My husband and I are traveling to the Loire Valley and Paris in September. We will arrive at CDG airport on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 12:55 p.m. and will travel by fast train to the Loire Valley upon our arrival. I am aware that it is a bit risky to book additional reserved train travel on our arrival day, but our place in the Loire is booked so that is set.
My plan is as follows: Take a taxi (55 euros) from CDG to Gare Montparnasse in Paris, then take the TGV to St. Pierre des Corps train station in the Loire, pick up our rental car, and drive to Amboise.
My questions are: 1) How much time should I allow for us to get from CDG to the TGV train at Gare Montparnasse? We will be jet-lagged and with luggage, traffic may be unpredictable with the taxi (?) and I don't want to be frantically trying to catch a reserved seat on the TGV, let alone miss it! I'd rather have plenty of time for each transition. As of now, I am thinking of allowing for a 1 hour flight delay, a 1 hour taxi ride to Gare Montparnasse, and the plenty of time to find the departure track for the TGV (I have been told that the trains change tracks last minute somewhat frequently, so I am allowing for some confused looking around for the right track, etc.). SO....I'm thinking maybe a 5:00 p.m. departure time for the TGV? We are happy to get a bite at the station if we have to wait a bit.
2) What is the online booking site for the TGV? Anything I need to know about booking a reserved ticket?
3) RE: renting the car at St. Pierre des Corps: I did a little checking, and Eurocar (I think that's the company, or maybe it's AutoEurope? site shows plenty of available cars, but also that I can't return the car to the St. Pierre train station on a Sunday, which is when and where we will be taking the TGV back to Paris for the rest of our stay. Any recommendations for car rental company that allows pick up and a Sunday drop-off at St. Pierre train station ? I definitely want to do both pickup/drop off there, and I don't know which ones are good/reliable. Thanks for any input!
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4842 posts
- You're aware of the risks, but 4 hrs should be fine, barring major delays.
- The official website is. https://en.oui.sncf/en/.
If the site balks at taking your credit card (common with US CCs), try booking on loco2. - Europcar is a rental company. Auto Europe is a rental booking agency. There are other rental companies at St Pierre Des Corps, including Sixt and (I think) Hertz. But I don't think any of them are open on Sundays. They may have a drop box, though, for Sunday drop offs. You'd have to contact them to find out for sure.
Posted by
Paris
6887 posts
Hi,
5pm is a good time for your Montparnasse train. The safe guideline is four hours between plane arrival and downtown Paris train departure.
Regarding rental cars, I don't know about specific agencies, but Autoeurope will let you compare the various possibilities available at your pick-up and drop-off times. France barely has "local" car rental companies, and all the big international names are quite reliable. The ones to be wary of are Goldcar and, to a lesser extent, Firefly, but I don't think they are options at St Pierre des Corps so not relevant to you.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3689 posts
The usual advice I see is to allow 4 hours between scheduled arrival at CDG and departure from a train station in Paris. I buy my train tickets at sncf.com/en. Try renting through the SNCF program with Avis to see if they have drop off on Sunday. The program offers off hours pickup but I am not sure about off hours drop off. If they do not, you will have to use a drop box to leave the car keys and hope for the best because you will be liable for any damage that might happen between Sunday when you leave the car and Mo day morning.
Posted by
Loire Valley
754 posts
"France barely has "local" car rental companies"
Not strictly true - it has hundred, if not thousands, but you do have to get yourself to a large supermarket to find them. The closest to Saint Pierre des Corps is Carrefour, about 30 minutes walk away.
If the flight arrives at 12:55 I would catch the 16:21 train direct from CDG to Saint Pierre des Corps.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis
186 posts
Thank you all for your sterling advice! I appreciate Simon's suggestion to take a direct train from CDG to Saint Pierre....I didn't think this was an option. ( I had read an earlier post on this subject, and someone had said that the TGV train from CDG would take 4 hours. BUT, that was due to the time slot that person needed to take, which was earlier in the day, and has a connection as well. So it all depends on your arrival time.) The 16:21 time will eliminate taking a taxi into Paris, and give us plenty of time to find the TGV platform at CDG. So that is what we'll do!
As for the rental car situation...I looked on Europcar's site, and chatted with someone there, and found out I can return the keys to the car to a nearby hotel. However, I read some reviews about Europcar and they aren't so great! For instance, there is no designated parking spot for their cars--you have to drive around the train station to find one! So....I'll do further investigating and probably avoid using them. Thank you all again for your invaluable advice!
Posted by
1 posts
I just booked a similar trip and after doing extensive research on rental car websites for that location (and finding huge variations in prices) booked with AutoEurope. It was significantly less expensive than all other sites and with better insurance coverage. Use the .eu site, as RS advises and change your country of residence to USA before booking.