Customs time at CDG? Will I have time to take the train to Bayeux?

Barring the unusual this should be plenty of time. Take a taxi to St. Lazare -- it will cost 53 Euro. If your luggage is easy to manage on stairs, you could certainly take the train. The rule of thumb is 4 hours to be almost certain of making a Paris train; of course the unexpected can make any connection the same day a risk -- but almost always even if your plane is a little late, you would be able to make this train. WE average about an hour to the taxi line and about an hour to town (although St. Lazare is a lot closer than where we usually travel) The longest we have waited in immigration was about 2 hours, but as noted, we average about an hour from landing to cab line. You will probably have time for a leisurely lunch at or near the station and have time to kill.

It can be done assuming your flight arrives at CDG on time. I myself would stay the night in Paris, not that after the 11 hour flight I am against taking a multi-hour train ride, have done just that a few times too but in Germany.

I take the RER B to Gare du Nord, the hotel is across the street. The next morning after rush hour I would take the Metro to St Lazare, most likely still crowded, for Bayeux.

If you do choose to spend the night in Paris, which Metro or train station is nearest to you hotel?

Thanks for your replies. I have scheduled an all day D Day beaches tour for the following Saturday, and need to be back by Monday by 2:30 -3 to meet up with my RS tour group in Paris. I haven't yet booked any hotels on my own, but the RS tour group will stay at the Hotel Duquesne Eiffel, 23 Avenue Duquesne. I have read so many scary things about the metro that I wanted to use a taxi or uber to get to the Gare Saint Lazare, and from the Gare Saint Lazare to the Hotel Duquesne Eiffel on Monday.

To Fred, Thanks. I expect to be tired after an 11 hour flight from SFO, and that is why I am debating whether to stay in Paris the first night. Are German trains better than French trains? I have taken the train from southern Spain to Madrid and it was great and easy. The Gare du Nord looks overwhelming! How overwhelming is it? French/European travel is new to me.

I feel very strongly that overnighting in Paris is a mistake. Use that first crappy travel day to get to your destination and your hotel will probably be ready when you get there. Hotels usually have rooms available at 3 or 4 pm so if you stayed in Paris you end up having to hang around waiting for a room. Just write off that day and use it for logistics. That way you hit the ground rested the next day in Bayeux and don't chowder another day with logistics.

You have nearly 5 hours, I would probably book the train for 3 rather than 4 or just wait until you get to St. Lazare to book and take the next train. It is quite possible you would be ready for a train by 1:30 (I wouldn't reserve that early but you are late enough that you aren't going to get early booking breaks, so just getting the tickets on arrival would make sense). You might get through immigration in 20 minutes; if you have carry on you could be in the cab line a half hour after landing and at the train by 1 pm -- you would never plan on that, but it is possible with luck. More typically you would be in the cab line at 12:30 and at St. Lazare by 1:15 or so and on the train at 1:30. Again you don't book ahead that tight because stuff happens -- the plane is half an hour or an hour late, or luggage is slow or the lines are long. But you solve that by buying the train ticket on arrival.

@ dabrar....Fantastic that you're flying out of SFO. You are new to traveling in Europe and after the 11 hr. flight, take the taxi to the hotel. Plus, you might be jet lagged, unless you know do not get jet lag after a trans-Atlantic flight.

I don't get jet lag upon arrival since I can sleep for several hours on the flight. I pick the hotel in Gare du Nord because I am totally used to the place and it has two basic advantages: the RER B from CDG stops there as well as the EuroStar from London. Another advantage is that I can just walk over to Gare de l'Est to catch the trains to Germany....all very convenient.

@ debrar....Gare du Nord can be overwhelming since it is big and very busy. Take the usual security precautions. If you do take the RER to Nord, you go up the steps to reach the ground floor to exit. The signs are in French and English, at Gare de l'Est German is also included in the signs. (tri-lingual)

If you're going, however, by taxi to Gare St Lazare with luggage in tow, much easier. I've never been there with luggage as my trips to Bayeux and Caen were always done as day trips from Paris.

