Itinerary Details
Abercrombie & Kent: Tailor Made France: Paris & Normandy
Day 1 PARIS, FRANCE
Upon arrival at Paris airport, you are met by your Guardian Angel and transferred by private vehicle to your hotel.
Relais Christine
Meals:
Day 2 PARISKnown as the City of Light, Paris boasts some of the most famous landmarks and museums in the world. Get your bearings with an orientation tour and drive past sights such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées and the Ile de la Cité. Here you pause to view the exterior of beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece that has become one of the world’s most recognizable places of worship, as they work to rebuild following the tragic fire of 2019. Your afternoon is free to roam the city, soaking up its unique atmosphere and style.
Relais Christine
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3 VERSAILLESSituated to the southwest of Paris, Versailles is the location of the huge palace that was constructed in the 17th century for Louis XIV, the Sun King. It became the model for grand houses of royalty all over Europe. Take a tour of the opulent State Apartments that culminate in the magnificent Gallery of Mirrors. You may like to stroll in the formal ornamental gardens that are embellished with many fountains, and see the Grand Canal that stretches into the distance across the park.
Relais Christine
Meals: Breakfast
Day 4 GIVERNYJoin your English-speaking driver-guide for your transfer to Port-en-Bessin. Along the way, visit Giverny to see the house and gardens that inspired Monet. The house is decorated in the original color schemes Monet admired, with the famous Japanese bridge and water lily pond immortalized by the artist still to be seen in the gardens. Also stop in Honfleur, a delightful port town, where yachts now replace the smugglers’ boats once common here, in one of the most painted and photographed harbors in the world. Visit the impressive Saint Catherine’s Church, France’s largest timber-built church as well as the numerous galleries that line the streets.
Château La Chenevière
Meals: Breakfast
Day 5 NORMANDYThe numerous monuments and memorials in the Normandy coastal area bear witness to the fierce fighting that took place here during and after the D-Day Landings of World War II. Spend the day exploring the American Sector to visit some of the most important sites of this pivotal point in the war. Start inland at the strategically important Sainte-Mère-Église, where the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions parachuted in to help the village become one of the first in France to be liberated. Further eastward along the coast is the sector known as Omaha Beach, also captured by invading American forces, and where you examine several sites from both the German and U.S. perspectives. Learn about Operation Aquatint, a failed 1942 British raid on the area. Your day ends with a poignant visit to the U.S. Military Cemetery and Interpretation Center at Colleville-sur-Mer, the final resting place of over 9,300 U.S. soldiers, located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach.
Château La Chenevière
Meals: Breakfast
Day 6 MONT SAINT-MICHELVisit one of France's most recognizable landmarks, Mont Saint-Michel, a village perched on a tidal island located in the mouth of the River Couesnon. Surrounded by water and sand flats, the granite outcrop is crowned by an abbey that took more than 500 years to construct. Legend has it that Archangel Michael appeared to the Bishop of Avranches in 708, inspiring him to build it here. Explore the steep, narrow, cobblestone streets and climb over 350 steps to reach the abbey, whose spire towers more than 500 feet above the surrounding bay.
Château La Chenevière
Meals: Breakfast
Day 7 PARISReturn to Paris for an afternoon and evening at leisure, free to relax or explore on your own.
Relais Christine
Meals: Breakfast
Day 8 PARISAfter breakfast, transfer to the airport and depart.
Meals: Breakfast
