In June 09 my husband and I are visiting France and would like to spend about 8 days touring Normandy including Monets garden, Brittany, the Loire Valley and Chartres. Do you think it would be best to do a tour, self-drive or take trains?
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How long are you planning to stay and what do you want to visit in each region?
The areas you list are vast with a large number of attractions. To be honest, the 8 days could almost be spent in any of the regions (i.e. Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley) and you would still find things to do.
I%26#39;m a car person, I don%26#39;t like organised anything so you can imagine what I%26#39;d tell you, lol!!
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Thank you for your reply. We would especially like to see Mont St Michel, Bayeux, Giverny, Chartres and of course the chateaux in the Loire Valley.Would the driving be easy?What towns should we stay in?
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Mont St. Michel is lovely. Bayeux is also worth a visit.
Haven%26#39;t been to Giverny or Chartres. And hubby is standing over my shoulder giving instructions so here goes....
Firstly - both of us agree. Car.
Secondly - you need to do more reading on the topic. We were in Normandy, Brittany and the Loire Valley last month, but we spent over 2 weeks there and still didn%26#39;t see everything.
The first thing you need is a distance calculator. www.viamichelin.com and www.aaroadwatch.ie/routes are good to compare times and get a good average.
Bayeux. The tapestry and the cathedral are beautiful. But the town itself is also worth taking the time to look at.
Mont St. Michel will take you about half a day. I would recommend you consider visiting it in tandem with St. Malo and Dinan (not Dinard!!)
Also in Brittany are the Megaliths of Carnac. These are very mystical. I can%26#39;t explain. http://www.megalithia.com/brittany/carnac/
Regarding the Loire - yes, you can do two chateaux in one day, but there are 42 chateaux listed in the chateaux de la Loire association and some of the big ones aren%26#39;t even members, so you can see the difficulty.
We%26#39;ve seen Chenonceau. Loved it (in spite of the fact that Wiz of Aus doesn%26#39;t concur).
Chambord - the double helix stair case is fascinating. IMHO the highlight. But there are renovations going on.
Cheverny - more intimate, but only a small part of the chateau available to view. The family lived there until 1985.
Clos Luce - for da Vinci fans and people with kids.
Hope this helps.
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Thank you so much for all the helpful information. I can see we need to put a lot of thought into this part of our holiday! Did you stay in b%26amp;bs?I am a little nervous of the driving.We haven%26#39;t done any driving in France.
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We were camping, stayed in Mobile homes. But then we had offspring aged 8, 12 and 16 with us!!
The driving in France - hubby did most of the driving because I damaged my wrist the week we were leaving. I was only able to do short journeys.
We come into France at Calais, having driven through the UK and the Calais region is almost transitional. Bilingual signs in places and good gendarme coverage to warn drivers.
But generally after about an hour or so, it becomes instinctive. I found it rather odd when I came back, lol!! I think it is a matter of confidence levels and hub is an excellent driver. But do make sure that the passenger is active rather than passive, doing the map reading.
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Thanks so much for your help. We did a fair bit of driving in Slovenia and Croatia this year and that all went well. It is certainly great to have the freedom when you have a car. Will do lots more research.
Thanks again
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