Le Harve to Paris --- Decisions Decisions - suggestions needed

[lawblond7]

We are taking a 14 day British Isle Cruise that includes a stop at Le Harve. There will be 6 of us My husband and myself (51,52), my mom (75) and my 3 boys twins (18 and oldest 21).

 

I have been to Paris several times (but not in last 20 years) as has my mom. However, neither my husband nor my boys have been.

 

Now the dilemma. I know it is 2 1/2 hours each way to Paris (we did this type trip when we cruised to Berlin stopped in Rostock. We really enjoyed that excursion but having been to Paris several times I am not sure that Paris can be enjoyed in that short of a time. BUT my 3 boys all have a genetic metabolic disease and we have a motto to live life to its fullest so as we try to show them the world I want them to experience as much as possible and not sure if we will get back to Paris in the near future.

 

Hence the dilemma. We will be at Mon, Aug 10 Le Havre (Paris), France 7:00AM 9:00PM. So do we go to Paris and do an overview (boys so want to see the Eiffel Tower) or do Normandy (they all love History too). The boys want to do Paris but I am debating how much it will take out of them

 

So PLEASE looking for opinions for those who have done Paris from Le Harve and what you did and if you liked it and would recommend it or against it.

 

Also tour company suggestions. We will need a private tour for 6 because of a wheelchair and the like.

 

Thanks in advance all

 

Sharon

[cruisingmimi]

Hi Sharon,

We did a transatlantic cruise docking in LeHavre in Dec. 2012. I was going round and round about what to do in that port. We really wanted to go to Paris as we had not been there before. There were 3 of us (myself, DH & my sister) so I started researching going to Paris the day we were docked. We were docked 7 am to 9 pm, the same as your cruise. I posted on these boards and got 5 other people willing to share a tour. I then found a private tour guide that picked us up at the dock (as soon as we got cleared to disembark) which was about 7:30 am and our guide met us on the dock in his minivan. Off we went to Paris. We arrived Paris about 10 am just as the clouds were disappearing and the sun coming out! What a glorious day we had there. The tour guide gave us a suggested itinerary and we let him do the planning. We saw all on our bucket list: Montmarte (had a short stop here to visit the beautiful church); Notre Dame Cathedral (driver dropped us off and we entered the church for a quick visit, it was not crowded so we were able to go thru the church fairly quickly; drive by of the known attractions - Moulin Rouge; a nice park where we did a brief stop; and many other places. We really wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower so I bought tickets for 5 of us before we left home. We had an assigned time of 1 pm so the driver dropped us off and showed us where to get in line. We had about an 1.5 hr. ascent/descent to top. It was amazing - we loved seeing Paris at the top! Slots fill up quickly so you need to pre-order tickets before you leave home. August would be a very high tourist time.

 

The guide we used does not drive to LeHavre any more as it is too long a drive in a day - he has to make 4 long trips to/from to do this. He does still do tour guiding in Paris and I highly recommend him. He is wonderful! The nice thing was that we could ride in his van to the different sites and he would stop and let us view the sites so not so tiresome for you.

 

I have listed the taxi company that is based right at the LeHavre port and they do trips to Paris. I contacted them for info. Christophe Dallet was the contact person for info. He was quick to respond to my emails. I did ask if they had English speaking drivers and he said yes. However, they would not be tour guides but drivers only so you would have to plan what you would like to see, etc. and let them know. It would probably be an expensive day if you wanted to do this. I don't remember exact amount but it would probably be around E600 for the taxi drive.

 

contact@radiotaxi-lehavre.com

contact: christophe.dallet@orange.fr

 

http://www.radiotaxi-lehavre.com

 

http://www.label-west.fr/en

 

The above label west site did do tours to Paris. You could send an inquiry but I remember they were expensive.

 

The thing to remember is you have to be very aware of the time and the almost 3 hrs. to/from Paris so you get back to your ship before sailaway. We were back at the port by 7 pm because I didn't want to miss the ship. If you wanted to try the train that would be another suggestion. You could book the guide I used to pick you up at the train station and take you around. We had 5 hr. in Paris and we did get to see everything we wanted to. It is a very tiring day but we certainly were glad we did the trip.

