week alone with 16 yo daughter in France

[meshuggeneh]

I am so excited - I'm going to have a week alone with my 16 year old DD in June. We live overseas and going back to UK but DD is continuing with French in 6th form and wanted to spend some time in France to practice a bit so we're flying there first before the rest of the family as she finsihes her GCSES early in June and they will then meet us in Paris.
This is really special for me to get time alone with DD as she's usually hanging out with her friends on in her room.
She's pretty laidback about what we do but wants some time in Paris. She's not the most outdoorsy but will do some outdoor stuff.
I'm thinking the following intinerary
Day 1: Arrive and take TGV to Tours (or another Loire valley town?)
Day 2: Do stuff in Loire valley (TBD)
Day 3: As day 2, travel to Normandy - Caen?
Day 4- Normandy stuff (St Malo, Normandy beaches, Bayeux tapestry)
Day 5 - as day 4, travel to Paris
Day 6- Paris
Day 7 - Paris
Day 8 - Rest of family arrive, Paris
Day 9 - Paris with family
(then on day 10 we go to Disneyland before going to UK - that's already booked)
Any thoughts? Different ideas? OPen to suggestions!

It doesn't sound very 'yay, GCSEs are finished, another milestone reached, look at me'
I loved my trip with dd to Rome, Florence and Venice after her GCSEs.
And we've just recently done Nice, Monaco, Menton, San Remo which she loved. I'd get the TGV to Nice, the coast bus is quite good for getting about.

I'm not sure Nice would be our thing. We have lots of gorgeous beaches and hot weather where we live. But I can suggest to DD and see what she thinks.

St Malo isn't Normandie, it is Brittany but yes I highly recommend it. From there you can go to Dinard where there is a cool market.
You can then go to the next door villages St Briac and Saint Lunaire and do a fantastic coastal walk.

How are you getting around - all public transport?

I would do Paris and one other place, personally. Normandy, Brittany and the Loire all have different advantages. If she likes chateaux/stately homes, then definitely the Loire. If she likes beaches and history but won’t be devastated if the weather is unpredictable, Normandy might be a good option. But I don’t know how good the public transport is for either of these.

Reims is another option - superb cathedral, champagne houses (though she might be a bit young for that) and not too far from Paris.

On public transport, Nice is a really good shout. It’s very easy to get around on buses and trains to places like Monaco. But it feels like quite a distance to combine with Paris.

Mostly public transport but can hire a car if needed

Day 4- Normandy stuff (St Malo, Normandy beaches, Bayeux tapestry)

That's quite a lot to do in one day unless you hire a car (and as a PP pointed out - St Malo is actually in Brittany!). You could do it if your DD is happy to get up early. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Caen, which was bombed flat in WWII, so the only thing there worth seeing is the castle. I'd probably head to Bayeux on Day 3, hit the tapestry in the late afternoon, then hire a car on the morning of Day 4 and head straight to Arromanches. You could hit Arromanches 360 and/or the Musée du Débarquement, the battery at Longues-sur-Mer, the US cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer and Omaha Beach. Then have a quick lunch and scoot off to St Malo in time to explore and spend the night there.

So Dd has thrown me a curve ball. Apparently she wants to visit Bordeaux! I asked her what she wants to do there but she said she doesn't know, she's just heard good things about it 😏
I saw the tgv is only 2 hours from Paris so doable I think.
Any advice on Bordeaux and environs? Bit surprised by this one!!

I took a 13yo to Paris. She LOVED the catacombs.

Depending on how old your other kids are this might be one to do just you and her. Also a nice afternoon tea type thing. The default is Angelina's but the service I got the last time I went was so shit I'll never go back.

Idk your dates, but if you do end up heading to Loire, bear in mind the TT races will be happening in Tours in June.

You need at least 2/3 days to fit in what you have planned for day 4.
St Malo will take at least half a day and if you eat there longer. Mont St Michael will take all day and it's a steep climb up that hill. Lovely little shops all the way up.

Idea was to spread the activities over days 4 and 5 in Normandy/Brittany, not all in one day.

But now DD wants Boredeaux!

We did the catacombs in Paris when DD was much younger. She wants to go back as I raced them through parts of it!

So I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and tell you that there isn't a train line between Tours and Caen.
The best thing to do would be to go to Paris, go to the Loire as planned, then take the train from Tours to Bordeaux if that is what she wants to do. Bordeaux is fine. Big city. But there is no point in going if you are going to Paris, it's not that different, it's just less. It's like going to London then going to Leeds. Fine. I like Leeds, no offence to Leeds, but that instead of the Mont St Michel and the Bayeux tapestry doesn't make sense.
I really don't know what @Weatherwax13 is referring to and I have had a google and I think they must be mistaken.

You can get train to Bordeaux from Paris and its 2 hours 15 mins so very doable and weather should be warmer. You can do classic car tours like this:

https://www.bordeauxclassiccars.fr/

Thanks for the insights!
So dd has no particular reason to go to Bordeaux other than she's heard good things 😅 Really random
I was looking and I also didn't think it the most exciting place to go and persuaded Dd that there are better places.
So new change.
Now we mgith get TGV down south, perhaps Nimes? And then we can explore around - from Monpellier to Avignon to Marseille. Maybe even get the lavender fields beginning at end of June.
We can do public transport to the cities and car hire if we go to smaller towns and countryside.
Would that be a good plan?