Frankfurt airport-place to meet someone/going to Paris

Nancy, Frankfurt airport has got too many different terminals and baggage reclaims. The airport is the 7th largest in the world (by amount of travelers, larger than New York's JFK). In terminal 2 the Mc Donald's is the best meeting place. There's only one and you just can't miss it. In Terminal 1 there is a Starbucks (only one) and it's centrally located in concours B. From June 12th there'll be a cheap direct high speed train connection from Frankfurt to Paris Gare de l'Est. Check www.bahn.de. Journey time is 3 1/2 hours only!

I agree that rail travel is the best way to go....picking up your luggage, checking back in, going thru security again...far too much wasted time (unless you can get a connecting flight on the same airline or with one of its partners). The new TGV Est is indeed a fast service (4:15 from airport to Paris est), but there will only be five trains a day for now, and I believe they only run Monday-Friday. However, there are other services that connect with the Thalys into Paris Nord that take under five hours, so they're an option as well. Besides bahn.de, you can also check out the French rail service at www.sncf.fr/indexe.htm. Either of these trains requires a reservation, and they can get filled quickly in the summer, espy. on weekends.

Norm, you're right with the comments you added. Just one little technicality: The new high-speed service from Paris to Munich (ends in Stuttgart for now) via Strasbourg is operated by SNCF's TGV Est. The new direct high speed route from Frankfurt via Mannheim and Metz to Paris is operated by DB's ICE International. Reg. Thalys: That's correct, you could catch an ICE to Cologne right from the airport (you won't have to get into Frankfurt at all), which is an approx. 45 mins ride. From there you'd take the Thalys (which technically is a TGV) via Brussels to Paris.

Sorry Andreas....I see some of the new fast trains labelled as ICE, others as TGV. It must be a "code share" like the airlines. I also notice there are actually only three trains/day from Frankfurt...two on weekends....at least for now, according to the tgvesteuropeen.com website.

Norm, in this case it's not a code share. It's a share of interests. DB wants to connect several German cities with Paris. SNCF wants to connect Paris with Vienna and Bratislava. In order to achive those goals they need each other's cooperation, tracks network. Hence the deal: DB has got the right to connect the economical heart of Germany (Frankfurt) with the French one. SNCF get access to a big portion of their preferred route. Check this map (http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/pv/pdf/international/MDB33274-karte_deutschland_paris_380x183.gif). Red Line is ICE 3M operated by DB, blue line is TGB POS operated by SNCF, the line highlited in yellow is high-speed tracks and the dotted line means soon to come. From June 12 to Dec 8 it'll be 5 trains per day and direction, From Dec 9th it'll be nine. Basic fare for Frankfurt to Paris one way 2nd class (without any discount) is €99, which compares to your airline's Y or M fare...

Interesting...that's sure not the way TGV is portraying it....see http://www.tgvesteuropeen.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=77. A little bit of international one-upmanship here I would think.

Norm, that website is full of French propaganda. It makes it sound like we owe this beautiful new world all to France... However, if they hadn't been so protective Frankfurt-Paris would have been 3hrs for more than 5 years by now... Très Sarkozy Bonaparte!