Need a personal travel advise

always be in the town of departure the night before a high stakes flight. Only attempt a long drive like this if you can be philosophical about buying a walk up one way ticket. Just turning in the car and getting a receipt that it is undamaged and gassed can take an hour easily. (it once took us 3 hours at CDG -- they hoped to slow walk us and force us to run for our flight and then charge us for pre-existing damages. They wanted to confiscate the paperwork that proved the damage and not give us a copy. Luckily we didn' thave a lfight and could wait them out). What if there is a major road accident? or you miscalculate the time? Often the area around CDG is very jammed up and slow. Huge mistake.

I would come in the afternoon before and drop the car and go into Paris for the evening. Or arrive after dinner on the road and sleep at an airport hotel and be there for your flight.

Hi,
No, it's a long drive, especially if you're alone. About 7 hours... Safer to stay in Paris, or maybe better, somewhere in between like Beaune or Semur en Auxois (both lovely small towns in Burgundy, and a more reasonable 3-4 hours to CDG).

Now, is the plane ticket booked already? If not could you fly out of Geneva instead of Paris? Then you could comfortably stay in Chamonix and drive 1.5-2 hours (at most) in the morning.

And, if you're comfortable with some level of risk, you could still book a separate flight from Geneva to CDG in the morning BUT if said flight is delayed your connection would not be protected. So you need to be able to afford a new transatlantic ticket.

I agree with Jane. BUT, I am also the type that likes to min risk. If something happens you downside risk is huge. Your suggestion would probably work but in my world I could think of a number of situations while low on probability that could cause problems -- road closure or accident, car problems, weather, etc. Personally, I might stay very close to the airport -- within an hour or less. Enjoy the evening, have a casual morning evening my last French breakfast, and head to the airport late morning.

https://www.viamichelin.com/ says Chamonix to Charles de Gaulle airport is:

Time: 06h16 (05h20 on motorways)
Distance: 639 km (583 km on motorways)
Costs: €105.92 (Toll €48.80 + Consumption €57.12)

That time estimate is assuming no stops for anything (not even fuel stops), and no traffic delays. I.e. add 25% = 7¾ hours minimum.

17:00 departure for an intercontinental flight, you need to be at check-in 3 hours before (14:00)
Minus 1 hour to drop off car from car return location to terminal.
Minus 7¾ hours as above = depart Chamonix 05:15, and that has no safety margin.

No way this will work. Drive to Paris, drop off the car and stay in Paris city or at the airport the night before.

I agree with the others above. This is way too far to drive on the day of your flight, even a late afternoon one. Too many things could go wrong. I suggest you return to Paris, or nearby the day before the flight. I prefer an airport hotel the night before a morning flight, but with your timetable a hotel in Paris itself would work for that last night. If you don't want to drive to CDG just to return the car, look for return locations elsewhere with good RER or Metro connections to central Paris. The Auto Europe website might be helpful for this.

Wow! Thanks guys!
You made it so easy to decide! Thank you!
The flight back is pre-booked.
I don't mind taking risks but this is not a calculated risk it a stupid risk. Too many variables.
I will stay in Paris for the last night.
Thanks again

As most of the earlier posters mentioned, Stay in Paris the last night to avoid any unforeseen circumstances so you can have a peace of mind to make your flight. You can always return to that region on a future trip to do further exploration.

Barbra, thank you for suggesting that! It always makes me a bit crazy.

Could we, as a group, recognize and use "advise" as the verb and "advice" as the noun?

And I thought that was one of those UK/US English differences
The US uses "license" for both verb and noun (Driver's License), the UK uses "LIcence" for a noun (Driving Licence)
The US has a criminal offense, the UK a criminal offence.
US Department of Defense / UK Ministry of Defence.
And other examples.

Advice / Advise are definitely used in the US...whether or not people choose to pay attention though....entirely different. Heavy sigh.