I would like some logistical help with our trip in late May, so that I may book hotels for the right days.
Tue, May 23 arrive CDG early morning
Wed, Paris
Thr, Paris
Fri, Paris
Sat, Paris
Sun, take train, rent car, drive to LV
Mon, LV, drive/train? to Normandy
Tue, Normandy
Wed, Normandy, drop car, train to Paris
Thu, morning flight out of CDG

How does this look? Five days in Paris includes trip to Giverny. How long will it take to get from PAris to hotel in Amboise? Where should we rent the car from? And how long to drive to Normandy? Or should we drop the car, train there, and rent car there? Then how best to get back to Paris from Normandy? Any suggestions for our last afternoon/evening in Paris? Where to stay for the one night?

Or should we flip flop it all and go straight to Normandy form CDG to end in PAris and save the travel day returning to Paris at the end of our loop?

Thank you so much for your time and advice. Have a wonderful weekend.

What's LV?

Loire Valley maybe.

Normandy is quite a large area. What do you want to visit other than Giverny?

Oh, thanks Coco. That must be it!

My husband wants to see the D-Day beach. We aren't particularly interested in the wine country.

Here is my list of sites for Paris: Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Jardin du Luxembourg, Musee Rodin, Musee des Arts et Metiers, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Montmarte, Sacre Coeur, Conciergerie, Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle.

Thank you for any advice.

For Normandy, I suggest that you stay in Bayeux, which is quite central for all the beaches except Utah. Presumably the beach you want to visit is Omaha, the the nearby American cemetery at St. Laurent-sur-Mer. Although your time is limited, you should also visit the Mémorial in Caen--you want to give it at least 2 or 3 hours.

As you plan to visit Giverney, I suggest you do it on the way to or from Bayeux, rather than as a day trip from Paris.

If you're up to driving a car from CDG, you can visit Giverny and stay nearby the first night, in Vernon or Les Andelys. Then drive to Bayeux, stopping in Caen. After Bayeux, you can drive to Amboise, and drop the car and return to Paris by train.

Now that I know what it is, I'd suggest you either skip the Loire Valley or add a couple of days onto your trip. The way you've planned the trip so far, you'll only have about a half a day there and it's a Sunday. Unless you can spend about 3 days there, I don't think it's a good idea.

Besides, there is so much to see in Normandy (and it's cider country, not wine). There are many D-Day beaches, great museums in Caen and Arromanches, Pointe du Hoc, Sainte Mère Eglise, the various cemeteries, the Bayeux tapestry, and all that beautiful countryside.

Instead of a day in the Loire Valley, I'd recommend you plan to spend some time in Rouen and Honfleur on your way to the coast.

I appreciate your advice, but Loire Valley is actually the priority over Normandy.
My thinking was to get to Amboise in time for lunch, then have the afternoon to tour chateau, and then see more the next day before heading out in the afternoon to Normandy. That's why I wanted to check the distances and timefrmae between each destination, if it would be feasible.

Maybe we would be better off going to Normandy/Bayeux out of Paris on Saturday, stopping at Giverny, then having all day Sunday at Normandy before heading to LV Monday? That would give us 1/2 day Monday, all day Tue and Wed morning if need be in LV. Does that make more sense? We can pick up a car at Giverny station, right? Then how far is the drive to Bayeux?

Thank you again : )

I agree that the drive from Bayeux to Amboise is much too long vs the time you have to spend there. This is something that can be checked on MAPPY, which is very helpful for plotting out driving routes.

Honfleur is a very charming town, and close enough that you can drive right out of Paris, stopping in Rouen on the way if you wish.

According to Mappy it is 300Km or 180miles, what is the speed limits? Would 4-5hrs driving be about right? That would be ok with us, to see both the D-Day beaches and castles.

Is there a train we could take from Bayeux to Amboise? That would be easier than driving.

Thank you for helping me out.

Emily:

I don't think you have a realistic idea of how much ground you can cover -in the sense of actually driving from point A to point B and also in the sense of how long it will take you to visit the sites - on any leg of this trip.

Nor do I understand your original itinerary if the Loire Valley was the priority - you were giving yourself only a half day there, and that didn't even count locating the hotel, checking in, having lunch, etc.

You have eight days for traveling by my count, plus the day you arrive and the day you leave.

You can't go from Bayeux to Amboise by train without going through Paris. The trip takes 5-6 hours by train.

You can't "see" "the castles" and "the beaches" in 4-5 hours. You really need a minimum of 2 days in each place, and especially for Normandy, that's really rushing it.

You probably need to cut down on your time in Paris to do this.

Sorry, I was unavailable to reply earlier this weekend.

I did not mean we can see both and travel between them in 5 hrs. I meant the travel time alone of 5 hrs would be ok, so that I could get to see my castles and John could get to the DDay beaches. That is what each of us picked to see outside of Paris. I know there will be a lot of things we will miss, but this is the time available for this trip.

Here is my new itinerary, if there anything I'm overlooking, please let me know. And if you have any other advice, I really do appreciate it.

Tue, May 23 arrive CDG early morning Paris
Wed, Paris
Thur, Paris
Fri, Paris
Sat, train to Giverny, car or train to Bayeux
Sun, Normandy beaches, cemetery, etc
Mon, early morning travel to Amboise, try to see 1 chateau
Tues, chateaus
Wed, morning travel back to Paris, see/do something special that evening?
Thur, flight back Cincinnati

I think that covers everything. Thank you again for everyones advice, it helped refine my itinerary. Have a great week!

If you don't mind sightseeing with your luggage in the car and want to see chateaus, another option is driving to Angers and stay overnight. Then, on the way to Amboise, stop along the way choosing two or more from this partial list: Montgeoffroy, Usse, Azay-le-Rieau and Villandry.