Hi--
Was wondering if someone could review this plan, and offer some advice. We (family of 4) will be visiting France in March 2008. My plan was to arrive at CDG on the morning of March 23 (Sunday), make our way into Paris, and spend 5 nights at a hotel. The following morning, I wanted to pick up a rental car and drive to Giverny (spend a couple of hours), and then to Caen to see the Peace Museusm. Finally drive to Bayeux and spend the evening. Next day take a tour of the Invasion Beaches, again, night in Bayeux. Following day, drive to MSM--spend a few hours there, return to Bayeux---see the Tapestry, Cathedral---again, nite in Bayeux. Next morning--drive to CDG (have a 2PM flight), return car---so thought we would leave no later than 8AM.
A few questions---none of us have been to France before--does this seem like a reasonable balance of city vs. country-side touring, or would you recommend more/less time in Paris?
Can anybody recommend where to pick up a rental car in Paris? I understand driving inthe city can be difficult--would I be better off to go back to CDG and pickup a car?
The drive from Paris to Bayeux---is it realistic to make the drive, stop at Giverney, see the museum in Caen, and get to Bayeux in one day? If not, should I skip Giv or the Museum?
Any other comments/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks so much!
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Dear Happytraveller. First of all I think forget about driving in Paris depending on where you stay you can easily spend an hour to get from the ring to the centre of Paris. Once you understand the metro it is a very accessible city. Your suggestion to pick up the car at CDG after Paris visit is perfect. There is so much to do in Paris, but five days should be enough to start with. I stayed at the Hotel Littre and found it to be perfect- centrally located with helpful staff and close to the metro. Apart from the normal tourist sites I can definitely recommend visiting the Lido for dinner/ show, if you appreciate art the Pompidou Centre. Good luck.
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CDG is in the wrong direction. Pick a Paris location with direct access to the Peripherique. One is the Avenue d%26#39;Italie, Europcar.
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Hi - About the drive from Paris to Bayeux with stops in Giverny and Caen:
We arrived at noon into Gare du Nord on the Eurostar train, picked up a rental car, drove to the Periphique Road, continued to Giverny, then on to a photo stop at les Andelys (Richard the Lionheart%26#39;s castle), then continued to Honfleur, arriving at around 10:30 p.m. or so. Not exactly the intinerary you are considering, but similar. Driving from Gare du Nord out of the city wasn%26#39;t bad - we did have a GPS, which helped. There was some traffic that slowed us down(which you might hit, too.) Giverny was crowded. I was glad we could stay until close to closing time, when I finally could take some pictures without hordes of people in them. I hear you need a good four hours to do the Peace Museum justice. If you left Paris early enough, you could probably get to Giverny before it got too crowded, then go on to the Peace Museum, and finally to Bayeux. It would be a pretty long day. As far as which is better to skip; depends on where your interest lies. Personally, I love Monet%26#39;s art from that period so it was really cool to spend time there, plus the gardens are beautiful. We saw a lot of WWII sites - all great, but lots of oppotunities to see tanks, guns, memorabilia in the various museums. Bayeux has a nice D-Day Museum, St. Mere Eglise and Arromanches have some, too.
About the plan to see the landing beaches in one day, then see le Mont St. Michel, Tapestry, and Bayeux Cathedral in one day: It%26#39;s about an hour and a half each way to LMSM. I definitely think it%26#39;s worth seeing, but it%26#39;s really crowded in the daytime. Maybe see the tapestry and cathedral in the morning, then go to LMSM in the afternoon into the evening. Maybe even stay till it gets dark so you can see it all lit up at night. But if you did that, maybe you could switch your days so that you did the landing beaches the last day before you went back to CDG. In fact, I don%26#39;t know as I would leave Bayeux the same day you%26#39;re catching a flight...I wouldn%26#39;t feel comfortable being that far from CDG with a flight at 2PM I remember hitting some traffic around the Caen Peripheric Road...It%26#39;s about almost a 3 hour drive and you need 2-3 hours check in time at CDG. Maybe you could see the landing beaches, then drive in the direction of CDG, overnighting somewhere closer.
One other thought...you have a lot of driving - to and from Bayeux, over to LMSM, all around the landing beaches...seems pretty packed (and believe me, I%26#39;m one to pack an itinerary, so I%26#39;m not being critical...) I just know how hard it is to stay on schedule...something always comes up to delay you...traffic, staying longer than you planned, not leaving enough time to grab a bite, catch your breath...If you could add an extra night in, and maybe overnight on LMSM (really cool!) or, you can%26#39;t add in an extra night, maybe skip LMSM (I know! It%26#39;s so close!), or skip the Peace Museum and go to Arromanches instead (very close to Bayeux)...just something to loosen it up a bit.
Just some thoughts...have fun!
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Your trip is in March. Sorry to disappoint you but Giverny only opens from 1st April. So there%26#39;s very little point in going there unless you want to try to peer over the wall - but you won%26#39;t see much.
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Hi HT --
If I were planning your itinerary I would take the train to Bayeux or Caen and pick up a rental car there. I would return the car to the same rental office and then take the train back to Paris and ride the RER to CDG.
I don%26#39;t know if you realize it, but for a 2:00PM flight from CDG you%26#39;ll need to arrive there no later than 11:00AM . It is my opinion that CDG is the worst airport in the world and it can take a very long time to make your way through security and another very long time to find your gate.
Don%26#39;t miss the opportunity to see the tapestry. I took my then 14yo nephew to see it and he was fascinated.
Bon voyage.
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