From Paris Nord to hotel

Ed, if you don't stop all this self flagellation you'll end up bleeding all over the floor! :)

Sally, here are some figures from the Taxis-Bleus site. They're dated 2008. 0.70€ for pick up at a SNCF station. 2.75€ for a fourth passenger. 1€ for each bag weighing more than 5kg.

The Cardinal Lemoine metro stop is only a couple hundred feet from the hotel.

From Paris Nord you can catch the RER B southbound to St Michel/Notre Dame, do a bit of tunnel-hiking to the Cluny/Sorbonne metro part of the complex, and then head east a couple of stops on the #10 Line. Total walking distance is less than a quater mile.

Personally, I'd pop above ground at that first stop and hoof it for less than a half mile. I've done it several times with various kids on my shoulders and the walk is through such a pleasant area that you don't even notice the weight.

While Steve's idea has merit, you'd better make sure that you do exactly what he says. Just the name of the hotel alone won't hack it since there's a slew of hotels around town with 'family' in the name. I think I'd play it safe and have "Hotel Quartier Latin, 11 Rue des Ecoles" on my hunk of paper. I know the street number has to off a bit, but they're right adjacent to each other and owned by the same crowd as I recall.

Actually, if you go the taxi route, you probably don't even have to write it down -- your english pronunciation will be so close to the french that it won't be an issue.

For a slightly longer ride but with less tunnel hiking, take metro line 5 from Gare du Nord to Gare d'Austerlitz. Then take metro line 10 to Cardinal Lemoine.

Wham!!! err..... just do like Tim said unless you want a scenic walk.

Thanks Ed, steve and Tim for your feedbacks. There are four of us travelling and we don't speak French. I don't mind taking the taxi as it is convenient as long as it is safe. As in, we won't be driven through a longer route where fare would cost over 100 Euro. We had this experience in Florence but luckily,it was not so exhorbitantly high. Also, do they charge extra per bag? we usually bring Rick's roll-on luggages . Thanks again

Taxis are safe -- they're under the aegis of the Prefecture of Police, in fact. My memory's feeble, but I think the fare goes up after the third passenger and after the first bag -- it won't be exorbitant -- gut shot is maybe twenty euros. (Standing with my ears covered to be slam dunked by Tim again -- and where was that bugger back in 1956 when I was a wee lad learning the darn subway system?)