Starting at $2320 per person for 2 people, less per person for larger group – contact us for details.
Loire Castles + Normandy 3 Day Private Tour
EXPERIENCE THE GORGEOUS LOIRE CHATEAUX, MONT SAINT MICHEL, BAYEUX, NORMANDY BEACHES AND HONFLEUR
3 DAY 2 NIGHT PRIVATE TOUR: Experience 4 romantic and exquisite chateaux: Chambord, Amboise, Chenonceau, and Villandry. Luxury accomodations close to Tours. On day 2 drive through LeMans to the picturesque isle of Mont-Saint-Michel, an abbey built in 708. Overnight in Bayeux. Day 3 see the Bayeux Tapextry of 1066, WWII Landing Beaches of Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach. End the day with a stop in the port town of Honfleur before you head back to Paris.
DAY 1
Chambord / Amboise / Chenonceau
The Château de Chambord is the largest in the Loire Valley where the court would attend the king returning from hunting. An extravagant structure with massive towers and terraces, it has hundreds of ornate and whimsical chimneys and turrets. Of all the architectural wonders of Chambord, the most famous is the double-spiral staircase that Leonardo supposedly designed.
Amboise Royal Castle and gardens (outside visit) overlooking the river and the blue-slate roofs of the town. The Saint Hubert chapel houses the tomb of Leonardo daVinci who died in Amboise. View the medieval town of Amboise, still vibrant today.
Chenonceau was built over the river Cher, where the unique beauty of its architecture reflects in the water, nicknamed “le Château des Dames”, as it was designed by the king’s mistress and his queen.
Chateau Villandry has the some of the most beautiful gardens in France including an ornamental kitchen garden, a romantic garden designed in 4 parterres (tender love, passionate love, inconstant love and tragical love.)
Overnight near the city of Tours.
DAY 2
Tours / Mont-Saint-Michel / Bayeux
From Tours, drive through the border regions of ‘Le Maine’ (capital town is Le Mans) to Normandy to visit the unique site of the 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 together and encircled by stone walls. At the top is the old abbey founded in 708 with its gothic marvel. During equinoxes, watch the highest tides in Europe rising with the speed of a running horse.
Overnight near Bayeux.
DAY 3
WW II Landing Beaches / Honfleur / Paris
Option : See the 11th century embroidered Bayeux Tapestry of Queen Mathilda in Bayeux, a 230 ft long work retracing William the Conqueror’s expedition to England in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry is a masterpiece of Romanesque art, which was probably commissioned by Bishop Odo, William the Conqueror’s half-brother, to embellish his newly-built cathedral in Bayeux in 1077.
At the WWII Landing Beaches, one of the most impressive sites in Normandy, is perhaps Pointe du Hoc where the 2nd battalion of specially trained Rangers, under the command of colonel James Earl Rudder, captured the position by assault at dawn on 6 June, scaling the cliffs with ropes and extendible ladders but not without heavy losses – 135 rangers out of 225, a tragic key action that aided the success of D-Day.
Continue to Omaha Beach to take in the Normandy American cemetery where 9,385 Carrara marble crosses stand aligned. A memorial, inscribed with a map of the operations stands in the central alley. The name “Omaha Beach”, which until 6 June 1944 existed only as an operational code name, has continued to jointly designate the beaches of three villages, Colleville, Saint-Laurent and Vierville, in memory of the soldiers of the 1st American division who landed there and suffered the heaviest casualties on D-Day. Your guide will drive and stop to show you some of the German bunkers and machine-gun nests.
On the way back to Paris, visit of the charming port in Honfleur on the Seine estuary, from where the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain and the founder of Louisiana, cavalier de la Salle set sail. It has inspired many famous painters such as Monet and his master Boudin and is considered as a cradle of the impressionism movement.
Return to Paris, end of our services.
THE PRICE PER PERSON INCLUDES:
- Transportation from and back to Paris by car or van up to 7 passengers
- A licensed English speaking guide
- 1 overnight stay in luxury 4-star castle-hotel
- 1 Overnight in a charming 3-star hotel near Bayeux, in a deluxe room
- 2 gourmet dinners (except beverages)
- 1 breakfasts buffet, 1 breakfast continental
- All the entrance fees to the monuments and museums mentioned in the program
- Single room supplement : $140.
NOT INCLUDED:
Lunches, personal expenses.