Two travelers considering renting a car to go to Champagne for the day. Yes, I know train is easy and that will be our back up but I want to go a little farther afield and thinking about a car rental instead.
I am having trouble finding a car rental location in central Paris (not airports) which is open at 7 or 8am AND with automatic cars. Does anyone know of one I should research?
There is no time to take the bus to the airport for rental because we want to be in Reims for Mass at 9:30am.
I think that the train stations would be the most likely locations for an automatic. Maybe you could rent the day before? You might also have problems with your return though - finding an office that's open late for your drop off.
I wonder if you can rent an automatic in Reims?
Several Hertz city (non-station) locations are open at 8:00 am on weekends. Opening hours are listed on the Hertz website. I did a one-day rental from the Carrousel du Louvre location last November. The rental office closes in the afternoon on Sundays, but you can return the car any time as long as the parking garage is still open (10:00 pm or so). I rented a manual, but a quick check shows that location also has automatics.
Note that the requirement is not only for an automatic, but also for 7 or 8 am and on Sunday. I think you will have a difficulty.
If you can't get to the airport I think that it may be a tall order.
If you do not want to go the airport, I think that you should consider renting the car at the end of the day on Saturday and pay to park it overnight in Paris. If you get to a car rental place at 8 AM or even 7:00, there is no guarantee that you will be ready to go at a time that will guarantee your arrival in Reims by 9:30. That's a 90 minute drive with no traffic for a person who knows the route. And then there is the possibility that no automatics are available when you actually arrive to pick up the car. There is a Hertz/Thrifty car rental in Gare du Nord that I think is open by 7 or 7:30 on Sundays and they may have automatics. Have you put your requirements into AutoEurope? And you do not have to take a bus to the airport, you can always get up early and take a taxi.
Paris to Reims by car is 1:43, while CDG to Reims is 1:37. To not only be in Reims, but with the car parked and in the pew for a 9:30 service, you have to leave by 7:15-7:30. The TGV is an hour. You can check the times on viamichelin.com.
And Paris-Reims by TGV is only 45 minutes.
If you're determined to be there for mass at 9:30, I agree that your option (besides taking the train direct to the center of town in much less time than it takes to drive) is to rent the car on Saturday afternoon/evening and park it overnight. Given the rarity of places open on Sunday morning, your need for an automatic, the early hour of when you want to be there, and the nearly 2 hours it takes to get there on the road, picking up a car on Sunday morning is just not going to work (unless you want to haul out to the airport, and then you're adding another 30-40 minutes on to your journey to Reims). Don't forget the time it takes as well at the car rental place to fill out the forms, them to go find the car, etc etc etc.
