dcd

My wife and I (early 60s) are experienced travelers (but haven't been to Europe for several years now and have never been outside Paris). We will be flying to France in mid-Sept of this year for the start of a 6 week trip which will include Italy.

Neither my wife nor I speak a lick of French, which concerns me. We'd like to visit Normandy and while researching that, I discovered Brittany. I have read a fair amount here and elsewhere, and now I'm thinking it's an area we should explore, too.

We enjoy hiking/walking, photography, quaint villages, neat historical towns, beautiful landscapes, and impressionist paintings.

I would be driving. My wife does NOT enjoy navigating. She stresses. I would get GPS and Michelin maps, and hope the signage and roads are (very) good for novices.

My tentative itinerary is below, and it is totally fluid. I'd really appreciate feedback on it; how easy it is to take the train from CDG to Bayeux (if a challenge, where should we first go instead); what if anything to cut out or add; sights to see; tips for rookies; etc. .

Day 1/Sat: arrive CDG from US, take train to Bayeux (stay 3 nights)

Day 2/Sun: explore D-Day sights

Day 3/Mon: explore D-Day sights

Day 4/Tues: pick up rental car in morning, drive to Mont St Michel, arriving late afternoon; stay there

Day 5/Wed: explore MSM in the morning; drive to St. Malo by noon; spend the night

Day 6/Thur: drive to somewhere along the Pink Granite Coast and spend the night (where?)

Day 7/Fri: drive to Quimper and spend the night

Day 8/Sat: drive to Dinan; spend 2 nights there

Day 9/Sun: explore Dinan (will most of the shops/restaurants be closed?)

Day 10/Mon: drive to Rouen; spend the night

Day 11/Tues: drive to Reims; spend the night

Day 12/Wed: drive to Colmar; spend 2 nights there;

Then drop off car and head to the Italian Lake district.

Some thoughts I have.

Quimper might be stretching ourselves a bit too thin, and if so, it could be axed unless it's an area not to be missed.

Not sure basing ourselves in 2 cities gains much, and that would seemingly add considerably to the driving.

I'm wondering how many quaint villages/towns is too many; how difficult is it to find English speaking B&Bs/inns/hotels and restaurants; and whether the language barrier is something that would significantly detract from enjoying ourselves such that we really ought to do Normandy, MSM and move on.

Thank you!

kja

Why not visit Brittany? It’s got a lot to offer, and your lack of French shouldn’t be a problem – just try to at least learn the basic civilities.

I think your itinerary looks quite good. Some minor comments:

I wasn’t enamored of St. Malo; I thought it a bit too stage-set-like; but others seem to like it.

For your stop on the Pink Granite Coast, you might consider the Hotel des Rochers in Ploumanac'h – I enjoyed my room and my meals there, and it still get some great reviews.
Hôtel des Rochers - Ploumanac'h, Perros Guirec

Ploumanac'h makes a good base for a day exploring the Calvary Closes of Brittany, or a good start to a day's journey through them, and they are well worth seeing, IMO.

I was persuaded to skip Quimper because of the distances and missed opportunities elsewhere; YMMV.

I loved Rouen and wish I’d given it more than the 1.5 days I gave it; obviously, it depends on your interests.

I can’t comment on the rest of your itinerary – sorry!

Definitely get the Michelin Green guide for the area.

My time in the area (Normandy and Brittany) was extremely fast-paced and planned with an eye to my very specific interests; even so, you might find some value in looking at my itinerary – look at post #43 for my final itinerary, and perhaps the rest for some great input from fellow Fodorites.
Seeking Diverse Experiences in Western France – Please Critique Itinerary!

Hope that helps!

KayF

We are in a similar situation to you, planning a trip to Brittany and Normandy (and other places) later in the year. The big difference is we are going to use public transport. I will be keen to see the answers you get, to help with our trip. Our French is limited to the basic Bonjour/Merci at the moment, although we have visited France numerous times over the years and survived!

Kay

Michael

We were in Brittany a couple of times, once going as far as Quimper and the toher time visiting the area with the Carnac stones.

Here are the trip reports:
Trip Report: Ghent, Normandy and Brittany

Trip Report: France, summer 2009

StCirq

You can't take a train from CDG to Bayeux. Well, you could, via Le Mans and Caen, but it would be expensive and time-consuming, with two changes. Much better to go into Paris first and take a train from the Gare St-Lazare.

I would rent the car in Bayeux (or, more easily, in Caen, where there will be a far greater selection) and use it to drive yourself around the D-Day sites instead of waiting to rent it when you're ready to leave for le MSM. I have always found French signage to be exceedingly good. Don't miss the Mémorial in Caen. Plan at the very least a couple of hours there.

