We are going to be in Paris in Sept. We want to take a day trip to Normandy. Any suggestions? Would anyone suggest the train and if so what happens when we get there?
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You%26#39;ve a few choices. The simplest and most straightforward is to take one of the escorted coach or mini-van tours available from tour opertors--
PARISVISION--
http://en.parisvision.com/
CITYRAMA--
http://www.pariscityrama.com/
A combination %26#39;DIY%26#39; + local tour might be to take a SNCF train from PARIS-Gare Saint Lazare to BAYEUX...and then hook-up with a local tour operator-
SNCF Train Schedules, Fares %26amp; Info--
BATTLEBUS--
http://www.battlebus.fr/
The third alternative is to rent a car and drive on your own.
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I recently learned on a post that you can catch a 7:12am train from St. Lazare station and return back on the train at about 5:30pm-ish. The train goes to Bayeux.
Victory Tours offers both half-day and full day tours and they are quite inexpensive. Karen50 commented that she really enjoyed the 1/2 day tour they took through Victory Tours.
Apparently there is a Tapestry museum in Bayeux that has a 70-m long piece of embroidery that graphically tells the story of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.
I also read on the Victory Tours site that Steve Forbes owns a castle nearby and the worlds only hot air balloon museum is within proximity.
In addition, Le Mont St. Michel is 75km aware.
So there is plenty to do there.
site: lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html
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Check out Overlord Tours as well as Battlebus for a guided D Day tour. Overlord has French guides and Battlebus is British. Both come highly recommended by travelers posting on this site, but we did Overlord as it%26#39;s their country. I was concerned that %26quot;Band of Brothers%26quot; tour might be a bit commercial, but it wasn%26#39;t. It was a wonderful trip.
We took the train from Gare St. Lazare to Bayeux (about 2 hours) and stayed at the Hotel Churchill. You might want to consider traveling to Bayeux the afternoon before your tour as the full day tours (recommended) start early in the morning. You should be able to easily make a half day tour in one day from Paris, but a full day tour will mean a very long day and a very early start. Our stay in Bayeux was a treat, and as long as you stay inside the village, you won%26#39;t need a car.
I find the RailEurope site the easiest to understand regarding train schedules, but as they charge a fee, I understand that it is not the best site for purchasing a ticket in advance. We traveled in October and were able to buy our tickets at the train station. Your situation in September may be similar. To purchase in advance, search the Normandy and Paris forums for more information.
We took a taxi to the Hotel Churchill, but once we got our bearings, we found that it would be possible to walk from the station to the center of the village. However, if you have luggage or are on a tight schedule, take a taxi! Our tour met us outside the Tapestry Museum on the side in the opposite direction of the train station. The tour company will tell you where to meet them.
Visiting the D-Day sites has been one of our most memorable travel experiences. You%26#39;ll be glad you worked a tour into your travel schedule.
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