Normandy, 5 days, self-drive
Normandy pairs two things that don’t usually sit together in one trip: a genuinely moving stretch of WWII history along the D-Day beaches, and Mont Saint-Michel’s tidal-island silhouette, one of the most photographed sights in France for reasons that hold up in person.
Days 1–2: The D-Day Beaches
Base in Bayeux and cover Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, and Pointe du Hoc’s cratered clifftop in a single focused day with a guide who can walk you through the timeline properly — the scale is hard to grasp without context. Bayeux itself, spared from WWII bombing, has a genuinely intact medieval core and the 900-year-old Bayeux Tapestry.
Days 3–4: Mont Saint-Michel
Stay overnight nearby rather than day-tripping — the abbey empties out after the last tour buses leave around 5pm, and seeing it lit up against the tide at night (check tide tables; the bay’s tidal range is among the largest in Europe) is a different experience entirely from the midday crowds.
Day 5: Honfleur
Finish in Honfleur’s slate-fronted harbour, the town that drew Monet and the Impressionists before Paris did — smaller and calmer than Normandy’s history-heavy sites, a good decompression before heading home.