The rest of your itinerary involves far more one-night stops than I could enjoy, and too much driving, but if that's how you like to travel, it's fine.

I would skip Quimper and spend either 3 nights in Dinan and explore around there a bit or add a night to the Côte Granit Rose.

As someone who lives in a "quaint village" and frequents lots of others, I never tire of them. YMMV, but I don't think of any of the places you're heading to as quaint villages.

I wouldn't worry about the language.

Huggy

My wife and I spent a week in a gite several years ago. We used this as a base to visit the area and loved it. Our hosts spoke no English and we extremely little French but it was an extremely rewarding week. Travel was easy in our rental car using maps and our GPS. You should have no trouble.

I used StuDudley's guide as the basis for our visit. Hopefully he will chime in.

A wonderful area, one of the best in beautiful France.

bilboburgler

French should not be an issue (England is just across the channel) but try and get the basic 20 phrases off pat, the French like their "formality" and you really do say hello when you walk into a shop. Reims no problem with English similar with Colmar though small wineries might struggle and small shops

Quimper, yes drop it. You have to go into Paris to get the train out again but that should not be an issue.

You might like to book rooms using logishotels.com often the cheaper sort of hotel but they specialise in the local food, look at the symbols for each restaurant to get an idea.

I've been in Dinan on a Sunday, not everything is open but restaurants will be and bakeries until 11am, there may be a festival of course, look it up Office de Tourisme de Dinan Vallée de la Rance

Are these places you mention quaint. Well border line. You need to go to smaller places to find quaint.

Coquelicot

With a car you have the opportunity to drive to any small village that takes your fancy. Near Dinan, Lehon is very pretty and it's right along the scenic Rance. A towpath follows the Rance from St Malo to Rennes, quiet and level. We use two websites to find villages we want to visit. Plus Beaux Villages is the official list of the 150+ most beautiful villages, and Villes Fleuri is a list of the villages, towns, and cities that qualify each year for outstanding floral decorations. We'll drive quite a way to see a 4-flower village fleuri. St Juvat the flower town is in that area and was a knockout. There were a few other flower villages in that part of Brittany that we visited but off the top of my head I can't think of them now. In September everything will be in full bloom. It's a great time to go.

Les plus beaux villages de France - Site officiel

Site officiel des Villes et Villages Fleuris, label de qualité de vie et de développement du tourisme vert

Also the third weekend of September is the Journees de Patrimoine, when historic and interesting buildings and gardens are open to the public. We always try to visit the private ones that are open only at this time of year. It's one of our favorite weekends of our September visits.

jpie

I agree with some of the others here who suggest skipping Quimper for this trip-that would give you a more relaxed pace for the other places IMO. You also might consider staying in Dinard versus St. Malo. There are beautiful vistas from the town looking out towards St. Malo and I feel like it is a more manageable size with a car than St. Malo. And they have an exceptionally good market with great food and a nice range of merchandise compared to many French markets.

TDudette

My only 3 pieces of advice (one with a warning) are: 1) see if you can find a base to turn some of your shorter sights into day trips from that base; 2) as StCirq writes, take the train from St. Lazare to Bayeux. Caen was a stop between Paris and Bayeux. In May, I couldn't get a same day ticket--it might be less busy in September but you might see about buying online; 3) in most touristic places, people speak English, but please learn to say 'please' and 'thank you' AND ALWAYS say hello first when you enter any establishment.

To all, would it be a giant hassle for OP to rent the car at CDC and drive the 3+ hours to Bayeux?

How expensive would it be to hire a driver to Bayeux from the airport?

StuDudley

If this was my trip, I would pick up a car at CDG and either drive 2 1/2 hrs to Honfleur and stay there for 1 night, or drive 1 3/4 hrs to Rouen & spend 1 night there. Two hours is about my limit for driving on arrival day.

Do you realize that you will drive right past Dinan on the way to the Pink Rocks area?? Why not visit Dinan first??

I agree with the others about skipping Quimper - that's just too much driving and too many one-nighters.

I don't know how you plan to get to Bayeux, but starting from Bayeux you will be "butts in the car" for 17 1/2 hrs over 8 days.
- Bayeux to MSM 2 1/4 hrs
- MSM to Ploumanac'h 3 1/4 hrs
- Ploumanac'h to Quimper 2 3/4 hrs
- Quimper to Dinan 3 hrs
- Dinan to Rouen 3 1/4 hrs
- Rouen to Reims 3 hrs
So you will waste 2 full days out of your 8 days. And if you depart one location somewhat early in the AM to get to the next location - you will arrive at just about the same time shops will be closing for a 2 1/2 hr lunch. You are staying in all but 1 destination for only 1 night - so you will see very little of each village/town.

