Normandy?
 

Got a nice 3-day layover soon in Paris; doing Normandie is a "Bucket List" item. any gouge on getting there from Montparnarsse, and a hotel/Inn/B&B in Normandie?

Thanks!

FedUp

I've done it twice with a rental car. Would you consider that?

Five of us rented a car from the train station across the street (reservation recommended) and did it on a Sunday. Map it out before you go; we got lucky and got a map and directions/help at the military museum in Caen. Due to time we started at Pointe du Hoc and headed east for the highlights: Omaha beach, American cemetery, couple of intact gun emplacements and ended in town w/floating piers. Long, very enjoyable day! Wish we could have stayed the night and visited St-Mere-Eglise too.

Fat Tire Bike Co does a nice one day tour. All details taken care of

Take the Train to Bayeux from Gare St Lazarre. Trains leave almost hourly. Bayeux is a small town with a small Train station but you are very close , 15-20 minute drive to the Major sites. You can either Rent a car in Bayeux and I recommend ensuring reservations before you are on the train, or pay for a guided tour. I opted for the guided tour. There a several Guided tour outfits and they will pick you up at the Train station.

You could do it all in a Day, Early train in morning, 4 hour or 1/2 day tour for Major sites and then train back in late afternoon or early Eve. Its a long day but very doable.

In your case with a 3 day layover, I'd really recommend to take the train to Bayeux and spend the night. Many B&B's and quaint hotels. It is closer to most of the popular sites than Caen. Look and walk around Bayeux for that afternoon. See Cathedral of Bayeux, British War Museum a couple of WWII cemeteries and an Added Bonus is the Tapestry of Bayeux, Nothing to do with WWII but pretty cool if you are a history buff. You can walk to all of these attractions. Then schedule a Private or Group guided tour for the next day. They will pick you up at your Hotel. They have 1/2 day and Full day tours. Private is more expensive obviously but you have the flexibility to adjust the schedule to fit your needs and see everything "you" want at your pace. Then when you are done, they drop you off at the train station and you will be back in Paris in a little over 2 hours in time for a nice French Dinner. I used Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do | Viator.com for tour. They were good but there are several others which I cannot personally attest but I am sure they are fine.

If you rent a car for a two day or more runabout, don't miss nearby Mont Saint Michel

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mont_Saint_Michel

http://www.inspirelifetime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Mont-Saint-Michel-France.jpg

First went to Normandy around 1954-1955 as a small boy - maybe 9-10. Dad was stationed in Paris for four years.

To this day I can remember the significant number of ships still visible in the water.

Went back in 2008 with a French friend I went to school with and really enjoyed the visit. The cemetery was awesome.

Stayed at the Hotel Churchill right in Bayeux. The photographs in the hotel were awesome.

And the Tapestry of Bayeux is a definite item to see.

Check your PMs.

Stay nearby if you can, as most tours start around 7 or 7:30 AM.

I used Overlord tours and cannot say enough good things about them. Great experience.

I had three days to kill, so here's what I did. I took a train to Bayuex, walked into town, there's plenty of hotels which are in walking distance from station as well as meeting area for tour guide pickup. Stayed two nights, at Hotel Rheine Mathilde. I used overloardtours.com. Pick up via their van was right around the corner from hotel. Did the full day Omaha tour. We left early in the AM and got back after dinnertime. Great tour. Then stayed that night and left next day to go continue trip. I've read the usual lot of D-Day books, but luckily I read "The Dead and Those About To Die" just before going, and it prepared me well for Omaha (a MUST read). Also read "Dog Company" which covered the 2nd Rangers at du Hoc. Now I'm trying to cover all the airborne stuff, you get to see some of the drop zone targets during the full day tour, but not enough. I plan on going back for the airborne tour they have. Good luck, it's a life changing experience.

We were there in May. Stayed at the delightful bed and breakfast called Dodo et Tartines right on rue de la cave. We had the entire upstairs floor of this old house first built in the 15th Century. We booked a half day tour through Viator. We were picked up right on time from the bnb. Visited Point du Hoc, American Cemetery, Omaha Beach and a stop at a little visited part of Omaha beach bluff. The other guests all had taken the train from Paris and were met at the train station.

Did you mean buff beach?
:eek:

I just did the Normandy/D-D tour this past weekend. I was staying at the Pullman Montparnasse. I took the Metro (line 13) from Gaite station (actually a shorter walk than getting on the Metro at Gare Montparnasse). Got off at St. Lazare. It's only about a 12 minute Metro ride. I had previously purchased tickets on the train from St. Lazare to Bayeux. I took at train that left about 1:30 PM and arrived in Bayeux at about 3:30 PM. I went 2nd class but did buy a refundable ticket just in case FedEx dorked up my schedule. When I arrived at Bayeux (second stop on the train) I walked into town (10-12 minutes) and walked through the old cathedral. It's like a scaled down Notre Dame. And then also did the Bayeux Tapestry Museum (9 Euro). I grabbed some dinner at a restaurant in town then walked to the hotel where I was staying. It was the Premier Classe Bayeux. About a 15 minute walk from the meeting place for the tour I did. The name sounds impressive but it was a definite budget hotel. About $50 for a pretty small room and an even smaller bath. But I wasn't looking for anything fancy and it filled the bill. I made the reservation through Booking.com. The tour I took was with Overlordtour.com. I did tour #2 which was Omaha and Utah beach. It's a full day tour ending at about 6 PM. Cost is 95 Euro CASH. But it's a good tour and you can look on their website and where the tour goes and look at other tours if you're interested. They take your credit card but don't charge it, unless you're a no-show. I had a 7:30 PM train back to Paris after the tour and they will drop you off at the station or it's a short walk if you want to grab a bite to eat in town before you go to the station. Train got back about 9:40 and I was back in my hotel room by 10:30 PM.

It was a good experience and I was happy with the tour operator and like I said, the hotel met my needs (cheap and clean). Breakfast at the hotel was an extra 6 Euro. If you need more info feel free to drop me a PM.

MG2

One last PS. I just took a change of clothes and threw them in a backpack. There was not a lot of extra room in the 19 pax van we drove around in. I'm not sure where you would put a full size roll aboard if you brought that with you.

You can not see it all in 7 days. I tired during the 70th. Too much to see and do. Try Ivy House right on causeway 2(?) on Utah. Run by English family. A B&B and tour. If you take train to Carentan, I bet Andy would pick you up.

Have fun.
Essayons

Try this: Chateau de Isle Marie
Fabulous chateau on Normandy peninsula. 20 minutes from Utah Beach and many other historic sites. Need a rental car for transportation and be your own guide or hire a local company. A little pricey but worth every penny if you want to stay in a castle. We stayed here several years ago during the reenactment week and had a fantastic time. An english-speaking GPS with your rental car would be nice to have...unless you're fluent in French.