I'm not familiar with hotels around Gare St Lazare if you take a taxi there from CDG. That sets you up for the morning ride Paris to Bayeux. I would buy the ticket to Bayeux the night before after check-in at a hotel near St. Lazare. The tickets don't set out, and no reservations allowed since it is a regional train (TER).

Spend the first day in Paris, relax after the SFO flight. The next morning take the train, you'll be in Bayeux by noon or so, just in time for lunch.

On the French and German trains: Like in France the German regional trains (RB and RE) don't allow reservations. I would say the ICE train is more comfortable than the TGV with regards to back support and leg space. If your TGV is more than 2 hours, get a 1st class reservation, worth the extra bit of money.

I always recommend people use the RoissyBus to get to Gare Saint-Lazare. It leaves from right outside of arrivals at CDG, costs €13.70 per person, and drops you off right next to the Opera Garnier—which is a 7-minute walk to the train station. You don't have to make connections (i.e., RER to Metro), you don't have to go up and down stairs or elevators, and you actually get to see the city on your way in rather than tunneling underground. It is really quite civilized. Whatever you choose, keep in mind that buses and taxis can use certain lanes in traffic that Über drivers cannot. So depending on traffic, this can speed things along. Plus, buses and taxis have fixed fares that you can count on ahead of time, with no "surge" pricing, or variable rates.

https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passengers/access/paris-charles-de-gaulle/public-transport/roissybus

Janettravels has given you excellent advice for a stressless transfer to St. Lazare that will get you to Bayeux for the evening and a good night's sleep. You'll be able to wake up the next day, refreshed, in the lovely town of Bayeux and start your vacation.

There is no reason for you to stay in a hotel in a neighborhood that's not near the Gare Saint Lazare.
I'm a fan of the Roissybus, which is good if you are staying in Paris and not trying to get to Bayeux as quickly as possible. To get to the Gare Saint Lazare, you would have to navigate at mid-day some of the most crowded sidewalks in Paris, those in front of the Galeries Lafayette and the Printemps department stores, or take narrow rue Mogador to get to the station. There are times it's okay to splurge and take a taxi door-to-door to lessen any hassle.
Bon voyage.

I agree with Janet and Bets -- there is no reason to spend the night near Gare du Nord when your destination is Bayeux.

One critical element of this : Paris has fixed taxi rates from the airport to the city. From CDG to Gare St Lazare, it's 53€. Whether you're stuck in traffic for hours, or whether you zip right through. So that eliminates one sense of worry.

[Removed section with information that was wrong - Balso has provided correction below]

So instead of hanging around the Gare du Nord neighborhood, and wondering where to eat dinner etc, you can do as Janet and Bets have described : make your way to Bayeux, check in your hotel and have a nice couple of hours to get settled and stroll, then have a nice calm dinner. The next morning, you wake up where you want to be.

Unfortunately the following is not true anymore:

Secondly, since the ticket to Bayeux is a regional train (TER), there is no price advantage to buying early, nor any price penalty for buying on-the-spot. You just go to the train station and take the next train that is available for your destination.

Reservations are now (since 2020/2021) mandatory on that route and you do get a nice advance discount if you book early.
Thankfully there are many trains and they will not be full on a Thursday in September, so you can still wing it and buy a full-price ticket at the station. It will cost about 45€ instead of usually 15-25€ for the discount tickets.

But if you were travelling, say, on a Saturday in summer, I would have recommended that you buy a ticket beforehand.

Oops - thanks Balso. I will delete that part of my comment. Please keep your explanation posted though !!

I'll go with Janet, Bets, and Kim (who have never been wrong as far as I know) in recommending the taxi straight to Gare St-Lazare and the train to Bayeux. I think the convenience is well worth the added cost, especially for a first-time traveler. Whether to reserve for the train to Bayeux or just get your ticket when you get to GSL is a question of cost vs. risk avoidance. If it were my trip I'd wait to buy till I got to the station, so no stress about making a particular train and no need to hang around the station unnecessarily. I think Janet's advice to devote that arrival day to getting as far as you can on your itinerary is generally good, and especially makes sense in a situation like yours.

