Normandy & a bit of Brittany
 

We are planning to go to France at the end of March and after several days in Paris plan to go do the following:<BR>2 nights in St. Malo, 1 night in Mont St Michel and 2 night in Bayeaux.<BR>My questions are is 2 nights in St. Malo too much? We plan to take a train from Paris to Rennes and pick up a car there. Would you recommend spending 1 night in Rennes and 1 in St. Malo (keeping in mind that we have 2 boys ages 7 & 11). Another related question, does anyone know if there are luggage lockers in the train station at Rennes? It appears that the trains run pretty regularly on Sunday (the day we'd be travelling) but the Hertz dealer doesn't open till late afternoon. Any suggestions?

St-Malo is close enough to le Mont-St-Michel that I'm not sure I'd bother packing up and moving. I also didn't find much to like in St-Malo either time I was there - terrible traffic, bleak suburbs....maybe it was the time of year (July), but apart from the heart of the old city and the castle, it didn't appeal to me, and I certainly didn't feel as though I was getting much of a taste of the real Brittany. <BR>It's your vacation, of course, but my suggestion would be to spend a night in St-Malo, visit le Mont-St-Michel at the end of the next day, have dinner and stay until the crowds disperse, then go on to someplace a bit inland like Foug&egrave;res or Vitr&eacute;, both beautiful towns, which will give you more of a sense of Brittany. It's not much of a detour on the way to Bayeux. <BR>I don't know Rennes at all, but the pictures and descriptions in my guidebooks make me think I'd probably enjoy spending a night there.<BR>

Spending the night at St. Michael is still one of my best memories. It is magical at night. I don't care for Rennes that much, not much character, just a large dirty city. (Just my opinion)If you don't want to spend two night in St. Malo you could revise and spend a night in Honfleur. Rennes to Honfleur, to Bayeaux, to St. Michael, St Malo and back to Rennes. OH how I wish I had your choices.

I stayed 2 nights in St. Malo at the Hotel Chateaubriand and can highly recommend it! I also agree that two nights is not too much for St. Malo. From St. Malo, you can take a day trip to Dinan which also is lovely. I took a cruise down the Rance but I'm not sure if it operates in March. Also, you can go to Fougeres to see this fortified city or other small towns if you will have a car.

We liked Dinan (so I think a nice side trip there, especially if you take the boys on Le Petit Train there to get a sense of that town)and we have about zip appreciation for St. Malo. Make that none. We looooved Cancale. Stayed outside of town at Chateux Richeux, but can walk into town along the sea (about one mile) or can get easy, instant taxi service. Can see Mont St. Michel in the distance from hotel. Really neat. We did not get to go to the Oyster Musee on the way into town--their hours for English tour are very limited--but we are going to find a way to go back, mainly because we found the oyster beds in the town to be fascinating. Fabulous collection of restaurants at decent prices along the seaside there. We ate one of our best meals in France (and we go to France a lot) at La Narval. Nice, sweet waiter.<BR><BR><BR>So what would I recommend? We have traveled to Rennes from Paris (good trip). Very bright, modern train station at Rennes. There is a luggage holding area there on the bottom floor near the exit which you rent for some nominal fee. Rennes has a metro (smallest town in France to have one) so if you can get some concrete sightseeing goals, you're in gravy.<BR><BR>After you get your car,I'd head to Dinan (about half hour, forty-five minutes) and stay there. Your choices: town area or canal area. I haven't stayed in either; both are quite picturesque. Then I'd stay at Cancale. Explore that. Don't stay at Mont St. Michel. You want to be there at opening and then get out of town. Spend forever at Bayeux--lovely town, lots to see, comfortable eating, touring and resting.<BR><BR>People have mixed feelings about Honfleur. Quite frankly, we enjoyed it immensely. But I don't think it's worth the travel time. The kids need time to "kick around." I think they will get the most for both your educational needs and their imaginative needs out of Dinan (walled city with fortress and cathedral), Cancale (active fishing port with wonderful views--kids will love boats "stranded" in mud during tides), Mont St. Michel, and Bayeux (tapestry, war museums, etc. )