If this was my trip, I would:
- Land at CDG, pick up a car, and drive to either Rouen or Honfleur & stay for 1 night
- Drive to Bayeux and stay 2 nights - most of 2 full days (my wife, myself, & FIL who landed in Normandy for WWII spent 1 1/2 days there & visited every museum & site possible).
- Drive to MSM & spend 1 night. Arrive after 6 PM to avoid crowds
- Drive the short drive to Dinan & spend 2 nights
- Drive to Ploumanac'h & spend 2 nights there. End the Brittany trip here.

Getting to Reims:
Option 1.
Drive to Guingamp (1 hr), return the car, and take the 10:18 TGV to Reims that arrives at 16:14. Train change in Paris of 2 1/2 hrs to get from Montparnasse to Est.
Or depart 13:24 & arrive at 18:14 with 1 1/4 hrs to change trains in Paris.

Option 2
Drive from Ploumanac'h to Rennes (2 1/2 hrs) & stay the night. Next morning take the 9:35 TGV to Reims that arrives at 13:44 with 1 1/4 hrs in Paris to change stations

I agree with kja about Ploumanac'h. Great location & we had a nice meal there.

If you would like to have my Normandy & Brittany itinerary, e-mail be at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

dcd

You all are great! (But I already knew that.)

Stu, you recently sent me your guide. Thanks again.

OK, this (fluid) itinerary is being re-thunk thanks to the helpful comments here. I really appreciate it. For some reason, I'm really struggling with trip planning here, probably because this part of the world is "foreign" to me, and I'm leery of the language barrier (no English menus?). Yes, I will learn the basic phrases.

Quimper is out.

As I mulll over the options, I'm thinking it might make the most sense to start in the west and head east. (Stu, I originally thought of renting the car and driving to Rouen but then came up with the (ill-advised) itinerary above.)

Perhaps we should take the train to Dinan upon arrival from CDG; spend 4 nights there and take day trips in a rental car to the Pink Granite Coast and St Malo; then spend the night on MSM; then drive to Bayeux for 3 nights (2 full days to see WWII stuff there and in Caen, and a half day for the town of Bayeux); then drive to Honifleur or Rouen for 2 nights to do some exploring in that area; then drive to Reims for 2 nights and then Colmar for 2 nights where I drop off the car before heading to Italy.

Thoughts?

Gardyloo

I'm going to draw on a trip we took a few years ago for some suggestions. Here's the TR - Trip Report - Fringe Movements (Unfortunately the image links are mostly dead.)

Personal views, YMMV.

Mount Saint-Michel is gorgeous from a distance but we found it so congested that we actually skipped visiting. We were not alone in this; there was much evidence of other independent visitors doing a 180 once they got to the overflowing parking areas with hundreds of buses and a queue of visitors approaching the Mont that was - honestly - a kilometer long. Instead we found a place to have a picnic -



We stayed in Dinan for the first couple of our Brittany nights and found it very convenient for day trips to the Mont, the St. Malo area, and even a short visit to the Pink Granite coast. It's really not that far.

But coming back to the quote from your thread, our next base was nothing short of stunning, and I'd really encourage you to give it your consideration. We stayed a few nights in Pont-Aven, close to the south coast of the peninsula, and looking back wished we'd spent more time there. Pont-Aven is a drop-dead gorgeous village, full of marvelous walks and lots of viewpoints at the locations where Gaugin (before leaving for Tahiti) and other artists of the Pont-Aven School captured their images.



Pont-Aven is convenient for excursions to the coast: to Carnac with its standing stones and stone circles, or maybe to Belon, home of Belon oysters and Tony Bourdain's ultimate target in his TV tour of Brittany some years ago -



Anyway, just a suggestion. We encountered no problems with English whatsoever during the whole trip. In fact, if you studied up a little on Breton culture and music before you visited, you'd find the locals will be VERY appreciative. Brittany is very proud of its Celtic roots (like Ireland, Scotland, Wales et al) and it's well worth burning a CD or loading some music on a USB drive for "driving around music." Google Dan ar Braz and Alan Stivel. Example:

bilboburgler

Menus, well there may well be a English version or use an APP certainly in the tourist towns you'll find them, but once you hit quaint then the menus will be french but nothing too complicated, if in doubt use and app or most guide books will have a menu guide. Really the top 20 phrases will make them happy and your accent will tell them to expect no more.

