Hi all, We've finally decided to go to Normandy for a week in August. This is late to be planning, but the reason we're crossing the pond is that I have a conference in Copenhagen, and getting everything figured on that front has been kind of difficult. I don't want to go through the flight ordeal for a measly week overseas, so I wanted another week before the conference somewhere--deciding where was also difficult. August would not be my first choice for going much of anywhere, but the conference is then, so tant pis.
"We" in this case is another couple--colleagues and friends, I've traveled with them before, and they're going to the conference too--and me as third wheel. Gary just doesn't want to go.
So now I'm hard at it trying to find a gite, not much luck so far. Since it's late I wondered if anyone had any hidden gem ideas. We have 3 desires: D-Day beaches/sites; Mont St Michele; Honfleur for the Satie museum. Possibly also Bayeaux. We plan to be pretty lazy, and we need a week rental to be thrifty, since we're all really too broke to be doing this. We'll rent a car. So far I've found this thread really helpful.
Here's my list of questions: does it make sense to look for a gite rural around Caen or Bayeux? We will probably fly into Paris and train to wherever we rent the car from.
So far the only place we've turned up available is here. But, the larger gite is taken so they only have the one for two, which means the third wheel gets a chambre d'hôte in the B&B. It's near Géfosse-Fontenay, 22 km from Bayeaux. Any opinions here re location, re third-wheelness in the B&B, re the place itself? I'd rather have access to the kitchen and have a gite we could all stay in, but if we find nothing else...it's looking grim.
Getting to Copenhagen: I will put this on the other Europe board, but does anyone have experience with Sterling airlines from CDG to Copehnagen? They seem not to be flying out on Saturdays any more, which will be a problem, so we may need to stay a night in Paris. Alternately, there's bunches of flights from London to CPH. How hard is it to get from Normandy to London? Does it make sense to do that? I do like the idea of taking a ferry.
Any advice or opinions on any of the above, most welcome as always.
Have you checked out logis as well as rentals? We used them in Brittany and Normandy years ago. You might find that they give you more flexibility, as one location for all the places you mention would involve a good deal of driving.
Mont St. Michel is about 100 km. from Bayeux and at the southwestern end of a route running northeast through Caen and near Bayeux to Honfleur, which is about another 100 km. from Caen.
So, to me, it makes some sense to stay one night near Mont St. Michel; several in or near Bayeux, Caen, and the D-Day beaches; and then one or more in or near Honfleur. This would be more of a road trip than you've outlined but would avoid a lot of driving back and forth. (And anyway, I like road trips for this kind of travel. It's essentially what we did back then on a trip to Brittany and Normandy.)
Hi Trish, first of all, your travel plans are too ambitious for one week, especially during August which is a frantic month for the roads in France. Rentals are for one week minimum, yet you want to see an area so large that is best divided into 2 trips - unless you want to spend most of your holiday commuting in August traffic instead of, well, holidaying. You can stay one week in the Calvados (beaches, Honfleur, Trouville, Caen, Bayeux, and all mobbed in August), or you can stay one week near Mont St Michel and also visit St Malo, Dinan, St Briac sur mer, etc. (mobbed mobbed mobbed).
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Originally posted by Trishmael: So now I'm hard at it trying to find a gite, not much luck so far. Since it's late I wondered if anyone had any hidden gem ideas. We have 3 desires: D-Day beaches/sites; Mont St Michele; Honfleur for the Satie museum.
All the hidden gems are booked about 6 months to 9 months in advance ! At this stage, you take what you can find. You may look into several possibilities: - Have you looked at ST reviews and ads for the area? I have found many great accommodation that way. - In general, gîtes get booked up first, then b&b's, the hotels. - Have you looked at the gîtes de France list? The gîtes au jardin in Normandy are especially nice. (Most rentals in France are from Saturday to Saturday, but not all.) Good luck and bon voyage.
[edited by Chris to fix formatting around link]
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris,
okay guys, point well taken. 100 km just didn't seem like much distance, but if there's traffic, well...the logis would make more sense. But one of our party is probably just going to plop in a chair for most of the time, wants to do a little cooking... I'm afraid that would cramp her style.
I looked at all the ST reviews and ads (did that first)but everything's booked. Spent about a day hard at it looking, but most of what I found isn't working out. I am having trouble getting the gites au jardin site to work on my Mac, but I'll go to work and try it on a PC--thanks, Americano.
I wish this wasn't going to have to happen in August, but it does.
Would Brittany be less mobbed? Somewhere else, north in France? Seriously, I'm having huge second thoughts.
Granted, our stay was in October (2007), but we enjoyed 4 nights at the Hotel d'Arromanches (in Arromanches)where the welcome was incredibly warm, the food was good (one meal in the restaurant and two in the bar -- fabulous mussels and a mouthwatering apple tart), room was up a narrow stairway but very comfortable, parking was a couple of blocks away but free, the bar cat was aloof, and rates were reasonable. Using this as our center, we were able to visit Caen, the Normandy beaches,and the surrounding towns. It looks like they have updated the decor since our stay based on the current web site -- http://www.hoteldarromanches.fr/
We can't wait to return. Marilyn
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Posts: 29 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 05 July 2007
Originally posted by Trishmael: I am having trouble getting the gites au jardin site to work on my Mac, but I'll go to work and try it on a PC--thanks, Americano. … Would Brittany be less mobbed? Somewhere else, north in France?
Actually Normandy and Brittany are somewhat less mobbed than many other areas of France, but you wouldn't know it on any summer day in Honfleur. The gîtes de France site is very difficult to navigate. I took a quick look and spotted the gîte below that is free in some August weeks and is near many of your sites.
We spent a week in Normandy in early July 2006, renting Dave's "Artist's Cottag" in Honfleur. I wrote about our week in my blog beginning here.
I thought Bayeux was very special, though we didn't spend much time there. The tapestry was incredible, and I think you would really enjoy it. We went very late in the afternoon and missed the "tour bus" crowd.
As you'll read in the blog, we made a day trip out to Mont St. Michel. It was a very long way from Honfleur and horribly crowded when we were there. I had wanted to see Mont St. Michel since high school, and in retrospect, I really wish we had stayed overnight there so we could have appreciated it when the daytrippers were gone.
Other than Mont St. Michel, we didn't find the area that crowded at the time of our visit. We did end up spending much more time in Honfleur than we had originally expected.
This thread that I started to get ideas for our week may be useful to you too.
I know you're looking into a gite, but I could see some value to arranging a trip to this area in a different way and staying in two or three hotels or B&Bs instead.
Looking back, I also wish we had invested in some sort of tour (ideally a small group tour) of the D-Day sites. We did it on our own which worked out okay, but I think we would have gotten more out of the whole experience if we had been with a guide. We did do some reading and watched Saving Private Ryan before our trip, which helped us better appreciate what happened there.
Hi kind France board folks, I have been a bit preoccupied these days. After a long discussion with my traveling companions we all agreed this didn't feel right, we were slamming together a plan and in the wrong season. So we're postponing Normandy until the next trip, hopefully next year. I'm disappointed, but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed anyway, since our house somehow knows I need to get away and is breaking things and costing money. It's a willful house. Helas.
BUT--I collected a ton of great bookmarks looking, and consulting with you all, so we'll be in great shape next time. As always, thanks.
The upside is I bought myself more time in Copenhagen, where I have to go for a conference--just a few more days, but I intend to hop over to Sweden and consider that the vacation.
. 
