HI !
we are planing our 34 nights trip in France (2 adults and 10,14 years old kids). We will have an appartment in Paris for 7 nights (theater district not far from Starsbourg metro station), rent a car and then head to Normandy. Our plan for now is:

- 3 nights in Honfleur in a airbnb (daytrip to Etretat and maybe Rouen)
- 3 nights in Bayeux (D-Day beaches, maybe Caen memorial)
- Leave Bayeux early and stop at Mont St-Michel for 3-4 hours (more or less, we will see)
- 4 Nights in and Airbnb in Dinan (daytrip to St-Malo, cap Frehel)
- 4 nights in the western part of Brittany. That part still to be plan. We would make a day of driving, stopping somewhere in the Pink granite coast and head to our next Airbnb. We have thought about Quimper as a base for the region (4 nights). Crozon peninsula seems nice and ww will do daytrip to Lorcronan or any places that deserves it .
- 3 nights in Vannes or any other places in that region

After those we are making a long drive to Dordogne (5 nights) and Auvergne (4 nights) and Return to Paris (1 night)

Any thoughts about that plan ? Thanks !

General advice--don't take the fast roads unless you have to. We stopped taking the A roads after our first trip. There's a lot to enjoy between the well-known tourist sites of France and we found we liked the quiet places better than the crowded ones.

On your way from Paris to Honfleur, you might like to stop at La Roche-Guyon, one of France's most beautiful villages. Tiny, but the position right along a bend of the Seine, its chateau built into the cliff, and the chateau's vegetable and fruit garden make it a really nice stop. You can walk through the whole place in about 15 minutes. If you're lucky, the town's boulangerie will be open.

From Paris to Honfleur, try to take one or two of the free little ferries that cross the Seine at eight locations. If the other side doesn't appeal to you, you can get right back on the next ferry and resume your route.

https://sites.google.com/site/shippingseine/the-bacs

We really enjoyed the HQ of the Parc Naturel Regional des Boucles de la Seine, on a prosperous former farm with chicken house, bake house, cider mill, fields, and so on. Driving through the forest of Brotonne, we stopped to let a troop of wild boars cross the road in front of us. There are dramatic white cliffs on both sides of the Seine at Jumieges-Herteauville. Taking the ferry east you can see the ruins of Jumieges. We loved the tiny village of Vieux-Port, nothing but thatched-roof cottages with irises planted on the roof ridges. Pont Audemer has markets Friday and Monday mornings.

When we're in France, we get a charge out of everything that is different from home. We try to visit a street market each morning, not necessarily to buy, but to scope out what's for sale, see the other shoppers greeting old friends, admire their well-behaved dogs. In the supermarket we marvel as the meters and meters of chocolate bars. The unrefrigerated eggs! More cheeses in one case than we'd see in a whole cheese store at home. Booze! Here in Pennsylvania we don't see that in supermarkets. Also, French pastry shops are heaven.

I realize your life at home may be closer to life in France than ours is, so my thrills are not your thrills and definitely not your kids' thrills. Kids may require more stimulation. Ice cream, a visit to buy four different pastries in a boulangerie-patisserie for comparison purposes, the chance to connect with other kids in a park or at a small-town soccer game.

When you're in Dinan, you can walk along the Rance to the little town of Lehon and beyond. When we were in that area we walked along the Rance every evening, just us, a few cyclists, and some cows.

I can't remember if you're staying in gites or B&Bs, but for us part of the fun at B&Bs is the breakfast table conversation. Since you speak French you can dive right in. We usually listen and hopefully learn.

You're going to have a memorable trip. I hope you'll come back and write a trip report for Fodors.

The village of Menehem is fascinating. https://www.brittanytourism.com/dest...et-of-meneham/
Worth a stop for an hour or so perhaps.
Maybe trip inland to Huelgoat or further in to the Arthurian woodlands.
Plenty of standing stones and tumuli without going to Carnac.
If you haven't already done so do look further at the Brittany tourism site linked to above.

You could hire bikes and ride some of the coast or along the towpath of one of the canals. Even if you don't ride bikes the locks at Hede are a nice place for a walk not too far from Dinan.

We'll be on the Crozon peninsula in a few weeks. We are staying in a chalet at a campsite on a bay. Lovely beach just over the road from us.

Quimper is fine as a base. We stayed just outside at a B&B. Don't miss some of the calvaires that are in the area:

https://flic.kr/p/8sTCQg
Here are my two trip reports which include Brittany:

Trip Report: Ghent, Normandy and Brittany

Trip Report: France, summer 2009

In Bayeux do not miss the tapestry. I found it a highlight of the trip. (I believe its transfer to England for restoration has been delayed.)

I would recommend a stop in Fougères to visit the outstanding castle there. It's about 50 miles from Dinan. From Dinan we took a boat down the Rance to Lehon and visited the chapel. We walked back along the river.

We found Rouen difficult to drive into, but enjoyed our stay. Fascinating medieval quarter evoking spooky mementoes from the plague years, the site of Joan of Arc's execution, and the cathedral often depicted by Monet.

The ruined abbey Jumieges, mentioned above, is also an evocative spot.

If you have an appetite for castles I would also recommend a stop in Les Andelys to see Château Gaillard. The castle was built by Richard the Lionheart, and later modified (to its detriment) by his brother John. It's a unique structure.

Interesting Fra_D. We gave up on Rouen because of driving. We have visited Jean d'Arc's birthplace, and Orleans. Must make the effort to see her place of execution sometime. Won't be this coming trip though.

We quite liked Rouen - we parked in a parking station at the edge of the tourist district and walked in. We didn't discover the medieval part where Joan of Arc was burned until with tired legs we hopped onto a tourist train, but in the end saw everything we wanted to. We also saw the cathedral painted by Monet. Rouen was, I think, one of the highlights of our trip that time. For us, definitely worth the visit.

Lavandula

If in Caen, consider visiting the fortress/palace of William the Conqueror, square in the middle of town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Caen