paris transportation advice needed! =D

Hi ,, assuming you will have luggage with you.. personally I would not want to haul it around all day. So from Montparnasse I would take metro( cost 1.7 euros) line 4 direction Porte Clignicourt and get off at Gare Du Nord. There I would put my luggage in the lockers and proceed with rest of day sightseeing.. then by 5 I would make my way back to Gare Du Nord.. and get luggage and board the RER train to airport.. you would need the RER Line B .. should take about 35 minutes and will cost you 9.75 euros. Buy your ticket there before you start your day.. after you check luggage.. so you don't have to fart around doing that last minute when you return. The tickets are not time sensitive.

Hi Darkclaw! We have been to Paris twice....8 days the first time and 3 days the second after a touf of a portion of the Loire. Eiffel tower takes literally hours...lines the the base can be hundreds of people long and even when there is no line, what you don't see are the lines inside the tower at the base and on the level where you HAVE to get off and get back in line to go to the top and then lines again at the top to come down...takes forever...if you want a nice view in faster time, go to the Arc De Triumph, much taller than you think and we actually loved the view more. The louvre is the same, very long lines and myself, i would prefer to take in the city and the people rather than to be stuck inside a building. Notre Dame is a gorgeous cathedral, free and lines move quickly, but there are MANY gorgeous churches all around the city with no lines, some much prettier, like St. Chapelle, built entirely of stained glass and I do mean ENTIRELY. Walking Paris is lots of fun but it is a very large city and takes time. I advise taking the Batobus (the river taxi..you can get from Hotel de Ville near Notre Dame to the Eiffel tower in about 15-20 minutes, walking that route takes an hour or two depending on how you walk and if you don't get lost (keep in mind there are many tall buildings that block your view and even when you KNOW where the Eiffel tower is, it is easy to go in the wrong direction. LOVE walking the city of Paris but with time constraints I would definitely do the Batobus. One thing you do NOT want to do is RUSH it, take your time to take in the city and the people. WONDERFUL cafe on the Illes st. Louis right behind Notre Dame over the bridge, called Le Flore en L'ille....have eaten there many times, wonderful view of Notre dame, great food and pastries and service. Have a great trip!

I like Pat's advice re: Gare du Nord and not leaving the city too late. The RER line B is blue on maps that you'll find all around and at http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/. Some departures end at CDG and some end at Mitry-Claye or a mid-point before the end of the line, so be sure the train says Aeroport.

I agree that if the weather is nice enough stay outside as much as possible. Once I had just one day in Paris. I started at the Notre Dame and walked up the right bank past the Louvre and through the Tuileries. You can stop and eat along the way or head left and walk through the 6th neighborhood. The city itself is the best sight in Paris.

to where are you flying if to the UK then getting to CDG by 7:10 is probably okay -- if the US then you need to leave Nord by 5 to get there 3 hours ahead of your flight.

I hope if you visit the travesty which is the 'lovelock bridge' (there are actually several which have been vandalized by this trash) that at least you don't add to the destruction.

Good advice from Pat about getting yourself and luggage to Gare du Nord first. An alternative might be leaving it at Gare Montparnasse, doing your sightseeing, then returning there to get a bus with Les Cars Air France to the airport. Upside is you can drop the luggage right away, downside is you have to allow more time to get to CDG by express bus at rush hour than on RER. Also the bus costs more, but not a whole lot.

For another easy alternative to the Eiffel Tower, try the Tour Montparnasse, right outside the station. If you've dropped the bags, you can go there first for an overview (that includes the ET) if visibility is good.

Metro will whisk you from one sight to another if you want, but allow time to walk and see the streets and people. There are some bus routes (see the RS Paris or France guide) that take you past major sights and are themselves scenic. Or the hop-on-hop-off bus for a good combination of speed and scenery. For sure, you won't see everything in a day, plan to come back.