Paris Side Trip: Mont St Michel & Cancale
 

Hello! I am currently in Paris and finally getting around to planning a very last minute trip out to Mont St. Michel and Cancale - leaving tomorrow morning! Below is my tentative plan - any feedback or advice greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Monday morning: Take the train from Paris out to Rennes
- we plan to take an early train out

Rent a car at Rennes

Drive to Mont St. Michel and visit
- anyone know how long this drive will take? and if it will match up with the high tide?
- spend time there!

Drive to Cancale
- eat the delicious oysters at the stands
- enjoy the view of the oyster farms
- stay at a hotel here

Tue: Head back to Rennes to drop off the car
- stop by at either St. Malo or another destination on the way back?

We want to be back in Paris by Tuesday evening.

Thank you!!

hi

Googlemap gives roughly 1 hour for :
Rennes > Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint Michel > Cancale
Saint-Malo > Rennes
And half an hour for Cancale Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo is gorgeous and full of good shellfish restaurants too.

Doesn't sound like you have allowed much time to see Mt St Michel - it gets very crowded and climbing all the way to the top, visiting the Abbey, seeing the tide in or out (do check the tide tables it make a huge difference) is not something to be in in a couple of hours - it's most of a day.

Mt. St. Michel to me was a nightmare. All those people dragging pousettes up the endless steps. Inside, I was overcome by what seemed to be one long row of souvenir shops. But if your heart is set on it allow time as pointed out by NYtraveler above. Saint-Malo is a jewel as is Dinard right next door. Enjoy Cancale/oysters!!! That was fun!!!! (and from Cancale you have a good view of Mt. St. Michele at a distance that was just right for me.)

Have you considered driving from Rennes > Cancale, stopping for the afternoon to gorge on oysters (so amazing) and then on to MSM? It's about 50 min from Cancale. We loved walking out to the Mont just before sunset -- it was beautiful, so quiet and peaceful, and we were one of the few people out there. Then you can visit again first thing in the morning to climb to the abbey, before all of the day trippers arrive.

If you end up visiting Cancale first, you can also take the TGV from Paris to Saint Malo and then pick up a car. It's only about 20 min from Saint Malo to Cancale.

If you are seriously planning just to walk into a car rental agency and rent on the spot, be prepared for a contract entirely in French, which you will be bound by even if you can't understand it, and be prepared to drive a manual transmission. And if anything goes wrong with the rental car, be prepared to deal with it by telephone entirely in French. Maybe these aren't issues for you, but just so you know...

If your aim is to see the tide come in at Mont St. Michel, note that you'll probably need to be there at least an hour or two in advance, as the parapets can be completely packed if you get there any later than that.

It's late here in France and I guess you'll find this out in the morning, but you're going to pay the highest possible price for that train trip to Rennes. If you thought this out a few months ago, you could have saved loads on that train fare.

Let us know how it works out.

check out French Railways (SNCF) Austo +Train plans where you get an Avis (I think) car at a train station waiting for you as part of your train ticket and can return it at other SNCF stations where allowed - like St Malo probably. www.voyages-sncf.com may have details or google SNCF Train + Auto

("car" in French I think mainly refers to buses).

Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

We are currently on the train to Rennes.

st cirq - yes, the train tickets were quite pricey when we purchased them online last night ($176 for two) but that is the price / definition of last minute planning (which I really hate) but alas sometimes it is what it is! We reserved a rental car via kayak so we should be okay there. Thanks for your concern!

Megt: what a beautiful suggestion to do Cancale first. We surely will have an afternoon of oysters before heading to MSM in the afternoon.

I am trying to look up the tide table but aren't very familiar with what I'm looking at. If my goal is to visit in the afternoon when it is less crowded, and be there to see the tide come in (per kja), and also possibly stick around until sunset... When would be the ideal time to get there?

Also, am thinking of hitting up Saint Malo tomorrow morning and maybe Dinah as well before heading back to drop off the car at Rennes. Is there a difference in price for train tickets if I purchase them today sometime vs at the train station tomorrow? I just want us to have mor flexibility on when we head back to Paris as opposed to securing a seat on a time specific train now.

Thank you everyone!!!

No time for magnificent Rennes?

Ok according to this website (http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en...tembre2016.htm) there is no difference between high and low tide during today and tomorrow. I think I'm reading that right in that water isn't going to get close to MSM so it doesn't matter time wise for that aspect. Bummer!

I also see that sunset is set for 7:39pm today. So arriving 1-2hours or so before that and exploring will be good. My husband doesn't really want to enter the Abby but I may try to convince him. I think I read somewhere that it closes at 7pm with last entrance in at 6pm.

Kja: how could I have forgotten! Would love any tips you might share as my data plan is decreasing by the second :)

Place st Anne for an afternoon beer?
Parc tabor?
A crepe?

Thanks!!

Is there a difference in price for train tickets if I purchase them today sometime vs at the train station tomorrow?>

Probably not and even at full price it won't break the bank. Can always get on those trains I believe- especially in first class - for lots about French trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

La Mere Poulard on the island is very historic and very famous for its omelettes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_M%C3%A8re_Poulard

Not everyone gives great reviews however.

I have never had a worse omelette than the ridiculously pricey one I had at La Mère Poulard, but that was quite a few years ago. Perhaps someone has perfected the simple art since then.

Do they still have the night show in the abbey with special effects and music in the rooms - I enjoyed that visit much more than to the abbey itself - too crowded in daytime but not many at night.

May be over for the season or not offered as used to be at least.

For Rennes, I loved Place St. Anne and the wonderful preserved wooden buildings that edge parts of it, and I enjoyed Par Tabor, too. Good choices! Raise a glass to my fond memories of the place. :-)