rue Victor Hugo to Clos de Luce museum...