Mont St Michel or beautiful villages of Normany?
 

We have 2 days in the battle fields of the Somme (ending up staying in Amiens) and then a space of 3 days before we need to arrive at eg. Tours for our visit to the Loire Valley. I really wanted to see Mont St Michel but decided that it was just too much driving (with a hire car) in the time available. I have planned an alternate itinerary of Day 1 Amiens to Rouen via Beauvais, Gerberoy, Lyon la Foret
Day 2 Rouen, Routes des Abbayes to Les Anderleys
Day 3 Les Anderleys via Conches en Ouches and St Cenerei le Gerei to Amboise.
Before I commit entirely, I'm now wondering if it would be possible to ditch the car in Amiens or Rouen and catch a train to near Mont St Michel and then train it back to eg. Tours for the end of the third day. I think I would love either Mont St Michel or the small villages of Normandy. We will have two teenagers (17 and 18) with us, but they'll see plenty of bright lights in London, Paris, Venice , Florence and Rome. Any advice or comments on timing? I should mention that we will be there in late December and am conscious that the days are short.
Thanks for your help.

I can even fathom spending time in Normandy and not making it to Mt. St. Michel. Plenty of day tours companies can take you there and can be arrange by hotels, e-mail, etc... My choice would be to go by car, get there the earlier in the AM the better.

As far as villages, you mention some beautiful ones. I would consider Deauville and Trouville. They are "sister" towns, Dreauville is the "rich one" (hometown of Coco Chanel), Trouville has the charm.

I meant "I can't even fathom"....too early for this.

Mont St Michel is absolutely worth the time it takes to get there. I did it on a day trip from Paris starting at 0600 and ending after dark. Would do it again without hesitation.

If you have a fresh credit card or a lot of cash, lunch at La Mere Poulard while you're there is also memorable.

Since you will have a car, going to the Mont St. Michel should not be a problem. One day's drive to MSM and one day's drive to Tours. That gives you one day at the MSM. You might even find the time to see Cancale, the Pointe du Groin and St. Malo on the same day (I found half a day on the Mont sufficient).

In case you need to do a search, there's no "r" in Les Andelys.

A very nice hotel/restaurant there is La Châine d'Or; it's right on the banks of the Seine.

Thanks Viajero2, Underhill, rfb and Michael,

You've persuaded me to reinclude Mont Saint Michel in the itinerary (I was really sorry to leave it out) and I think I've got a schedule that will work. In December, the Mont won't be lit at night will it, so it would definitely be better to stay on the Mont itself do you think? Have found lots of threads re suggested hotels -just a question of on the Mont or over the causeway???

Thanks so much for your help