I used to travel to Brittany a lot and Dinard compared to St Malo (stayed in both multiple times).... well St Malo is restored medievel, after a major fire, while Dinard is a beach resort. I'd stay in St Malo, but you have to get rid of the car and you do that is the basement car park under the city. You see it on the left as you drive up to the walls from memory (but check).

StCirq

"(no English menus?)."

Maybe, maybe not, and it's arguably a good idea to stay away from places that have them. But Brittany doesn't have a terribly complicated cuisine as far as I know. It's largely based on seafood (huîtres, homard, langoustines, coquilles saint-jacques, moules...), crèpes and galettes (sweet and savory), lamb (agneau), a kind of pot au feu with a buckwheat based breading (kig ha farz), a couple of desserts (kouig amman and le far breton), and a lot of artichoke dishes.

At any rate, it shouldn't take long to figure out and there are food glossaries to assist you.

StuDudley

>>Perhaps we should take the train to Dinan upon arrival from CDG; spend 4 nights there and take day trips in a rental car to the Pink Granite Coast and St Malo; then spend the night on MSM; then drive to Bayeux for 3 nights (2 full days to see WWII stuff there and in Caen, and a half day for the town of Bayeux); then drive to Honifleur or Rouen for 2 nights to do some exploring in that area; then drive to Reims for 2 nights and then Colmar for 2 nights where I drop off the car before heading to Italy.<<


That would work. We spent 2 weeks in Dinan in 2001, and did day trips to the Pink Rocks area & also MSM. You can't take the train to Dinan from CDG, you'll have to take the 12:48 TGV to Rennes from CDG.

Stu Dudley

dcd

kja, thanks for that link. Wow, what a trip you had!! I enjoyed reading the entire thread. How did you find the driving and navigating?

Coquelicot, I forgot to mention that my wife loves flowers, so it's good to know we'd be there at an opportune time! Thanks also for the links.

Michael, thanks for your trip reports. Very informative.

Gardyloo, I found your trip report several days ago. Extremely well written. Glad you included some photos here as I couldn't access them from your report. You have many talents. (And one of these days, I'll be back in touch about an around the world trip.)

But here's my "problem". I keep reading all these great reports, seeing the fab pics, and keep thinking I need to add days to an already long trip.... So, unless I want to lengthen the trip and do a lot of driving, I'm going to have to pick either the north or southern areas.

And knowing how much my wife hates to navigate, which increases the driver's stress, I'm thinking less is more. Thus, I'm going to focus on northern/eastern Brittany, as we really want to see Normandy/WII stuff, and follow my revised itinerary. If we fall in love with Brittany, we can always return and hit the southern coastal region.

StuDudley

Prior to retiring early in 1999 so we could travel more, we visited Brittany on several trips - doing the usual 2-3 days in one area and then traveling on to another area. Plus my wife was a summer student in St Brieuc during high school.

On our first multi week trip to Brittany in 2001, we spent 2 weeks in a gite near Dinan, then 1 week in a gite near Pont Aven. We thought the region around Dinan was much more interesting. Painted art is not a big thing for us. Neither are megaliths. We like building architecture, scenic countryside, & beautiful "wild" coastal areas. Gardens too. Then in about 2010 we spent 2 weeks near the Pink Rocks area & loved that region. This June/July, we'll spend 2 week in a Gite near Vannes & 2 weeks in another gite near Concarneau.

Yes - less is more. That's my standard rule while visiting France & other European destination. Why spend 2 days in an area & visit the "A" sites and then drive 3-4 hours to another area - but still leave many, many "A" & "B+" sites unseen in the first area? We rarely spend less than 2 weeks in a single gite. It's also nice to have a few "down" days too where we can just hang around the gite, go to the farmer's market, read a book in the garden, and just do nothing. Or just watch the tide go in & out. Or watch a huge storm pass through Mt Blanc area.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

Book French train tickets early to get sweet discounted fares perhaps - www.oui.sncf easy to boook your own tickets - and for Beaune to Italy www.oui.sncf also. The best way if not interested in Switzerland may be Beaune-Lyon-Milan-lakes.

StuDudley

>>Book French train tickets early to get sweet discounted fares perhaps<<

There is something "going on" with the trains in Brittany this summer. They initiated the new service to Rennes last year, and reduced the number of trains between CDG & Rennes. I was planning to take the TGV from Paris to Vannes on Sat June 16 - but no trains go directly to Vannes that day. They go the week before & the week after, however. I was also planning on taking the TGV from Quimper back to Paris on July 14 - but no direct trains that day either. No trains the week before or after either. I'll have to change my car pickup & drop off to Rennes & get back & forth from there. I suspect that they will be working on the tracks during these periods (or TGV schedules for July are not available yet).

Stu Dudley