Travel in Paris

What is the Charles de Gaulle train station? Do you mean the airport or are you picking up a car near Charles de Gaulle-Etoile metro station? What are your plans for the 6 days that you will be in Paris? Depending on your plans i.e. going to Versailles or not etc., either a Navigo pass or a carnet of ten tickets per person would be my suggestion. Here is information about the pass: https://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-metro-week-pass-navigo-decouverte/. A carnet is just a set of 10 metro/bus tickets sold at a discount as compared to buying 10 individual tickets.

Firstly, clarify what you mean by Charles de Gaulle train station.

There are very few itineraries where you would want to go from Paris the CDG airport to pickup a rental car. It costs extra money to go there (both for the transportation and for the location surcharge you will pay for an airport pickup) and will needlessly consume a lot of valuable vacation time.

If you are already in Paris, rental cars should be picked up in Paris, preferably near one of the departure points for your purposed itinerary.

In reference to transportation within Paris, for Saturday and Sunday, simply purchase 10 tickets T+ for 14.90€. The individual T+ ticket costs 1.90€. The group of 10 tickets may be shared between you. The T+ ticket is valid for travel in the métro, bus, tramway, funicular or within the city of Paris on the RER (regional trains). You must keep your ticket with you until you depart the transportation network and there are spot checks at various unannounced locations.

For the following week, Monday until you depart, consider purchasing a Navigo Découverte card (5€) and loading a weekly zone 1-5 fare at 22.80€. This pass requires a 25 mm x 30 mm photo of the card holder (you may use your own photo or purchase one at 5€) . The cards are non-transferable, you must have your name printed in the space provided.

I don't think that it is the folks who are confused.

The OP has stated in a previous thread that he is departing for Normandy from Gare du Nord. Clarification from the OP is important. Anyone already in Paris and traveling to Normandy should not be picking up a car at CDG.

Helping others avoid situations which they might not fully understand, is it not exactly the purpose of this forum. That small surcharge, called the location surcharge, is 45€ for pickups at CDG. The location surcharge is typically not included in quotes and may not be obvious to a casual reader pursing the fine points of his rental contract. Add in the cost of transportation to CDG, 10.30€ each, depending upon how many we amounts to, and this simple misunderstanding is potentially expensive and one which can be completely avoided.

As A13 departs Paris from near Porte d´Auteuil, which is exactly the opposite side of Paris from CDG. Going to CDG to pickup a car when one is already in Paris, can potentially add 2 hours to the transportation time to his Normandy destination.

Now, if rksmith828 is fully aware of the reasons why someone would strongly suggest his not going to CDG to pickup a car, and he decides to do so anyway, that is fine.

Nothing in my comments forces rksmith828 to do anything against his will.

My apologies I had the incorrect station we leave Paris and pick up rental car at the Gare de Lyon.

OK yes I had the arrive point from Germany to Paris at the Gare de l’Est station correct arriving on as Saturday. But I messed up we plan to get the rental car a the Gare de Lyon station on Friday morning. Our time in Paris will be in Paris, not going to Versailles but are interested in going to Montmartre. So travel mostly around the city. Once we get the car we plan to drive to Chartres and then head towards Normandy area. Sorry for the confusion.

Since all your travel is in the city the most economical way to travel assuming you have organized your sightseeing by parts of the city and will not be zipping from one side to the other several times each day, is to buy carnet of 10 tickets for 14.90. This is particularly true if your hotel is fairly central. We have spent a lot of time in Paris and rarely use the metro 4 or 5 times in a day. If you will be doing that Mon-Thurs then the ND would probably be appropriate, but you will probably spend less just using ordinary tickets.

We like the metro over the buses for two reasons: 1. it is MUCH faster to get where you are going and 2 it is much easier to use and plot trips. While you can see outside on the bus, I rarely get a seat and you don't see much jammed standing in the aisle. I rarely don't get a seat on the metro. While people rarely get up to give me a seat, young people no longer race me for an open one.

As someone else noted, it is critical that you keep the validated ticket until you are out of the metro completely; you can be checked for tickets at any time and the fine is huge on the spot if you can't produce a validated ticket for that ride. This happens on buses as well. The checkers usually are at the entrance to the platform or the exits although we have had check point in tunnels of the metro occasionally.

When you plan, identify an area e.g. Montmartre and then use the metro to get there and plan to do your touring on foot in the area. We walk in the center and use the metro to get to distant points of the city like the Eiffel Tower, Pere Lachaise or Montmartre.

I agree with Janet's advice about using the Metro in the ways she described. I want to add this: If you have a time when you will be hauling your luggage to the station, or have an injured knee (as my husband did mid-trip), switching to the bus plan can be a huge help. The availability of escalators/elevators in the Metro lines really varies, and sometimes it is a lot of walking up or down flights of stairs. Our ability to switch to the bus for a few days was a real break for that injured knee.

Have a great trip!
Laurie

Laurie is totally right here. The metro is stairs and more stairs; it is not suitable if you have stroller or any mobility issues. We are Olds and still use it almost exclusively but when we no longer see stairs as welcome opportunities for exercise we will switch to the buses. You used to be able to buy a booklet of bus maps at the news kiosks -- probably still can and if you are using buses a lot that may be useful for planning. The bus stops themselves do have good maps of the routes. Always know your penultimate stop so when the bus clears it you can press the button for your stop. Buses only stop on demand. Most have an electronic sign that announces each stop.