Driving out of paris

I think you can always do it. I like to pack a GPS with European maps. Alternatively, you can train outside of Paris to a smaller town and plan to pick the car there.

I've done it once with a GPS and once without. Both times I scouted the route first and my wife helped with map and navigation. If you study the map and plan carefully you should be OK. Via Michelin is a good route-planning tool. Google Earth and its "street view" feature can help you "eyeball" key routes and intersections before you start. Learn what the road signs mean. Here's some useful driving info from this website. Getting out of the city, it would help to avoid the busiest traffic times early and late in the day. It'll be an adventure and you'll feel like an expert once you get out of town!

Thanks people, I appreciate insights

A few years ago we rented a car to drive from Paris to Honfleur, Bayeux, MSM, and others and returning to Paris from Chartres. We rented a car from an agency (might have been Budget or Alamo) located in Neuilly Sur Seine on the outskirts of Paris. We took the metro and the station was just across the street. There was easy access to leave the city, though we did have to drive a few blocks towards central Paris and make a U turn to leave the city, and easier access to return the car to the same location. The only issue we had was the amount of traffic as we returned. It took almost an hour longer than we expected but we still managed to return the car on time.

Felicia, have you ever driven in Europe before? Will you have someone to help you navigate?

On this old thread, Ed gives some ideas about driving out of Paris, enough to make it sound doable. But I wouldn't start there if you've never driven in Europe at all.

I have driven just as far as necessary into Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and other European cities, but avoided driving in either Paris or Rome. This fall, I chose to pick up a car at Rome Termini Station and drove straight out of town to the east. Planning the route using www.viamichelin.com, I could see that I didn't have to spend long on city streets before reaching the main ring road and highway access. Good thing, since the short route within the city featured Italy's famous multiple-lanes-without-lane-markings ;-)