Evening in Paris with backpacks

Where in Paris are you actually "arriving", and how (if the answer to the first part doesn't make this self -evident)?

We will be flying into CDG from frankfurt, so I believe we can take the metro to somewhere in the city pretty easily, then will have to take the RER out to the outskirts later in the evening. Linda

Bless Linda's soul!

New plan, based on dumping the luggage.

At Les Halles / Chatalet, change to Metro line 14 (direction Olymplads) to Gare de Lyon, and store luggage there. You can handily go back to pick it up since this station also serves the RER line to Disneyland.

To get back to Chatelet, drop about two bucks per metro ticket per person or walk thirty minutes along the river cutting onto Ile St Louis to get to Notre Dame -- excellent walk.

I read the lingo: luggage storage gizmos only take coins -- the rest you can figure out when you get there. Directional signs to gizmos will probably say something like Consignes Automatiques.

Look at taking the bus to Opera and sight see from there. See: http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_cdg_to_paris_bus.html

There are lots of restaurants in the area for lunch and the area is wonderful for exploration. You could also find a sandwich shop or go shop to shop and buy materials for a great picnic. Sit on Opera steps or find a park close by and eat and enjoy watching the people go by.

Look here for ideas to get to Disneyland from L'Opera.
http://parisbytrain.com/

You'll be coming into the city on the RER B line and heading back out on the RER A. The two lines intersect at the Chatalet/Les Halles metro/rer complex of stations. The joint can get confusing, but is well-diagramed so you might as well deal with it for simplicity the first day.

The good part is that it's just across the river(five-minute walk, if that) from the Il de la Cite, the island on which Notre Dame is located. You could go ahead an knock the cathedral off your list although you might have to split up while one group guards the luggage (Can't remember what I've seen since it's never been a factor, but people-watching in the square is always interesting. It takes no more than a half-hour to wander through).

What I'd do next is cough up the money for the crowd to ride the batobus (a hop on/off boat) that makes a continuous circuit of the river from the botanical gardens to the Eiffel Tower. Cost is about twenty bucks per head (sixteen year old might be half price, thirteen year old definately is). Luggage won't be a problem. There's no narrattion, but with a map on your lap you can conduct your own tour. It's a great intro to the city and kills the horrible-food-bad-music dinner cruise bird as well as the bus tour bird. You can catch it on either side of the island just abeam the cathedral (mainland banks, not the banks of the island.

Next, I'd cross to the left bank (south side of the river) and wander that area, especially around the Latin Quarter, staying well south of Blvd St Germain and generally east of Blvd St Michel. This is the area where the universities are -- there are plenty of places to feed a crowd without emptying your pocketbook.

By then, you will have figured out what else you can do to kill time -- even make a night circuit on the batobus again since everything will look different and your ticket is still good.

I have no ideas on what to do with the luggage, but it will not present a problem with any of the above.

There are lockers for storing luggage at the train stations (Gare du Nord on the B line and Gare de Lyon on the A line). I've never had to the use the lockers, but I know they are there. Here's a link (sorry, it's in French).

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/guide/voyageurs/pdf/consigne_gare.pdf

Thanks for the great info everyone. I'm definitely leaning towards storing the backpacks for a few hours (hope it's cheap) while we take in the sights and get dinner. Ed-great idea about Les Halles/Chatelet and the intersection of RER A and B. I haven't started studying a Paris Metro map yet, but I will before we go!

On another note--has anyone taken a Fat Tire Bike Tour in Paris--it sounds like great fun for an athletic family like mine!

The RER B line divides northeast of Paris. The branch that goes to CDG is excluded from the Mobilis pass. Linda and her family will need to buy one-day, zone 1-6 Paris Visite passes (€18.90) at CDG.

They can avoid the maze at the Chatelet-Les Halles RER station and the Chatelet metro station by taking the RER B from CDG to Gare du Nord and the RER D from there to Gare de Lyon.

Zone 1-5 Mobilis passes would be a good choice for days they go from Disneyland to Paris and back.