 

The other suggestion would be to take the ship's bus transportation to Paris and then do your own touring. You could do the same tours we did w/ our driver and take the bus back to the ship. This might work best for you w/ your family.

 

Hope this helps. Please let me know if I can give you any other info. Everybody will say it is too far to go to Paris but many people do make the trip. In my eyes, worth every penny and time spent! Good luck and have a wonderful cruise. I am sure your boys will enjoy.

 

Mary

[Tiggertastic]

Thank you for all your helpful info. We have 7am to 10pm and have been trying to work out how best to do this

[Pet Nit Noy]

We are taking a 14 day British Isle Cruise that includes a stop at Le Harve. There will be 6 of us My husband and myself (51,52), my mom (75) and my 3 boys twins (18 and oldest 21).

 

We really enjoyed that excursion but having been to Paris several times I am not sure that Paris can be enjoyed in that short of a time... do we go to Paris and do an overview (boys so want to see the Eiffel Tower) or do Normandy (they all love History too). The boys want to do Paris but I am debating how much it will take out of them

 

Very complicated issue. I understand your philosophy of wringing the most out of each experience, but that's just it. I think you WILL be able to do that with the D-Day beaches as your destination but you WON'T even come close to scratching the surface if Paris were to be your choice.

 

With the distances involved, you'll probably be able to go up the Eiffel Tower (You will have bought your tickets in advance!) and drive through the streets of Paris. I wouldn't find it visit very satisfying to drive past Notre Dame or the Louvre or Sainte Chappelle or, or , or.

 

I highly recommend Ed Robinson, the owner/guide with Battle of Normandy Private Tours. Here's what my husband wrote about our time with Ed: "His depth of knowledge was extraordinary and his communication skills were great... Ed has a strong and fun personality, oftentimes irreverent. This was just fine for my wife an me, but some individuals could be turned off by his manner. If you enjoy engaging with and sometimes sparring with tour guides, Ed is your man. If you prefer a more straightforward, and deferential tour experience, you might want to choose someone else" (I'll add that there's never a moment where he is disrespectful of the men who courageously participated in the invasion, but he is far less respectful of any commander whose reputation far exceeds his actual achievements.)

 

Ed is very, very good with groups that represent a challenge. My husband is almost blind and Ed gave us a touch tour of the bunkers, putting 70-year old bullets in the holes to show the angle of the allies approach and the type of ordnance used to destroy the bunkers. Now, having praised Ed only a fraction of the praise he really deserves, I have to warn you that he really doesn't work with cruise passengers. We were visiting Normandy as independent land travelers and, in fact, spent two days touring the invasion area with Ed. I'm mentioning his name because for your boys' sake, I'm hoping he'll make an exception. (Ed normally drives people in his own car, but your group will require a van with driver. Perhaps that will work in your favor if you have your driver pick you up in Le Harve and meet Ed where he specifies for the time on the battlefields.)

 

If Ed is not available, I know many cruisers have enjoyed guides booked through Overlord Day Tours. The reviews of Overlord on Trip Advisor might mention some specific guides who seem suited to the unique challenges of your group.

 

If you have a good guide for the D-Day beaches, you certainly won't feel like you're settling! Besides, on the issue of wearing out your sons, the walk over the terrain of the beaches and bunkers will be demanding enough. Incidentally, there are some very well paved paths at the landing zones for your wheel-chair user, but those paths do not allow complete access.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Pet Nit Noy]

Thank you for all your helpful info. We have 7am to 10pm and have been trying to work out how best to do this

 

You appear to be a different poster from the OP. Since you're from Yorkshire, UK, I'm sincerely confused why you're not making a separate trip to Paris and staying as long as you like. You could take the train from Yorkshire to London. Then, you could take the Eurostar across the Channel from the St. Pancras to the Paris Nord Station.

 

I can understand the temptation to travel to Paris for a US cruiser who doesn't expect to be back in France any time in the forseeable future, but I'm somewhat puzzled that a Yorkshire resident appears to be facing the same issue.