Need help deciding 2 days on June 2018 France trip
 

I have the following trip planned...much of which is bucket list....but am struggling to decide 2.5 days at the end. Would appreciate thoughts and insights....We're a married couple (mid 40's and mid 60's), have traveled in Europe yearly for the last 14 years but have only been to France 2 times (4 days in Paris and a week in the Alsace). We find fun wherever we go so we are rarely disappointed with anything....museums, food, architecture....people watching with an adult beverage... We like a calm pace (it is holiday) and prefer to stay at least two nights at each location.

Monday - 6/18 - Arrive London EARLY from the US...Spend the day in London - gardens, people watching, jet lag reset (This isn't our first visit to London but I've never been outside of November - February so am looking forward to London in the late Spring).
Tuesday - 6//19 - Early Eurostar to Paris, Pick up car at train station - Drive to Bayeux - arriving around 2pm ( I know this is a lot of travel and we could train to Caen but we really love the drive, etc and this way we can stop along the way if we want). - Get into our flat, supplies for the week, walk the town, etc.
Wednesday - 6/20 to Sunday 6/24 - Based in Bayeux - D. Day Tours, beaches, Day trips to Honfleur, Cherbourg, Falaise, Cheese & Cider tour, friends from Germany might join, nephew living in Barcelona may join...who knows how we'll fully spend our time.
Sunday 6/24 - Drive to Rouen mid day and stay until Tuesday morning 6/26 -
Tuesday 6/26 - Drive to Giverney - spend day at Gardens, etc. drive to Versailles late afternoon/early eventing
Wednesday 6/27 - Versailles all day stay night in Versailles
Thursday 6/28.....????
Friday 6/29...????
Saturday 6/30...Make our way back from wherever to Paris for late afternoon Eurostar back to London, transit to Gatwick - staying at South Terminal Hotel....
Sunday 7/1 - 9:30 am flight back to US

So everything planned so far is bucket list and then the bucket list includes Provence which isn't doable with the time left. We have no desire to go back to Paris. We had thought to drive around Paris and spend two nights in Reims, drop car there and train back to Paris on Saturday. The more I think about it, the more this isn't exciting me. I'd also toyed with the idea of Chartres or maybe Fontainebleau....We're good with about a 2-2.5 hour trip out of versailles and 2-3 hours back to Paris on Saturday.

So...thoughts? I can probably move my reservation for Versailles if it makes more sense for that to be our last stop before heading back. Bayeux and Rouen are fixed...as are our flights and Eurostar tickets.

Appreciate the feedback. Tips I've picked up from the Fodors forums have made so many of our trips very memorable....so thank you to all the consistent contributors.

Loire Valley for a few days - not a bad drive from Versailles - can easily go via Chartres to say Amboise area and when done either return car in say St-Pierre-des-Corps (Tours main station) and blast back to Paris car-free - know you like to drive but timewise taking train would be much quicker in this scenario. From Versailles yes drive into Paris - I've done it many times and always got a thrill out of it and found it rather easy if slow-going at times.

Or, you could drive to Lille Europe Eurostar station and return car there. Or even begin your car rental there and drive to Bayeux via Honfleur. You perhaps have booked return tickets to Paris however and most London-Paris trains don't stop at Lille-Europa - but if not booked, there are many Eurostar trains from London that do - just another option to fill those few days. Could easily hit Auvers-sur-Oise on way up (where van Gogh and Cezanne and Impressionists holed up to paint local scenes -copies of these now world-famous works now set up where they were first painted). And then up the Oise Valley north..

Have you booked your Eurostar trains yet? If not do so ASAP for lowest rates which can sell our months in advance - www.eurostar.com to easily book your own - www.seat61.com has lot of info on doing that and on French trains too; for general train info BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

You might consult the Michelin Green Guide to see other options in Normandy, maybe even Brittany, or perhaps the Loire.

Enjoy!

Could also go by train to Portsmouth or Southampton and fast ferry to Oustreham (Caen's port) and pick up car there.

But really consider taking Eurostar to Lille Europa and driving 4.5 hrs (google time) to Bayeux from there (vs 2.5 hours from Paris but another hour on TGV to Paris from Lille and then more hassle getting out of Gare du Nord area, etc. Just options.

Could add those two days at start from Lille - Deauville, Trouville classy old ports, Honfleur of the painters then do rest two days set back each - end in Versailles and Paris.

I would add the days to Normandy. Your plans are to visit the "highlights," i.e., the most touristed places in that département. You could easily spend more time outside Rouen and in the Vallée de la Misère, Alençon, Fougères, Vitré.....countless places

As long as you are to the west of Paris, you could easily add the couple days in the Loire Valley, particularly the closer part (eg, not to the west of Tours). I'd probably do that rather than more time in Normandy, unless you DO have something in particular you want to see there which isn't already included, doesn't sound like it.

Otherwise, I'd suggest going to the south-ish of Paris perhaps and visiting Auxerre and Troyes. they are very nice with several sites of interest to tourists, and that puts you within a fairly easy drive back to Gare du Nord.

Provins is near Troyes and a great French Italian hill town. So with Troyes would be great- Auxerre is too far for OP who says 2.5 max from Versailles.

And oops OP pardon my neglecting to see Eurostar tickets booked - looked several times and not good enough. Scratch Lille Europa. Sorry for mentioning.

Another thought would be to drive to Bordeaux and drop the car there. British air and Easy Jet both have flights to Gatwick which would avoid the Eurostar trip back and then having to work you way back out to Garwick. We make this connection often and it is super easy.

OP has booked Eurostar already back to London from Paris.

oh yeah-see that now. well they can still take the train from Bordeaux-only 2 hours now.

If only in Paris previously for 4 days or so why not spend final two days there - always lots more to see and do and just being in Paris always great.

Ditto PalenQ. You've only scratched the surface of Paris with 4 days several years ago. I'd suspect these last two days would also make the overall trip a little less stressed by eliminating the travel, etc. before paris.