Paris, Normandy, need transportation, hotel advice
 

In 1944 my dad met a 9 yr old boy in Normandy following DDay invasion. In May my husband and I (early 60's) are going to Normandy to meet this man. We will spend about 3 days in Paris before taking the train to Cherbourg where he will meet us. He has an itinerary planned for us of many major Normandy sites Caen, Bayeux, DDay beaches, Mont St Michel, Cherbourg. He will provide accomodations and transportation while we are with him. We plan to spend an additional week traveling on our own. Thinking of Brittany or other areas or Normandy. Do we take trains or drive? What areas do you suggest? We need hotel recommendations (moderate price) for Paris and other areas. If we take trains should we get passes? We have to return to Paris for return flight.

Sorry for so many questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What a nice story. I imagine this will be quite a memorable experience!

It sounds as though you will see a fair bit of Normandy, so I would head south into Brittany. You should definitely rent a car. A reasonable looping route might include Fougères, Vitré, Rennes, Vanne, St-Brieuc, Dinard, then scoot east through Alençon to Chartres, see the cathedral, drop the car, and take the train back to Paris. The distances between all these places aren't great, so you could actually be even more ambitious and branch out farther into Brittany. Or you could add a few more Normandy places on the way back to Paris, like Honfleur and Rouen.

I went to Honfleur, Rouen, Giverny, and Reims in Sept/Oct and enjoyed it very much!

Agree that a car is really necessary for exploring Brittany - or even more of Normandy.

To make hotel recos it would help for you to provide a budget - "moderate" can mean very different things to different people.

Some great suggestions. Honfleur, Rouen and Giverny sound good for on the way back to Paris. Have to figure out where to drop the car off and take the train into the city.

About hotel prices...I took a look at a few guide books and I think we are closer to the inexpensive range...we were hoping for about $150 or less...can we get anything nice with good location in that range?

You can stay between Giverny and CDG on your last night and drop the car at the airport. It is not a long distance.

It's about 1.25 hours driving from Giverny to CDG... so if you found a town in between, you'd be fine. What time is your flight home?

You will not pay more to drop your car at the airport. You typically only pay more when picking up at an airport (and, depending on the country, rail stations.)

I usually stay at the Hôtel de France on the Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg in Paris. No AC, but you probably won't need that in May. Should still be under $150/night for a double.Small rooms but nice atmosphere and helpful staff. When you determine your route in Normandy/Brittany, I'm sure lots of Fodorites can recommend hotels there, me included.

Unlike some, I'm not a fan of driving to the airport the day of departure - too many unknowns. I'd drop the car outside Paris, take the train in and spend the night there, then take RER/métro, shuttle, or taxi the morning of your departure.

In Honfleur, I stayed at the Best Western. Very nice updated bathroom, room itself was just OK but clean. Got a pre-paid non-cancellable rate on their website. Think they give it 3 stars. All rooms look out over the harbor. There is parking in an outdoor public lot around the corner. Can get ice thru reception, no refrig in room.

In Rouen, I stayed at the Hotel de la Cathedral. Room was OK and clean, nothing great. Thought it was supposed to be a 3 star but it was only a 2 star. Couldn't get ice for my white wine and was looked at like I was crazy for asking (no refrig in room). Parking is a few blocks away... drop your luggage then go to the parking lot. Front of hotel is immediately across a very small street from the side of the Cathedral (street is blocked off from driving during most of the day... but you can push a button and tell the police that you want to pick up/drop off luggage at the hotel and they will lower the barrier).

Have to say that the locations of both hotels were very good.

Had the best meal of my trip in Rouen (went to Belgium and northern France, not Paris).

I'm kind of a Marriott/Hilton gal... so I probably wouldn't stay in either of these hotels again.

I did Giverny as a day trip between Rouen and Reims so have no hotel info.

Look at Tripadvisor.com for good hotel recommendations.

Honfleur - Ecrin Hotel.

Honfleur--la Cour Ste. Catherine www.giaglis.com

Thank you all. That's given me lots to research. I'll be back when I have an itinerary in mind.

joannyc - you said "Had the best meal of my trip in Rouen." May I ask where? Thanks!

We stayed in a gitte (sp?) in Asnelles and it was a very good price (within your range). We had 3 adults in our group and it was cozy but we liked the location. We just went on-line and looked up gitte in Normandy. If you want more information I would be glad to give you more details. We drove the entire region with a guide and had a fabulous time. We drove back to Giverny and spent the night there (toured the area) and then drove in to the airport to drop the rental car and catch our flight home. Giverny was lovely.

Honfleur - la Cour Ste. Catherine. They were great - packed us a breakfast on the morning that we had to leave early. Had a great room with a fridge and lots of space.

La Couronne is the restaurant in Rouen. Wonderful!

http://www.lacouronne.com.fr/#

thanks, joannyc!

Anytime, kja!