Originally Posted by
ClipperJCM
Hello, FT'ers!
Mrs. ClipperJCM and I are off to France for a five-night stay in July (arriving/departing out of ORY). We're leaning toward spending most of that time in Normandy and/or Brittany, since historical sites, countryside, beach and seafood ALL appeal to us. The missus will also be nearly five months pregnant at the time, so the idea of skipping Paris (and its many Metro stairways) sounds like the way to go.
I've been spending a lot of time consuming threads on the area, though, and can't seem to find any consensus on where we should base ourselves to explore the area. Is it best to train from Paris (maybe to Caen? Bayeux?) and pick up a rental car there? Should we expect to split our nights between two hotels--maybe one near the D-Day sights and another closer to (or in) Brittany? Any suggestions on itineraries that make the most sense? (We arrive late morning on June 29; depart afternoon of July 4.)
As a wild card option, we could of course scrap the whole Normandy plan and just head to Lyon for a few days of gastronomy. But I fear my wine-restricted wife would see that mere taunting!
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
For folks with an interest in D Day and related topics, your 5 day plan sounds perfect to me. There are books with itineraries I suggest you seek out and get.
My thoughts on your questions:
1. Take the train from Paris (or directly from train station at CDG) to Normandy and rent a car there. If you take the trian to Caen, you can start your tour at the great museum there, which provides a good overview of events leading up and and through WW 2.
2. I would book two hotels, one in Normandy and another in Brittany. We found Bayeaux well located for seeing D Day sights.
Your time should allow visits to Mont St Michel (though consider the long climb there as to your wife's pregnancy) and perhaps St Malo.