I'd also like to suggest that you take the Metro once you're settled in Paris. It's fast, inexpensive, and as safe as any big city transit system. Pickpockets will be an issue anywhere you go in Paris, including the Metro. Here's a lot of good common-sense advice about minimizing that kind of risk.

Thanks again for everyone's wonderful, knowledgeable and helpful replies. I carefullly read and think about each reply that I have received - and I appreciate each person who took the time to share their knowledge. Merci beaucoup. Does anyone know of any really good instructions and tips for how to use the train at Gare Saint Lazare? The 13:40 train out of Saint Lazare would be great but has a transfer in Caen, so I wondered if there are any tips for transfers too.

How reliable are the trains? On the following Monday, I need to be at a hotel in Paris that is 4 km from Gare Saint Lazare by 3 pm to meet my tour group. I would like to take the train that leaves Bayeux at 11:38 and arrives Gare Saint Lazare at 14:16, but if there is a possiblity that the train will be late or cancelled, I could take the 9:39 that arrives at 12:16. Any comments appreciated, thank you to all again.

debrar,

I took the train from St. Lazare to Bayeux on June 14th, 2022, direct train with only 1 stop in Caen. Bought the ticket on SNCF website May 14th with reserved seat, 2nd class, Semi-flex ticket, $64.40 euro round trip to Bayeux and back. Ticket exchangeable (adjusted to current price) and refundable free of change up to 1 day before departure. Refundable with a 50% retention fee from one day before departure until departure (maximum retention fee of €12). Non-exchangeable and non-refundable after train departure
My train departed 12:59 PM, Paris St Lazare, 2hours 17min, TRAIN NOMAD No. 3313, scheduled arrival 3:16 PM Bayeux.
SNCF website for tomorrow Sept 2nd, shows direct trains at 7:59, 8:59, 10:59, 12:59, 2:59, 3:58, 4:59, 5:59, 6:59, 7:59, 8:59PM. Recommend using the SNCF app.

My trip, arrived CDG at 8:30 AM, went through passport check, picked up checked bag, walked to train station office to get Navigo pass. At 10:15 rode the Roissy bus from the airport to the Opera area. Bus took 1 hr 15min, broken A/C in the bus, not enjoyable. For a first timer in Paris, take a Taxi. Arrived at 11:30, the streets of Paris can be very busy and hectic. GPS helped me walk to the St. Lazare station, arrived just before noon. The SNCF office was next to platform 27 at the far end. They have monitors showing the train numbers, the final destination along with the platform number. Keep in mind you won't see the platform number you need until ~10 min before the train departs. The trains to Bayeux are listed with final destination Cherbourg.

Finally the monitor shows my train is at platform 17, went through the turnstile between the platforms using the ticket bar code on my phone. The train left exactly at 12:59, very smooth ride in air conditioned comfort. There was a brief 10min delay for traffic? Return trip on June 17th to St. Lazare left on time at 12:29, arrived at 3:20PM.

Commenting on this question:

How reliable are the trains? On the following Monday, I need to be at a hotel in Paris that is 4 km from Gare Saint Lazare by 3 pm to meet my tour group. I would like to take the train that leaves Bayeux at 11:38 and arrives Gare Saint Lazare at 14:16, but if there is a possiblity that the train will be late or cancelled, I could take the 9:39 that arrives at 12:16. Any comments appreciated, thank you to all again.

Take the 9:39. Even if the 11:38 is perfectly on time, you'd need at least 30 minutes to cover those 4 km from St Lazare to your hotel, and more if you need to buy metro tickets, or deal with metro transfers.
Much better to enjoy lunch in Paris!

And regarding reliability: massive delays are rare, but 15-30 minute delays are very common due to the heavy train traffic outside Paris (capacity increase works are ongoing...).