Greetings Experienced Normandy Fodorites;<BR><BR>I've pretty much booked my France trip and I would like input on the timing allowed for the Normandy portion of the trip. Although I intend to visit the beach that my father came landed on in Normandy, my primary interest in Normandy goes to an era before WWII (i.e. Roman Occupation,Norman Invasion, Joan of Arc, etc.). This is pretty well worn soil and there is so much here beyond WWII. I also have some open items that I would welcome input on.<BR><BR>9/12 = Land at CDG, rent car, 1st night stay at Rouen<BR>9/13 &amp; 9/14 = Travel on toward Honfluer and stay for 2nights. Explore Etreat, Trouville, Deuville, and a few other small towns in the immediate area<BR>9/15 = Travel toward Bayeux and spend the night, stopping at Caen.<BR>9/16 = Travel toward Mt.St. Michel and spend the night, stopping by Grandville and a few towns on the way.<BR>9/17 &amp; 9/18 This is still open. I need to get back to Paris for the evening of 9/19.<BR>Thoughts are head back through lower Normandy and drop the car at Chartres and train in on the 9/19. Perhaps staying along the way in lower Normandy or in Loire Valley.<BR>I'm not certain of the time required to get back to Chartres from Mt. St. Michel. Any suggestions.<BR><BR>I had hoped to get to Brittany but that may be pushing it.<BR><BR>Thanks for your help.<BR><BR>DAJ

DAJ, I posted this a while back for someone with a similar itinerary as yours. Hope this helps.<BR><BR>Etretat is lovely. You will enjoy a drive out there. There is accessible<BR> parking and you can see the famous 'falaises.' There's also a small church at<BR> the top of the adjoining hill you can climb up to get a better view of the cliffs and<BR> English Channel. Then, you could drive along the secondary roads and either<BR> stop in one of the villages you come across and lunch, or continue on to<BR> Fecamp. When you drive through that part of Normandy, you may be able to<BR> stop off at a farmhouse and purchase some 'cidre' for next to nothing! You could<BR> also drive on the secondary roads through Yvetot and then spend a late<BR> afternoon in Rouen. The city center is pedestrian and there are some lovely<BR> churches. You can visit the exact spot where Jeanne d'Arc was burned in 1431,<BR> have dinner in Rouen and drive back to Honfleur.<BR><BR>

I would suggest you spend one night in the 'Eastern&quot; part of Normandy if you want to see &Eacute;tretat and Honfleur (you can see them both in one day). Lunch around the vieux port in Honfleur is wonderful! I particularly like Normandy - the food is delicious even if it is based on lots of cr&egrave;me fra&icirc;che! You could travel by car through Pont l'&Eacute;v&ecirc;que (buy some cheese!), down to Lisieux if you want to see the Basilica of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus (&quot;Sainte Th&eacute;r&egrave;se de l'Enfant J&eacute;su&quot;; she was from Lisieux).

Past Caen (Caen was heavily bombarded during WWII so not a lot of interesting things to see except the Abbaye) and then to Bayeux which is about 20 minutes north of Caen. In Bayeux, visit the lovely cathedral (the spire looks like lace) and the tapestry that is not far on foot next to the city hall. There's even a plaque there Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited it. You could drive to Arromanches just north of Bayeux and visit the beaches (a few hours around that part is fine - the American cemetery is particularly moving and well kept. The USA pays France a fee each year for upkeep).

From Bayeux, you might want to drive West on the D572 past Saint-L&ocirc; (which<BR> is not that interesting anymore because it too was heavily bombed during<BR> WWII), through the roundabout onto the D972 to Coutances. I love Coutances! It<BR> was settled by the Romans (&quot;Cosedia&quot. The cathedral is beautiful in the center<BR> of town and there are interesting shops you could buy lunch. Then drive down to<BR> Granville (there are interesting ramparts there. 30 minutes out of the car in<BR> Granville to look at them is fine. On another note, the world famous Christian<BR> Dior was from Granville). Then down to Mont Saint-Michel. It's charming, a bit<BR> touristy (so you may not want to eat there; have coffee or tea instead) and eat<BR> in one of the villages you drive through instead or in Avranches (before Mont<BR> Saint-Michel) or at Pontorson immediately after. Go into the Abbey. It's very<BR> sparse (Benedictine) but the views over Normandy, the ocean and Brittany are<BR> beautiful on a clear day. Pontorson is right on the border of Normandy and<BR> Brittany so you could take a picture of yourself technically in Brittany! Then<BR> back up the secondary roads to Bayeux. This drive will take one day but you<BR> will see the Mont and have driven through small Norman villages.<BR>

In addition, perhaps you want to overnight in Saint-M&acirc;lo or Dinard in Brittany<BR> past the Mont if you don't want to return to Bayeux. But Bayeux is charming<BR> and you will like it. If you drive from Le Mont to Chartres, take the N176 to the N12, direction Alencon and then follow the signs to Chartres. It's about a 3-4 hour drive.<BR>

We stayed in a lovely lovely auberge close to Yvetot (mentioned above) called the Auberge le Val au Cesne. <BR><BR>The food was absolutely wonderful and the rooms were charming.<BR><BR>Best of all were the lush green gardens - we were served breakfast sitting out in the garden with our friends (who were travelling with us) and all four of us were bowled over by the breakfast - home made jams and yoghurts, breads and pastries, wonderful hot chocolate/ coffee and tea. The same fayre as is served in a thousand other french auberge, B&amp;Bs and hotels across France but the quality of this one was definitely superior.<BR><BR>I am sure anyone would love it as a peaceful place to spend a night.

