Getting to Caen from CDG with limited mobility traveler

Posted by lclement on 06/19/15 05:38 PM

Hoping I can get some advice from fellow travelers. I am arriving in Paris at CDG at 8:00 am on Monday, Sept 28th, after all night flying. There are five adults, one is 80 on a walker. We need to get to Caen that day. The four choices we seem to have are:

Rent a car at CDG and drive-this seems risky after an all- night flight, but may be less stressful than the other options
Take a train from CDG to Le Mans and transfer to Caen-this avoids going into Paris, but I do not know if the Le Mans station is easily navigated
Hire a car to take us to Lazare and take the high speed train direct to Caen-is Lazare easily navigated by someone with limited mobility, won't this take at least an hour driving?
Hire a driver to pick us up at CDG and drive us to Caen

If anyone has any suggestions, or other options, or experience with the train station in Le Mans, I would greatly appreciate it.

Posted by Kent

US Pacific Northwest

06/19/15 06:30 PM

10344 posts

The only personal experience I have with this subject is to have noticed that, even in 2015, French public transportation facilities are not as accessible as we are used to here.

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

06/19/15 07:02 PM

16893 posts

If you'll want the car for more of your visit around Normandy, then picking it up at CDG is an attractive option, but with some risk, as you say. Is there any chance that your designated driver can sleep on airplanes?

For info about the specific stations, explore these links:

http://www.gares-sncf.com/fr/gare/fraet/mans

http://www.gares-sncf.com/fr/gare/frpsl/paris-saint-lazare

Also, most train stations can offer boarding assistance to elderly and disabled passengers; see http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers and click on "Disability Access" on the left-hand side.

Posted by Philip

London, United Kingdom

06/19/15 10:52 PM

4684 posts

The only one I can talk about is Gare St Lazare. You're right that the only easy route from CDG to St Lazare for someone with limited mobility will be by taxi. Once you get to St Lazare it's a terminal station, so you can reach all the platforms from the entrance with no changes of level. Once you get to the train, though, French long-distance trains are high off the ground and the platforms are low. It's not uncommon to see elderly people being boosted or carried into trains. There will be staff on the platform but I have no personal experience of their helpfulness in that situation. Are the other adults capable of lifting the eighty-year-old?

Posted by lclement OP

06/19/15 11:51 PM

2 posts

Yes, we will have help, but how high off the platform are the trains? I haven't been able to find that information. Thank you.

Posted by Philip

London, United Kingdom

06/20/15 09:30 AM

4684 posts

Expect two or three steep steps up from the platform.

Posted by wayner

stevens point, wi, usa

06/21/15 08:42 PM

1189 posts

Hi,
I would rent a car. Spend a few hours between now and when you arrive at CDG to map out a way to get from CDG to Caen without entering Paris.

If memory serves me correctly...A1 to A86, to A14/E5...E5 to Rouen...turns onto A13 and shortly you are at Caen. I haven't driven all of this, but much is four lane, super-highway in good repair. Makes the roads in Wisconsin an embarrassment. Beware, the E5 is a tollway so you will need a chipped credit card OR lots of Euro coins. Also seems you pay the toll only once. You just keep driving...and at your end or when the tollroad ends you pay. Very convenient and fast. Stay in the right hand lane. Only passing in the left lane.

Then you will have the car in Caen...and outside Caen is Bayeaux, and the D-Day coast. Both are destinations are by nice more rural roads. And the French mostly do use turn signals, so make sure you do too.

A walker...and the ramps, stairways, escalators....mind the gaps...finding a seat. And the cost of it all compared to renting a car...And try Europcar. I have found them reliable and inexpensive. I love mass transit and use when ever it makes sense.

wayne iNWI