Hello expert travelers!
My boyfriend and I are here in Paris for the summer and are looking for some weekend getaways. We both are dying to see Mont St. Michele but haven't a clue in how to get there. Do we take a train to Rouen or Caen and then rent a car? Or is it better to ask a hotel for a tour package. Any other weekend trips would be appreciated.
Thanks.

topping

Getting to Mont St-Michel is difficult without a car. Your best bet would be taking the train to Caen, then picking up a rental car--but that could be expensive because most agencies charge a premium for rentals of less than 3 days.

It's possible to take a day tour to Mont St-Michel from Paris; your hotel will be happy to refer you to one of those. You might also do a Google check for tours that leave from Caen, which would be the best option--from Paris it would be a very long day trip.

You can easily take a day tour to Mont st. Michel with Paris Vision tours-www.ParisVision.com. They have a 13 1/2 hour trip to MSM for 142Es-which includes brunch at the Castle and entrance fees to the Abbey. Paris Vision tours are conveniently located at the Rue di Rivoli, metro: Tuileries. Check out their website, they have many other day and longer tours. When I weas studying in Paris, I used them a couple of times-'cause it was easy and I was lazy-they're an okay tour company, for my purposes.

I know nothing of your circumstances so.... If it were me I would look into the cheap airfares offered by the discount airlines and possibly jet off to an exotic destination each weekend. I also would check out small towns in various regions of France for each weekend. For example; Alscace/Lorraine, Provence, Brittany, the Alps ( ski destinations may be inexpensive in summer), Normandy, Dordogne and the Loire. In the small towns I would plan to walk or take local transit.

Consider Belgium for a weekend. Really closeby. Either Thalys to Brussels or TGV to Lille and local trains from there on get you anywhere within 3 hours from Paris. Bruges is a delight, Ghent and Antwerp both wonderful as well. Brussels is a bit difficult to discover if you don't have BTilke's help

Here are some websites that list routes and fares from the inter Europe discount airlines

whichbudget.com
applefares.net
skyscanner.com

plug in Paris and see what your options are.

There are also a bunch of ideas here. Look at the day trips too and see if you'd like to do a weekend.

http://www.bonjourparis.com/pages/paris_tours.php

Have fun!!

If you miss Alsace, you will have missed some of the best: highly recommend vill of Riquewihr, Hot l'Oriel and Rest le Sarment d'Or.
M

If you're going to be inParis for the entire summer I would rent a car and take a long-weekend to see Mt St Michel and the invasion beaches. You can see/learn/appreciate much more this way and for two people will cost no more. And this way you can pick romantic castle hotels/ cute little restaurants etc- and have a much more personal experience.

Thank you all for the great tips. I think I will be sticking to just the local areas; places I can visit on the weekends. My biggest worrry is how to I go about renting a car? Should I contact a car rental place here in Paris? If so, any recommendations? My French is okay, but I would prefer to talk to someone who speaks English.
In the meantime, I will check out some of the tour packages offered by some of the hotels. We are renting an apartment, so we don't have the luxury of a concierge.
Thanks again!

Hi

worth thinking about a weekend in Languedoc. TGV to Montpellier is about 3 hrs.

Peter
The Languedoc Page
http://tlp.netfirms.com

Since you appear to have internet access, why not try renting a car or at least shopping prices and getting info on the internet. The websites should have English translations.

Autoeurope.com is an agent that represents many different rental companies.

You may have a problem finding an automatic transmission in Paris (rather than out at an airport).