Thank you for your wonderful suggestions. I am so looking forward to exploring the Normandy countryside.<BR><BR>What I did not have available to meet at the time of my original post were the hotels I am booked/considering booking into; here they are:<BR><BR>Rouen: Hotel De La Cathedrale<BR>Honfluer: L'Absinthe or Hostellerie Lechate<BR>Bayuex: Lion D'Or or Chateau De Bellefontaine (concern is that it is too far from town center)<BR>Mt.St. Michel: Auberge St.Pierre<BR><BR>Comments/view on the above hotel choices are appreciated.<BR><BR>I would also appreciate recommendations on places to stop on the way back from Mt.St. Michel to Chartres/Paris in the Loire Valley. Ideally I would like a quick representation of the flavor of the Loire valley. We still have 2 nights before we need to get back into Paris.<BR><BR>Thanks.

<BR>TO EYE SPY EUROPE<BR><BR>Are you the same eyespy bored@work?<BR>Hope so. Always enjoyed your post!!

John: Thanks. Yes I'm the same person still bored@work! DAJ: I don't know how much you want to drive out of your way, but Angers (art town, medieval castle and tapestries, cathedral) is wonderful. So is Saumur (Chateau de Saumur, Musee de l'Ecole de Cavalerie, cave des Vignerons de Saumur), then up to Tours (Cathedrale St-Gatien, Musee des Beaux-Arts; East of Tours: Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Chenonceaux and Amboise / West of Tours: Cheateau Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry) and the up to Chartres. In Tours, it is said the purest French is spoken and the accent is the best. If you go to some of these places, you're in for a lot of driving. But Chartres-Paris is about 1.25 hours through La Beauce plain.<BR><BR>

DAJ:<BR><BR>Ch&acirc;teau de la Bellefontaine is absolutely charming, and no, it's not far from town. Despite the fact that it is on a quiet country lane with fields and cows and a nice little stream running by the side, it is only 600 meters from the cathedral. It's a 7-minute walk into the middle of town.

Thank you Eye Spy &amp; StCirq,<BR><BR>Eye Spy, since you seem to know quite a bit of the Loire can you give me an idea of time/distance from Mt.St. Michel to Chartres if I dipped down (not as far down as you indicated)into the Loire on the way?<BR><BR>Although we have a car, at this point, I don't want to spend the last 2 days doing alot of driving. I am looking for suggestions on places to stop for the night that would be of interest.

DAJ: I'm going to presume you are staying overnight in Bayeux and then in/around Mont St.-Michel. The following day, time in the car is what you are dealing with. From Mont-St-Michel stick to the main raods passing through St. Hilaire du Harcouet, Bagnols de l'Orne (nice quiet spa town) in the direction of Alencon (very famous town for French lace). Then down the N138 to Le Mans (you are now in the Sarthe region and no longer in Normandy). Then past Le Mans onto the N157 direction Orleans but taking the turn to Vendome and then Blois. Blois has a lovely chateau. It's very nice and the town has lots of atmosphere, and you could overnight there. I'd estimate from Mont St.-Michel to Blois would be +/- 4-5 hours in the car, but the roads are good and on the main highways there are rest stops. You'll be going through lots of farmland, especially in the Sarthe which is famous for its beef. Next day, take N10 to Chartres and be sure you can drop the car off there. The train service from Chartres to Paris is excellent. The TGV even goes through Blois down to Tours from Paris. You have a lot of options and you're right: if you go down to Saumur, then you are getting farther off course, but the scenery is wonderful. If you get up at a decent hour in Bayeux, you can stop in Granville, look at the ramparts (20 minutes or so and have some coffee), the back on the small roads going to Mont St. Michel. So you could be at the Mont all afternoon and then find a place to stay away from Mont St-Michel since it's so touristy. I hope this helps.

Thank you EyeSpy for great details. Actually we plan on staying on the Mont; getting there in the later half of the afternoon and leaving before noon (before the crowds) the next day. <BR><BR>I just received word that one of my hotel choices is booked, Bellefontaine in Bayeux. My other choice is Lion d'Or. Do you have any experience with this one?<BR><BR>Do you have suggestions in the Loire Valley area that you have mentioned?<BR><BR>Thank you.

Topping for Loire valley hotel suggestions. Looking for 2 day itinerary frm Mont Michel to Chartres. We will have a car that will be dropped off at Chartres to train back to Paris.

You will be in Bayeux for a day--actually less. Hardly time to see the tapestry. Be sure to take the abbaye road from Rouen toward Honfleur. It seemed to me that there was a lot of Norman history south of Honfleur on the way to Bayeux. Two days in Honfleur might be a lot. We drove from Bayeux to Chartres last fall via the main roads and it took around 4 hours I believe--LOTS of traffic. I believe from Mont St. Michel it would be a goodly drive.

Absinthe is very nice and in the middle of things. On your way, if you pass through Trouville it's one of my favorite stops for lunch. &quot;Les Vapeurs&quot; if you like mussels, try their moules.<BR>On the main street of Trouville,<BR>You will see the famous hotel Normandy that has these beautiful 'Fitages&quot;enamaled figues on the roof tops that keep the birds from dispensing their goods. There is also in Honfleur the home of the French composer who wrote one of my favorites pieces of music, &quot;Gymnop&eacute;dies&quot;

Gretchen, thank you for your input. I was considering if 2 days in Honfluer might not be too much, but thought with going up to Etretat, Falaise, Trouville, &amp; such while there it might be ok?<BR><BR>I'm not sure we will actually stay in Bayuex, I've not yet made reservations in town but have them for that evening in Veirville sur Mar, which is on Omaha Beach. I thought this might be nice. But I'm actually debating this as well. I seem to be vacillating a bit with this part of our trip.(Probably should have just gone to the south of France?). I really don't want to be driving too much, and I wonder if it's highly recommended to make all our reservations or if we can go without some in the Loire valley. <BR><BR>