Hello - we are planning a trip with an overnight flight from the U.S. to Paris CDG in early October. We arrive at 7:30 am. Hoping to be able to hop on a train from the CDG airport that very morning so we can arrive in Antwerp before late afternoon. It seems many trains from Paris Gare du Nord station to Antwerp involve one transfer in Brussels, although Eurostar also offers direct routes.
I have looked through this forum and others and it is recommended to buy tickets in advance, but it is difficult to know which ticket to buy at what hour of departure because it is hard to know how long it will take to get through customs at CDG, and then how long it would take to get to Gare du Nord from CDG airport, etc. The standard traveler conundrum. (I am also shocked at the prices - but that's for another discussion.)
Has anyone on this forum made this journey recently? Any insight you could give? We are two relatively fit adults (senior citizens though we are) and will be traveling light with just one carry-on bag each. We can "hurry" through a train station or airport to make a train, but probably not "sprint."
Thank you in advance.