Racer042

My wife and I are planning a trip in September to France. We love Paris, but want to see the countryside this time as well. This forum has been a tremendous help on previous trips to France and Italy. So here are our plans, any input is welcome:

Two nights in Paris. We love apartments and dislike hotels. Two nights is hard to find an apartment, however. I would like to be in walking distance of Notre Dame. I have found one which will work at $200 a night.

Take the train to Cain and spend one or two nights there. We want to tour the D Day beaches and see Mont St. Michel. Is it worth staying in Mont St. Michel overnight? We have already seen the hotel Churchill recommended, any others?

I know it is at the other end of France, but we love wine and want to visit the Bordeaux region and do a wine tour. Should we rent a car and drive, or take the train. I have driven in Italy and loved it, so that is not a problem.

If we rent a car, we would return it at Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Thanks in advance of the advice.

Racer 042

StCirq

There are lots of recommendations for hotels in Bayeux here on the forum. We stayed at the Château de la Bellefontaine on the edge of town, a five-minute walk into the center, and loved it (though no restaurant). Others have mentioned the Lion d'Or and a few others (do a search and you'll find them).

We've never stayed overnight on le MSM, though the thought is appealing. A drawback is that there are few good hotels and even fewer good restaurants, though I suppose if you want the magic of having the place relatively deserted and quiet at night, those could be overlooked.

As for Bordeaux, take the TGV to Bordeaux (St-Jean) and rent a car when you get there. Be advised that doing wine tours in Bordeaux is more problematic than in other wine regions of France - many of the big châteaux are open by invitation only. That said, the tourist office and the Maison du Vin do offer a variety of tours, and of course there are wine shops all over Bordeaux itself and dégustations throughout the countryside. It's also not the prettiest countryside in France, or even among the wine regions, by a long shot. I would do it only if Bordeaux wines in particular are what you are interested in. There are, of course, other attractions in the area, including Arcachon, Cap Ferret, and the Dune du Pylat, and the city of Bordeaux itself deserves a day or two. It's easy enough to rent a car in Bordeaux to get outside the city.

Racer042

StCirq, thanks for the quick reply. We are definitely interested in pretty countryside, so your information is making me rethink a long trip to Bordeaux. I think I could get invitations to chateaux, I was able to get invitations to vineyards in Montepulciano, but there was also the gorgeous town of Montepulciano to visit.

What towns do you like within a short drive of Bayeux?

Racer042

StCirq

Racer, I've really only used Bayeux as a base for exploring the D-Day sites - never just tooled around the surrounding towns, except, of course, Caen, where one absolutely must go see the Mémorial, and Arromanches, which is a bit of a must on the D-Day trail for the bunkers and the small museum. Not sure why you're asking what towns I like - they're all nice, but the focus for me in THAT part of Normandy has always been the D-Day sites.

gailscout

I would also take the train to Bordeaux and then rent a car after a few days in Bordeaux. St Emilion is a great town to visit for its charm. We toured Chateau Figeac and had a great wine tour. Even got invited into the house and meet the owners. Driving up through the Medoc is also interesting and Lynch-Bages does a great tour and their restaurant is outstanding. Driving south and walking the sand dunes near Arcachon was great fun. We listened to "talk" radio and heard the French debate when to switch over to Bon Soir from Bon Jour. Traveling SE, you can tour Sauterne to taste Sauternes and Podensac to tour the Lillet factory. Not the prettiest of towns, but we find it very interesting to tour these unique wine areas in southwest France.
I don't know how long you plan to stay in the area, but our favorite inn is located 1 hour NE of Bordeaux in Sourzac. The owner grew up in the Dordogne area and sends you off each day with a full itinerary too explore.
I'm also planning a trip to Normandy in September, so interested in following your original post.

tyedye33

In 2007 my boyfriend and I rented an apartment in Paris, we left for 2 nights during this trip we stayed at a B&B called La Lande, in Bricquebec http://www.anormandygite.com/ it is lovely and inexpensive. More importantly we took a tour of Normandy from the previous owners. Incredible history lesson, seeing the beaches, the guides fathers was WW2 war photographer for the English he was at Pottsdam and Hitlers buried out bunker and on and on. I really don't have words it was incredible this is the link http://www.ddaybattlefields.com/

tom18

It would help if we knew how much time you had to spend in the D-Day area.

