Paris - Mont Saint Michel
 

I'll be in Paris during the last days of December, in a hotel near Gare Saint Lazare. Would Mont Saint Michel be a reasonable place to go (in a day tour)? What would be the best way to get there? By train? How long it'll take? Thanks

I was in Paris last year and I did a day tour to Mont Saint Michel. I canot remember the name of the tour company I used, but there are several companies that operate a day tour to Mont Saint Michel. Be sure to inquire and book early as the some tour operators do not offer the tour daily. I remember that my first choice was not available (since the tour was full), so I had to travel with a different company.

Last year, I looked at travelling by train but the train doesn't stop at Mont Saint Michel, so you would have to take the train and then rent a car, a tour from Paris is more convient.

Be prepared for along day, and be prepared to climb alot of stairs once at Mont Saint Michel.

There are many souvenir shops when you walk down from Mont Saint Michel I found the selection at the shops to be somewhat better than the souvenir shops at Montmatre in Paris.

Hope this helps.

Hours of travel, short days, possibility of bad weather. Much as I like Mont St Michel (and I do), I'd say leave it for another time.

I agree with Padraig. At the end of December you'll have about 8-9 hours of daylight and possibly miserable weather in northern France. It's a major schlep to le MSM and back, not what I would consider "reasonable."

I wouldn't consider it reasonable for a day trip, either -- although if one absolutely had to see it, I could see doing it more in the summer when it stays light very light. If you want to do that, I really would suggest one of the major bus tour companies (Parisvision or Cityrama both probably have such trips) as the logistics of doing it on your own will take up even more transit time.

As RJames said, there is no train station at Mont St Michel. YOu do not have to rent a car, though, if you took the train to the closest point(s). Of course there are buses and things like that regularly. There are regular buses from Rennes, which is the closest major train and a direct route from Paris. You can also get a regional train from Rennes to the closest station to Mont St Michel (Pontorson), but then you'd have to take a bus from there, or taxi, also. Might as well just take the bus from Rennes. The bus/train schedules are not that convenient for a day trip, either, of course, but mainly it's just a long trip.

What would you suggest for a day tour out of Paris. Reims? Some people I go with are not fond of visiting Chateaux, would you recomend visiting Versailles, despite of that?

Part of the answer as to what day trip to do...would depend on two things: have you ever been to Paris before, and how long will you be there for. If "no" and "less than seven days" I'd skip any day trips, because Paris on its own will gobble up the time.

That being said, I have done a Reims day trip in January, and its was an interesting town with several good champagne cellars to visit. Also did a day trip to Auvers sur Oise (in a car). Also a nice place to visit.

I did a day trip with a tour operator several years ago in March. As much as I loved seeing MSM, it was an awful lot of time on a bus, with very little interesting scenery on the way, and not enough time there. I'd save it until you can see it and spend the better part of a day there.

If people don't like châteaux, skip Versailles and head instead to Chartres--that lovely little town has, of course, a beautiful cathedral with magnificent stained glass and fine medieval precincts. It's only a half-hour train trip from Paris.

I had a pretty good experience last October doing a bus tour to MSM from Paris in one day, but I agree that I'd wait until the days are longer, or at least warmer, than December, although you pretty much leave there by 4 or 4:30 pm anyway.
I decided to book it at the Parisvision office, 214 rue de Rivoli. The itinerary included a 7:15 am departure, a multi-lingual guide, lunch on the Mont at one of the La Mere Poulard places, admission to the Abbey, and the return to Paris at 8:30-9pm. We had heavy traffic on the way back and were still back at the Parisvision office at 8:45. www.parisvision.com

The Cityrama offering was similar, it was a few euros more, but it also included a dinner stop in Caen, and a return to Paris at about 10pm. www.cityrama.fr
I had my doubts in advance about the likely quality of the dinner, so that, and the later hour of return, made me decide instead in favor of Parisvision.

The ride each way was about 4 hours, including one bathroom stop. The bus/coach did not have a toilet of its own.

The guide did some narration during the outward-bound trip, but not for the whole time. She spoke English and Spanish; she had a colleague with her who spoke Japanese. The narration was not in depth, and the English wasn't entirely fluent, but it sufficed.

Note that in order to visit the Abbey it is necessary to climb up hundreds of steep stone steps. There are a few landings, but no resting places along the way, and very few handrails.
This was as many steps as I've ever climbed in one place in my life, and I've climbed plenty of steps in my travels.
Visitors younger than I were huffing and puffing as we neared the top; this is not an easy visit to make, and there are no accommodations made for infirmity, nor even for safety.

There are restrooms just inside the town entrance, and of course in the restaurants.

I am very very glad that I went, but I wasn't terribly moved by being there. I had a similar reaction when I went to Stonehenge: I can appreciate with my brain how remarkable the accomplishment was, but it didn't arouse an emotional response in me. By no means should anyone take that to mean that I think it's not worth visiting, or that it is in any way second-rate. I have also read that the Mont is best appreciated at night, staying overnight giving the opportunity of seeing it in a more leisurely way, and seeing the tide come in.