Hello! My poor dear husband is leaving in a few days to rush to a family emergency in India. Thanks to limited choice of affordable airfare, on his way back home he will have a 16+ hour layover in Paris from about 5:30 in the evening until about 10:30 the next morning.
Any ideas to turn this lemon into lemonade? Should he just stay close to the airport, or head into Paris proper for a good meal and...? Is there any sights he could see that evening?
I'd book a room by Gare du Nord, or elsewhere on the RER B line, then hit the town. Tell him to be sure to get lots of selfies, by the Eifel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre Pyramid. He's likely to be beat already from the first leg, so it probably won't be an epic bender. Just be sure he gets up early enough to back at to CDG by 8 am to be on safe side, extra security and all that.
If he enjoys art, the Louvre has extended hours during the summer, as, I believe, do some other major museums.
If he finds himself exhausted, there is an Ibis hotel adjacent to the airport, which is clean, reasonably priced, serviceable (though simple), and has a decent coffee shop for meals at odd hours.
What I have done in similar circumstances and recommend is to get a room at the airport -- say the Ibis or Novotel which sits atop the RER station -- and then take the train into town for dinner, an evening walk along the Seine -- perhaps even a Seine boat cruise. There is plenty of time to walk around Notre Dame, and the central islands, to have a cruise and a good dinner. With the cruise he would also see the Eiffel Tower twinkling at night with little effort.
He would return via RER late that evening and be able to get a good night's sleep and easily be at check in for the flight the next morning.
He could certainly to into Paris for the night, but personally I don't see getting much out of the morning since he needs to be at the airport 3 hours before a flight to the US. But an evening in Paris would be delightful and getting up at 7 instead of 5:30 or 6 the next morning would be a winner for me.
He could check into the Ibis Terminal 3 which is in the airport and next to the train into Paris, or another hotel in that exact area, such as the Novotel or Mercure. After leaving his bags, he could take the RER B into Paris for the evening, returning to sleep at the hotel and ready in the morning to check in for his next leg. There is no need to drag suitcases into Paris for the evening.
Angela,
I agree with Bets and the others. Book a room in one of the hotels at CDG, either those suggested already or the Paris Airport Sheraton, which is right inside Terminal 2. I also wouldn't bother hauling luggage into the city for just a few hours, and since he has a morning flight, an airport hotel will be an easier and less tiring solution. The trip into Paris via RER will take about 40 minutes each way, but that should be enough time for a brief look and a nice dinner.
Just a tiny correction to Sam's initial post -- he meant the RER B, not the RER A. Others mentioned the RER B correctly, but just since Sam's is right up top, I didn't want you to go down the wrong path!
Again, shooting from hip! RER B of course. I'll edit it so it will be like it never happened.
Oh, this is great! Thank you all for the help.... When we bought this plane ticket yesterday we didnt even notice the long layover right away. Poor DH is too busy getting ready for India and stressed out about his mothers health to plan anything fun for himself. He has never actually travelled in Europe, so this will be a new experience for him.
I told him about the suggestion to take a lot of selfies. Silly guy didnt know what that is! He thought I was talking about some sort of fish.
