How should travellers plan Normandy and Mont-Saint-Michel?
Normandy works better when you separate the quick Paris extension from the slower car-based route. Mont-Saint-Michel, D-Day beaches, Bayeux, Rouen, Honfleur and Étretat need different pacing.
Answer
Normandy is easy to underestimate because the names sound close to Paris. Rouen can be a cleaner city escape; Bayeux works well for D-Day context; Honfleur and Étretat are coastal mood; Mont-Saint-Michel is its own timing puzzle. Trying to do all of that as a single day from Paris gives you mostly transport. A stronger Normandy trip chooses a base, accepts slower movement and decides whether the focus is history, coast, abbey, countryside or a mix. This is where a car or organised tour can matter more than the map suggests.