driving from Paris to Normandy and back to Gare du Nord

If you want to do as little driving as possible in Paris, have you considered taking the train from Paris to Caen and renting a car and returning it there? You'll have to get from Gare du Nord to Gare St. Lazare in Paris to get the train but that is not more difficult than driving from Gare du Nord to the highway or getting to the outskirts of Paris from Gare du Nord to pick up a rental so you avoid driving in Paris.

We picked up a car from Orly for our drive to Normandy. No city driving at all. You get on the freeway right away.

For returning the car, Gare du Nord isn’t far from the Blvd Peripherique. So not much city driving involved. I would look for a return location on the north side of the city in that area. If you choose to return the car at the station, use google maps to see the streets you would be driving.

I prefer JHKs idea of taking a train from Gare St Lazare to Caen and picking up/dropping the car there. Then train back to Gare St Lazare and make your way to Gare du Nord for the Eurostar. Likely to be cheaper too, than driving all the way.

I know the answer to this may be obvious, but since you are a new poster and we dont know your travel history - you arent trying to do all this in one day, right?

Going to Normandy you need to get to Gare St Lazare. Take bus #26 from Nord to Gare St Lazare, no need for the metro.

Then take the train St. Lazare to Caen where you get the rental car.

Do we know that the OP needs to get from Gare du Nord to Gare St Lazare ?

I didn't see that in their message.

Kim, no we dont. Just that they need to get to Gare St Lazare from wherever they will be in Paris.

I guess I was't clear in my post. We plan to spend time driving to Normandy and stopping on the way there and back. I know the advantages of taking the train. We have rented a car in Paris before and I don"t want to drive in Paris if possible. Last time we had to drive around the Arch de Triumph, no fun. I'm not afraid of traffic I''m from NY and drive in traffic all the time. My question is what is the best place to rent a car for easy access to the roads going to normandy.

If you do not want to drive at all within the city limits of Paris at all, then consider getting your car from La Defense. It is west of the city and you can easily get on A-14. Orly and maybe even CDG are possibilities as well and have the benefit of you being able to take a fixed rate taxi to and from Paris even if they are slightly out of the way when traveling from Gare du Nord to Normandy. If you are willing to drive five to 10 easy minutes in the city, pick up the car from a location west of the Arc d'Triomphe. There are lots of places where you can get a rental car and avoid Paris. The most convenient depends on where you are headed in Normandy.