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Rendezvous on the Seine- excursion choices
Interested in recent traveler experiences with the Rendezvous on the Seine excursion choices for Paris.
Also, experiences with Étretat & Honfleur and Memorial De Caen & Bayeux.
They all look good to me!
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We’re doing this trip in June. I’ve been to Paris a number of times but my husband has not. If you’ve never been to Paris, take the city bus tour, we did that one last year on the French Escapade trip, it gives you a great overview of the main sites. We did a private tour of the Marais; if you’re interested in seeing an older part of Paris with some Jewish heritage, do that one. We’re going to do the tour of the islands which is a great area. (And fabulous gelato at Berthillon!)
As far as the two excursions you mentioned, it depends on whether or not you want to see the WWII history in Caen and the Bayeaux tapestry, or would rather see the coastal towns. You really can’t go wrong.
We did the Marias excursion when we did this tour in 2022. It was great. We have been to Paris before, so an orientation tour was not needed. On the Normandy coast we choose Etretat and Honfleur, and would choose so again. The Etretat part was a short tour from the bus parking to the downtown after which we had 60- 90 minutes for free time. We hiked up to the church overlooking the town and beach and still had enough time to shop at the market and a couple of shops. Honfleur was great. Free time for most of the afternoon about 4 or 5 hours. Time to have lunch on your own(Tauck did provide 20 Euro) and wander around the town and harbor. The Caen/Bayeux is a lot of bus time. Roughly two hours each way.
In addition to mfrancis' suggestions, I recommend a visit to the Montmartre area of Paris which sits high on a hill and offers unparalleled views of all of Paris. There is a Basilica, museums, vineyards, cemetery and quaint village streets to roam. To ascend and descend the hill you can either take a funicular or a little train. Your hotel concierge can assist with the details. Enjoy.
Kfnknfzk-we’re going to Montmartre on our own, nice that the Metro has a direct line there from the 6th right where our Tauck hotel is located. We’re also going to get tickets to see the Eiffel Tower one night after dinner, not far at all from where the ship will be docked. It’s on my calendar to purchase them exactly when they go on sale at midnight Paris time 2 months ahead!
mfrancis - I hope you enjoy Montmartre as much as we do. I look forward to hearing how you enjoyed it.
I’ve been but my husband and the other couple haven’t. I know they’ll love it.
You will be a fantastic tour guide for them. I hope they tip you well.
I took the Memorial de Caen and Bayeux, it's a treat to see the tapestry.