Upon arrival at CDG I will leave immediately for Normandy via Gare Montparnasse. Jet lagged, I'm not going to be up to dragging my luggage up Metro stairs and on and off subway trains. Is there a less painful way to get from CDG to the train station? And do you have any recommendations about how much time I should allow (assuming on-time plane arrival... risky, I recognize). Thanks!
YES! Les cars Air France. Line 4 goes directly to Gare de Lyon and Gare Montparnasse. It's simple. There are signs in the airport pointing you to where the buses leave. It can be a little bit of a walk, but it's better than manning the metro. PLUS, if you purchase online you get a reduced price. I took it when I got here this month. I've never had an issue.
http://www.lescarsairfrance.com/fr/notre-reseau/plan-de-la-ligne-4.html
Right, the Air France bus is the way to go. Plan to take about an hour to get there, depending on traffic. Probably allow another 2 hours to get through passport control, get your luggage, walk to the bus stop, plus the wait time for the bus to depart. Bus departs every 30 minutes, €14 one way, can pay the bus driver.
Why Montparnasse? Absent Rennes (Brittany) for some reason, the fast way to Normandy (Caen / Bayeux) is out of Gare St Lazare).
Sherry, What's your travel date? It looks like the track maintenance on the main line from Gare Saint-Lazare to Caen/Bayeux which was going to begin in mid-July won't start until 1 October. Before then you should be able to go from Gare Saint-Lazare to Bayeux in a little over two hours. The timetables on voyages-sncf.com show routing from Gare Montparnasse starting on 1 October. It will be a roundabout route requiring several connections and taking 3-5 hours.
Thanks all. This is just the info I need. I am going in Sept, so it looks like all will be well.