I would suggest basing yourself in Bayeux, which is a more interesting town than Caen (it has the Bayeux Tapestry, which takes less than an hour to view) and is closer to the beaches.

You need at least one full day to see the D-Day beaches - more, if you are a real WWII buff.

The Churchill Hotel runs a day trip from Bayeux to Mont St. Michel, which leaves early in the morning and returns in the afternoon. That might be an alternative to driving there.

There are a lot of little villages near Bayeux that have D-Day stories. A good guide book would give you a better idea.

In addition, the town of St. Lo is about 20 miles from St. Lo. It was liberated on July 18, 1944, after fierce fighting. It has a memorial dedicated to the two US army divisions that liberated the city. In addition, there are Roman ruins there, as well as the old jail, which housed Resistance members in 1944 (many of whom were killed by their captors when it became clear that the Germans were going to have to pull out of the city), and which is now a memorial to all victims of Nazi violence. There is also a hospital there, built largely from donations from the US after the war, which at the time was the largest hospital in France.

Racer042

I have booked two days at the Hotel Churchill so we get a whole day for the beaches. Then a night at Mouton Blanc at Mount St. Michelle. My reasoning is that, based on Forum suggestions, the day at MSM is full of day tourists, we will get there in the afternoon and have time to walk around the town, have a nice supper, and time for an evening walk without all the crowds. I also love early morning in these historic places. Also due to feedback, I have changed from Bordeaux to Reims or Epernay for champagne tours. No hotels booked yet.

Racer042

Based on recommendations from this forum (and wife's decision) we have changed our reservation from Hotel Churchill to La Fiere B&B which is a Norman farmhouse from the 1200's and the site of the first bridge taken by the 82 airborne during D Day. It has a great website and Vivian has been very helpful. www.lafiere.com

Michael

If Bordeaux is ruled out, rent a car in Caen and visit western Brittany: Fougères, Vitré, the Golfe du Morbihan, etc. Return the car in Rennes and take the train back to Paris.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...ith/4899351926

klondiketoo

What night are you staying on the Mont, Racer?

Sue_xx_yy

You haven't said how long your trip is in total.

I would not skimp too much on the D Day area if you are at all interested. We spent 3 nights in Bayeux and 1 in Ducey, near MSM (mont st. Michel) and had plenty to do.

This might be heresy to you, but once in France, there are places to sample a greater variety of Bordeaux wines than you might get at home, without actually traveling to Bordeaux. Or you could head to the Loire area, which is closer, and sample Sauvignon Blanc, if that's your thing.

Racer042

Klodiketoo, we are staying on MSM September 25 at the Mouton Blanc. I know this is crowded, but I am looking forward to staying on MSM overnight.

Racer042

We just returned and we spent three days in Normandy and loved every minute. We stayed at a Chambre d'Hotes called la Bataille de La Fiere outside of St. Mere Eglise and loved it. The old Norman barn was a stone's throw from the historic bridge. We took a all day tour with Ellwood Von Siebold of D Day Battle Tours and it was fantastic. St Mere Eglise was a delightful little town with many memorials to the D Day invasion, including a great airborne museum. The food was great and I grew to love the hard cider! Dinner at the Auberge John Steel in St Mere Eglise was reasonable and better than most of the Parisian restaurants we ate in. I cancelled the hotel at Mont St. Michel partly to spend more time in St. Mere Eglise and because they never answered my emails. We drove to Mont St. Michel for a day trip and I am glad we didn't stay there. Dragging our luggage up the hill to the hotel would have been very difficult.

tomhmau

Racer...we are going to do basically same trip in Oct...
did you travel by train to the south or rent a car and drive? My search of train travel shows having to go back to Paris
and then down to whereever one wants to go...not sure this is the case...what say you or anyone else? We want to go to Provence...any other nuggets? Thanks

Gretchen

This is a very old thread. You might just start a new one--going to Provence and not Bordeaux.