Okay, I'll have ten days in France in early October (not counting arrival/departure days.) Want to spend about 5 of them in Paris, and the other 5 in the Loire, Normandy/Brittany w/a car. <BR> <BR>Have Paris down, but trying to figure out how much time in each place outside, and fearing we'll have to cut back on some things in order not to feel frantic. Want to see the following: Giverny/Honfleur (sleep there?), Bayeux/Mont St. Michel (sleep nearby), Loire chateaux/wineries for 3 days, including a stop at Chartres on the way to/from Paris. Sound reasonable? <BR> <BR>Any recommendations as to whether to do it in this order or the reverse? Can we base near Amboise for the entire Loire? (So many lovely places to stay, it's difficult to choose!) Any websites that have good maps/driving times? Thanks in advance for your advice.

To the top for all of us heading to France!

Try to spend at least one night ON Mont St. Michel. It is very special at night. We spent two nights on the island and spent the day in between bussing to St. Malo. We also spent two nights in Amboise in order to see it and Chenonceau. Didn't make it to the D-Day beaches or Bayeaux (sp?) or Giverny. Yes, there is way too much to see in France. You can't really go wrong. You just need to choose according to your interests. <BR>

Kristin - <BR> <BR>Thanks for your reply. I've been seeking places to stay near Mont St-Michel, and have had no success finding anything reasonable that sounds appealing actually ON the Mont. If you enjoyed your accomodations, please share! Am currently considering the Chateau les Hauts, overlooking the bay, with rates from 370-650 FF. Has anyone stayed there? (www.chateau-les-hauts.com)

We stayed at the Hotel Saint-Auberge, at the end of the causeway. We had reservations at a hotel in Pontorson, but there was NO PARKING, so we found this motel - we could park the car outside our door. In 1994, the double room cost us about $40. We got up early to visit Mont St Michel, and saw the mists surrounding it - very ethereal. <BR> <BR>Visit Giverny, skip Honfleur (nothing wrong with it, but you'll have too much to do to see it), go to Bayeux to see the beaches and museums. Go to Amboise to see the chateau and Clos du Luce (da Vinci's home). Stop in Chartres on the way back to Paris. Any more than that, and you will be frazzled (can you fly out of Tours, and skip the drive back to Paris?). <BR> <BR>www.iti.fr for driving times and itineraries (gives sights, hotels and restaurants along the route). <BR> <BR>Do get a good driving map, like a Michelin. There are roundabouts aka rotaries which make life easy; if you miss your exit, just drive around again. Navigator uses the clock for directions "exit at 3:00!". <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip; eat eggs and cheese and drink Calvados (only if you aren't driving). The first and only time I ever ate periwinkles was in Arromanches. <BR>Great seafood! <BR>

Leslie- <BR>We did a similiar trip this past May but took 7 days instead of 5 and it was great and not rushed. I would suggest 3 days for Normandy and 2 for the Loire. <BR>Day 1-Drive to Giverny before it opens arrive around 9:30am. Drive to Rouen and do walking tour of city center around 1-2 hrs. Drive to Honfleur, dinner by the harbor, sip Calvados(very potent) and stay the night. <BR>Day 2-Drive to Caen in am, tour Memorial museum (Normandy museum, excellent intro to beaches) about 2 hrs to visit. Drive to Bayeux check into hotel. Tour Normandy beaches in afternoon, Arromanches, American Cemetary at Omaha, Point du Hoc, and German Cemetary. <BR>Day 3-Bayeux Tapestry in am with visit to nearby Cathedral. Drive to Mont St Michel in afternoon, pack a picnic. Take last english speaking tour of Abbey around 5pm. Stay on the Island. <BR>Day 4-Drive to Amboise(4+hrs?). Visit Chateau in Amboise and Clos du Luce. Stay in Amboise(2 nts). <BR>Day 5-Chateau to your hearts content. The big 3, Chenonceau, Chambord, Cheverny can be done easily in one day with a stop at one of the areas wineries or caves. <BR>I would drop your car off in Chartres and take the train back to Paris. (We had picked up our car in Vernon(Avis) and dropped it off in Tours using the train both times, thus avoiding the Paris traffic) <BR>Staying on Mont St Michel costs about twice what it does to stay on the causeway, but like Kristin I would splurge for 1 night. We stayed at the la Croix Blanche on the Island for around 500ff. We looked into staying at the Saint-Auberge on the Causeway (Elvira they still only charge around $40 for a double) but decided to splurge after reading the posts on this board. <BR>In addition to Elvira's suggestions, try the Moules(Mussels), Cidre and anything in a crepe. <BR> Hope this helps, you'll have a wonderful time <BR>

Hi, <BR> <BR>well, it's do-able but you'll spend a lot of time driving. I think you might have to cut a day in the Loire... <BR> <BR>you can easily get to Giverny from Paris, early... It's about an hour drive... then on to Bayeux, maybe 2 hours more. after spending the rest of the day there you wouldn't want to hit the road to Mont St. Michel for the night (unless you already had a room to go to) so I'd sleep in Bayeux and head over to MSM in the morning. <BR> <BR>if you overnight at MSM, you'll have a nice drive in the morning to get over to the chateaux, probably by early to mid-afternoon. <BR> <BR>Decide which chateaux you are most interested in seeing (I'd pick Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Chambord and Chenonceau) and hit 2 each day - Villandry and Azay are close to each other and further west, Chambord and Chenonceau are close (enough) to each other and east - so you'd be on your way back to Paris anyway... maybe 2 hours or so from Paris. <BR> <BR>don't forget to leave time to visit the wineries, either. <BR> <BR>if you really want to not feel too rushed on your wanderings, maybe do that first & get back to Paris & spend your last half of the trip there. at a minimum, you won't feel as if you have to rush from the Loire Valley to the airport... <BR> <BR>Beth

We took Rick Steves' advice and reserved a room with the Restaurant le St. Michel which is a very good restaurant owned by a husband and wife team, he's the chef. The rooms are in a different building from the restaurant. Clean and neat, but not fancy. Bathroom was in the room. The room was not as small as many we saw in France. I think we paid 300F (with the exchange at nearly 7 per dollar). I thought that was a pretty terrific price to be spending the night on the island! Their tel and fax is 0233601437. <BR> We walked out on the causeway each morning and evening to get the great view. It was still neat to "go home" to a small building ON the island. The streets which are packed with tourists all day become yours in the evening.

Thanks, everyone! This is exactly the kind of great information I was hoping for, and knew I would receive. Now I can wrangle with the specifics re hotel/car/maps/etc. If anyone else has more to add, please feel free!