• Fine arts
  • Wine & Gastronomy
  • History (WWI & WWII)
  • Must-sees

Normandy, Mont-Saint-Michel, Castles of the Loire valley, Chartres and Versailles

This tour proposes an overview of Normandy with a tour of the WWII landing beaches and a discovery of the loveliest Loire castles, with the most refined France has to offer, (West and Center) :

6 days - 5 nights

  • Day 1

    Paris / Giverny / Rouen / Caen / Bayeux

    About 1h from Paris towards Normandy start in Giverny, visit Claude Monet's house and studio and the gardens the artist created as a subject for his paintings, one of the nicest in France.

    Continue with Rouen, Capital of Upper Normandy, walking tour in the old town with its gothic churches and half timbered houses and the old market square where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, lunch.

    In the afternoon, enter Lower Normandy and visit the Battle of Normandy Memorial in Caen which retraces the beginnings, the action and the consequences of the second World War.

    Overnight near Bayeux at Chateau d'Audrieu 4* or at le Lion d'or 3* in Bayeux.

    • Claude Monet's house

    • Audrieu Castle

    • Castle-Hotel of Audrieu

  • Day 2

    Bayeux / Landing beaches / Mont-Saint-Michel

    In Bayeux, you can see the tapestry of Queen Mathilda, 70 meters long, retracing the epic of William the Conqueror's expedition to England in 1066, wooven a few years after the events.

    Omaha beach and the moving American cemetery. Then drive along Omaha beach where your guide will show you some of the German defenses, bunkers and machine-gun nests.

    Pointe du Hoc where the heroic Rangers batallions under the command of colonel James Earl Rudder climbed the cliff to destroy a German battery, key action for the success of D. Day.

    Overnight on Mont-Saint-Michel Auberge Saint-Pierre 3*.

    • Omaha beach cemetery

    • Saint Pierre hotel

  • Day 3

    Mont-Saint-Michel / Angers / Saumur

    Mont-Saint-Michel : the granite island, 80 meters high in the middle of a bay forms a monumental and picturesque sight with its village houses huddled close together and encircled by walls and on top, the old abbey founded in 708 with its gothic "Marvel".

    During equinoxes, watch the highest tides in Europe. Visit the abbey. From Mont-Saint-Michel, drive through the border regions of Maine (capital town : Le Mans) to the Anjou (capital town Angers ) into the Loire Valley.

    Dinner and Lodging at Le Prieuré 4* (The Priory) in Chênehutte-les-Tuffeaux, overlooking the river Loire.

    • Mont-Saint-Michel

    • Le Prieure castle

    • Castle-Hotel of Le Prieure

  • Day 4

    Saumur / Ussé / Villandry / Langeais / Azay-le Rideau

    Saumur, visit of a wine producer, interesting sculpted chalk cellars, tasting.

    Ussé, the castle which inspired Charles Perrault for his 'Sleeping beauty' seems actually to come out from a fairy tale.

    Villandry, with its fascinating ornemental kitchen garden and romantic flower garden representing outlined in boxes, four allegories of love.

    Langeais, very nice middle-age castle with a draw-bridge, a sentry walk and inside, apartments with beautiful period furnishings and colorful tapestries that exude a genuine medieval atmosphere.

    Azay-le Rideau, gem of the Renaissance set on the banks of the Indres.

    Accomodation at Chateau d'Artigny or Domaine de Beauvois.

    • Usse castle

    • Villandry Castle

    • Artigny castle

    • Castle-Hotel of Artigny

  • Day 5

    Chenonceau / Amboise / Chambord / Esclimont

    Chenonceau, Castle-bridge built over the river Cher, where the unique beauty of its architecture reflects in the water, nicknamed "le Château des Dames", it owes a large part of its charm to women.

    Amboise Royal castle and gardens overlooking the river and the blue-slate roofs of the town. The Saint Hubert chapel houses the tomb of Leonardo who died in Amboise.

    Chambord, the Château is the largest in the Loire Valley. Extravagant structure with massive tours and terraces holding hundreds of chimneys where the court and the women used to attend the king coming back from hunting. Of all the architectural wonders of Chambord, the most famous is the double-spiral staircase, core of the building.

    Overnight at Chateau d'Esclimont.

    • Chenonceau castle

    • Amboise castle

    • Chambord castle

    • Esclimont castle

    • Castle-Hotel of Esclimont

  • Day 6

    Esclimont / Chartres / Versailles / Paris

    On the way back to paris, stop in the town of Chartres that boasts one the most beautiful and the largest cathedral in Europe.

    Triple masterpiece of French Gothic Art : by the architecture, the sculpture, and the superb 13th century stained glass windows. (their surface extends over more than 3000 square yards).

    The Château and the gardens of Versailles count among the most prestigious monuments of the world's artistic heritage, a finest and most complete achievement of 17th century French art and the sumptuous theatre of history from Louis XIV to Louis XVI. Guided tour of the State Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors and the 250-acre gardens designed by André Lenôtre.

    Return to Paris, end of our services.

    • Chartres Cathedral

    • Versailles

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