We have decided to rent a car at CDG, to save time and have more freedom. We are wondering about an itinerary----We thought of driving to Bayeux and spending two nights there and picking up a BattleBus tour the 2nd day ---then driving to Mt. Michel and spending a night there ----but we must drive to LeHavre the 4th day as we are meeting meeting friends that afternoon there.
However, we%26#39;re thinking it would be wiser to drive directly to Mt. Michele and spend the first night there. Leave the next morning for Bayeux and see surrounding towns on our way ---spend the night there and the next morning pick up the tour. Spend that night in Bayeux and drive to LeHavre the next day. Would love your thoughts and any recommendations for a B%26amp;B (there will two couples)--and sorry to say, we are on a budget. I have appreciated, so much, your shared experiences. Merci----------wishingutah
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It works either way. However, when we land at CDG after a night on the plane, the drive to Normandy gets to be pretty long (and seems longer every year). Personnally, the drive to Bayeux would be enough for me, I would not relish the extra 2 hours it would take to get to the Mont-St-Michel. If you don%26#39;t have to be in Le Havre before lunch time on your last day, you%26#39;ll have no problem making it from Mont-St-Michel.
There are 2 options for a night at Mt-St-Michel: In the village, which gets quiet after all the daytrippers are gone - a mystical experience, or at the head of the roadway - for the views. Both options are expensive - but so much better than most of the B%26amp;B in the countryside a short distance away. in Bayeux, I like the Hotel d%26#39;Argouges - small, quiet, comfortable, and reasonably priced.
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What time will your flight arrive? Do you usually sleep on planes? or are you one who can%26#39;t quite get a good sleep.
Flying from SLC to Paris is a long trip and though if you are taking the non-stop flight that will help it is still long. We arrived 11am and in our short drive to Giverny we were all very tired. DH slept in the car while my son and I toured the gardens. We would never have been able to drive all the way to MSM the same day as arriving from our flight.
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Thank you for sharing your experience. You%26#39;re probably right----we will be beat, but our time is so limited that if we don%26#39;t drive to MSM that day, we won%26#39;t have the opportunity of seeing it at night as the other days are pretty well taken.
Wish we had much longer to spend. But just grateful that we can go. Thank you and if you have any ideas please let me know. wishingutah
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You really might consider a train into Caen. Since you won%26#39;t be visiting anything in between Caen and Paris there is no reason you%26#39;d need to drive it. You could sleep on the train and then rent the car (easy to do, right by the station) to take you the rest of the way to MSM that same day.
And btw for budget at MSM you%26#39;ll need to stay on the mainland - maybe in Pontorson
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Even easier take the train to Bayeux which is much more human size (15000 pop). There%26#39;s a rental place (renault rent) just outside the station and the town center easy to get around and you will be at your first destination. Caen is 150000 pop and blocked with traffic most times.
MOnt St Michel is 1h 20mins from Bayeux. Le Havre is just over an hour.
At Le Havre take time to %26quot;admire%26quot; the architecture. It was rebuilt by August Perret in the 1950s after being destroyed by the allies. Perret was a concrete specialist and Le Havre was rebuilt in concrete, the town hall and St Julien church aswell. The walls were made in factories and assembled in place so they are 6m25 long each. The columns which hold up the part over the arcades are decorated differently for each one. The appartements had central heating, a well laid out kitchen, large bedrooms, and a dining room and lounge which was a great advance in 1950. There is a show appartement that can be visited . It%26#39;s laid out in 1950 style.
There is part of the old town that survived and there is a house called %26quot;La Maison de L%26#39;armateur%26quot; (the ship builders house) It%26#39;s been renovated and can be visited. The rooms are disposed around a central well with light coming from the dome over the stairwell.
Going to Le Havre you%26#39;ll cross the Normandy bridge which is the longest stay bridge in the world. Mile and a third long. It%26#39;s also a work of art.
Don%26#39;t miss Honfleur either.
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Having just come back from a similar trip re:Bayeux and MSM, here are a couple of practicalities: You don%26#39;t want to arrive at MSM in the morning. As we left at 11am, the traffic to get to the Island was backed up for miles! Not a pleasant experience after spending a night on a plane.
Hotels on MSM are expensive, and poor value for money other than location. While the crowds thin out after 6pm or so that is only relative-it goes from being very crowded to crowded, and remains that way well into the night. At 6am we were woken by the deliveries of frozen french fries and canned goods to the %26quot;gourmet%26quot; restaurants. However, staying on the island allowed us to get up early, something we%26#39;re not good at, and be at the Abbey when it opened, the only time when it is not over run with crowds. If expense is an issue, and you can get up early, arriving later in the afternoon and staying across the causeway would probably make more sense than going directly to MSM from the airport.
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If you are still planning on driving all the way to MSM for the evening view (which is quite spectacular), don%26#39;t stay at the hotels at the Mont. They are overpriced and require you to lug your own bags for a good 1/2 mile. I%26#39;d suggest you stay just outside the Mont, where hotels are much cheaper and you can park your car at the door. I stayed at Le Relais du Roy, which had all the modern amenities, flat screen TV, and a huge bathroom, and cost just 70 Euros in late October. We then just drove literally 2 minutes to the Causeway and parked there for our visit to the Mont the next morning.
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