RTWSTARALLIANCE

Thought it would be nice to have a consolidated thread on how this can be done. Flew on AA to maintain my status further. Did lots of research before leaving US and here is a day by day as it unfolds.

Upon arrival into CDG took the RER B line to Gare du Nord then RER E Magenta line to St Lazare / Haussman. Used the ticket machines at CDG terminal 2 and the fare was 9.25 euros. I thought this was high based upon something I read so checked with info booth that confirmed the price. Went back to the machine to issue using chip Hyatt Chase visa. The RER B out of CDG was delayed a few times. Upon arrival at St Lazare exited and made the very short above ground walk to Gare St Lazare. Would budget one hour for this process from CDG. Used the HSBC atm at CDG. The ticket machine takes chip cards and coins. Not sure if it takes regular cards mostly issued in US.

After arriving at Gare St Lazare looked for the SNCF office. Before leaving the US booked my train ticket following the excellent information posted on site seat61.com . That site was the most comforting thing about the whole trip. Know I had a train ticket and time to gauge the trip by. Read the instructions with care and it will all be great. I actually had a later normal tariff ticket which I booked on purpose so I could reserve a solo seat. I was able to get on a earlier train with no change fee. As it was just before departure did not have a reserve seat so upon boarding train look for seats with no paper placard above. Those are reserved. Bring your own food / drink on the train. No trolley service. My return ticket in first with no change in trains is 112 euros. Purchased lunch set at Gare St Lazare for train where they also have lav for 50 cents. IHT from Relay.

Upon arrival into Bayeux you need to take a set of two stairs to exit. If you have luggage be prepared. A couple taxis were readily available upon exiting. The cab to my first hotel was 6.4 euros. I booked late and my Saturday night preferred Hotel was not available. Booked at bookings.com for nearest to city center which put me at the Premiere Classe for 45 euros. It was what you pay for. Upon my arrival self service check-in via kiosk. Room was minimal. No hot food at property but a sister property other side of street had restaurant which offers 15% discount. Wifi was in/out. This morning woke early and had the front desk call for a cab to this evenings Hotel.

I noticed online looking at the websites for the Churchill and Villa Lara they had a shuttle run out to Mont St Michel. That got me researching only to find it so very close. Booked the shuttle via e-mail. This morning the shuttle was slightly delayed leaving the Churchill for MSM. Usual departure meeting time is 8:20 AM. The weather was awful but cleared towards the end. At MSM you have 3 hours which in my mind is plenty. Entry with our drivers introduction was 7 euros. Return to Churchill at around 3 PM. From Place de Quebec which the Villa Lara corners it is a very easy walk to both the Bayeux Tapestry and Cathedral. Entry for the Tapisserie was 7.8 euros. No charge for Cathedral.

Last night I stayed at the most lux newly opened Hotel in Bayeux. The price was more than four times the Premiere. The physical plant of the property is solid. As good as any Ritz or Four Seasons. The huge issue is cleanliness. Housekeeping leaves lots to be desired. The Hotel felt is was totally immune to such criticism with an excuse for everything. Everything. If you want lux it is the place but I just can not stand a room not kept well.

I booked my full day tour with overlord which does a great job of communicating via e-mail. Changed to the half day as I wanted to make it back to CDG much earlier than later. As it turned out all worked out great as the weather was turning bad. The half day tour they offer will give you a feel of the challenge the allies faced and the loss they suffered. The American Cemetary was moving. Very moving. The Overlord guide was very versed and answered all questions our curious group had. I made it back to Bayeux to collect my luggage from my Hotel then took a taxi to the Station. The web did not accurately list the next train. I must have missed something as I had to wait over one hour for the next train. Mind you this is Sunday. I did find as you can see the normal tarif ticket to be very valuable when you want to be flexible.

Upn arrival back in Gare St Lazare just do the reverse. RER E from St Lazare / Haussman station to Magenta. Follow the signs to RER B to CDG. Fortunately it is only one stop back to Magenta station from Gare St Lazare. Getting the RER ticket actually took more time. A huge number of tourist were trying to make the same change. So you the agent window because there was only one ticket machine. 9.25 euros confirmed again back to CDG. This evening I will stay using cash and points. Upgraded to a suite and love the Lounge offering which keeps me from having to find food.

Hope this thread helps others to make the trip to Normandy and MSM. Easily done but the info is all over the place at different websites. Highly recommend using and reading the information at website seat61 . I don't know how much it saved me but others I met said plenty. Cheers.