John H

Hi,

I'll be traveling to France next month. Will be based for 3 days in Bayeux and will be making a day trip to Mont St Michel (getting there late afternoon to avoid tour bus crowds), and also a trip from Bayeux to our next destination in Champagne. Just wondering if any of you have thoughts on interesting places to see, towns to stop in, or restaurants to eat at on either of these routes.

Thanks in advance.

John H.

topper

topping

John H

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

John H.

Daniel

The countryside Pays d´Auge south of Lisieux is quite nice, with green fields and halftimbered manor houses. Lots of cows (for camembert) and apple trees (for calvados).
Between Bayeux and Champagne you could stop in Rouen. Honfleur is a short detour.

Monica

My Mom and I stayed in Bayeux for a few nights while we visited the D-Day beaches and Mont St Michel. For dinner, see my web site http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html We had some very good meals in Bayeux.

rand

Sounds like you are driving counterclockwise to our last trip.

We did not find anything exceptional to stop at between Mt. St. Michael and Bayeux. We stayed two nights just off the Mont at (haven't a clue), with a view of the Mont from our room.

This enabled us to watch the sunset once from the Mont and once over the Mont. We spent a full day there touring the Abbey and the ramparts.

Bring snacks as eating every meal there becomes outrageous.

To understand what makes up the geography of the region it helps to witness the force of the tides as they hit the sluice gates.

Have fun. It is a magical place.

joe w

We were in Bayeux several years ago and ate at a restaurant called L'Amaryllis. Good food, reasonably priced and one waiter who never spoke but waited all tables very efficiently. We drove back from Bordeaux on the way to Mt. St. Michel and stopped there again to eat. The waiter smiled at us but again, hardly spoke a word. Just out side of Bayeaux on the way to Arromache is a nice BnB in an old farm house called Les Fougerolles. We stayed there twice. There was a small but pretty restaurant almost to Mt. St. Michel called Quin-Quin or something close to that. I would go there again.

StCirq

If you wanted to take a slightly roundabout route between MSM and Bayeux, you could easily visit both Vitré and Fougères, two lovely towns with beautifully restored medieval half-timbered houses. They both have castles, and the one in Fougères is reputedly the largest in Europe. We had a delightful lunch at the restaurant right at the entrance to the castle in Fougères.

rand

I agree with St. Cirq that Vitre was beautiful.
I did not think of it as being en route from Bayeux to Mount St. Michel.

It is a beautiful compact city with parking from hell. We stayed at a chain hotel called Minotel (I think) with tartan everything and parked at the train station a few 'blocks' away. There was a hotel with parking but it was further away.

Dinan and Fougeres were also on our list of wannasees, but alas time is always too short.

Diane

Hi,

My husband and I stayed at the Lion d'Or in Bayeux recommended by Fodor's as the best place in town. They're absolutely right! The place was charming and the food was fantastic. Would highly recommend it. We stayed there 3 nites and would do so again.

Lori

Re: trip from Bayeux to Champagne. We did something similar, in reverse, a few years ago. If you're into the WWII stuff, my husband was excited to find the railcar in Compiegne. There's also a castle, etc. nearby. Nice for an afternoon stop. Also the cathedral in Beauvais is exquisite.

Alexandra

Hi,
If you have the opportunity, I'd spend the night at the Mont itself or in the mainland accross from it so you can tour Mont St Michel at night.
We were there last year at the end of August, and even though we arrived at 6 pm, it was still Extremely Crowded!

I actually enjoyed the nightime visit a lot, they had classical music playing, and special lighting in some rooms, it was very magical. The next day, we left at 9:30 right when the BIG crowds were arriving.
We stayed at La Mere Poulard (a bit pricey, I would try to find another hotel), but our room had access to a corridor which went outside into one of the walls in the second level of the Mont ST Michel fortress - very cool!

-Alexandra

John H

Thanks for your posts.

John H