Hi, We're going to be flying into Orly Airport from Naples in October and going directly to Caen to visit Normandy. We plan to rent a car and I'm wondering whether it would be better to rent it at the airport and then drive north, or take a train to Caen and rent one there. Is it difficult to find your way out of the airport by car?
Extra info: I've driven in France before and I speak French passably well.
Thanks!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11881 posts
What time of day and what day of the week is your arrival at Orly?
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
Finding your way out of Orly is not too hard if you follow signs for Versailles. You do have to stay focused since you'll need to navigate a couple of interchanges, but they're no more complicated than their US counterparts if you follow the signs.
The main difficulty - hence the question above - is the traffic, it can take a while to cross the Paris metro area in the morning and evening rush hours on weekdays (7.30-9.30; 17.30-20.00).
However... reaching Gare Saint Lazare from Orly for the train to Caen takes a while as well, a cab can take over an hour in traffic, and public transport can be very crowded at rush hour, so I would rather drive from Orly whatever the time of the day.
Posted by
OP
South Puget Sound
33 posts
Our flight arrives at 9:40 am on a Friday.
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
So by the time you're off the plane and in the car, the roads should be clear! I see no reason not to drive from Orly, then, since you won't be jet lagged (although you will have woken up early, so do take breaks along the way).
Posted by
OP
South Puget Sound
33 posts
Renting at Orly it is, then! Thank you so much for your comments. They were very helpful!
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
Additional tip if I may: if you are worried about directions, before the trip plot the route on Google Maps and use Google Street View on key junctions (checking how recent the views are, but most of France is very up to date). I prefer to rely on my visual memory than on GPS so I do this pretty often.