NORMANDY - France 2014 - page 363

Planning Your Time
Honfleur, the D-Day beaches, and Mont St-Michel each merit overnight visits. At a min-
imum, you'll want a full day for the D-Day beaches and a half-day each in Honfleur and
on Mont St-Michel.
If you're driving between Paris and Honfleur, Giverny (see previous chapter) or
Rouen (covered in this chapter) are worthwhile stops. By train, they're best as day trips
from Paris. The WWII memorial museum in Caen works well as a stop between Honfleur
and Bayeux (and the D-Day beaches). Mont St-Michel must be seen early or late to avoid
the masses of midday tourists. Dinan, just 45 minutes by car from Mont St-Michel, offers
a fine introduction to Brittany (see next chapter). Drivers can enjoy Mont St-Michel as a
day trip from Dinan.
For practical information in English about Normandy, see ht-
tp://normandy.angloinfo.com or www.normandie-tourisme.fr .
Getting Around Normandy
This region is ideal with a car. If you're driving into Honfleur from the north, take the im-
pressivebutpriceyNormandyBridge(PontdeNormandie,about€5toll).Ifyou'redriving
from Mont St-Michel into Brittany, follow my recommended scenic route to the town of
St-Malo (see here ) .
Trains from Paris serve Rouen, Caen, Bayeux, Mont St-Michel (via Pontorson or
Rennes), and Dinan, though service between these sights can be frustrating (try linking by
bus—see below). Mont St-Michel is a headache by train, except from Paris. Enterprising
hotel owners in Bayeux run a minivan service between Bayeux and Mont St-Michel—a
great help to those without cars (see here ) .
Buses make Giverny, Honfleur, Arromanches, and Mont St-Michel accessible to
train stations in nearby towns, though Sundays can be challenging. Plan ahead: For bus
information in English, check with the local TI. Or, if you can navigate a bit in French,
try the websites for Bus Verts (for Le Havre, Honfleur, Bayeux, Arromanches, and Caen,
www.busverts.fr ), Keolis (for Mont St-Michel, www.destination-montsaintmichel.com ) ,
and Tibus or Illenoo (for Dinan and St-Malo, www.tibus.fr or www.illenoo-services.fr ).
When navigating these sites, the key words to look for are Horaires or Fiches Horaires
(schedules) and Lignes (bus route). Bus companies commonly offer good value and multi-
ride discounts—for example, Bus Verts offers a 20 percent discount if you buy just four
tickets (even if you share them with another person).