Car drop in Loire or near Paris?

What rental agency? The easy answer is that you can get a lot closer eaiser and faster, but the name of the rental outfit will give a better answer. And how much luggage?

leaning towards Hertz. Europcar & Avis have a lot of negative comments.

Hertz is a piece of cake. This will be to the easiest spot, not the closest. (The closest is just on the other side of the Champs de Mars and, without much luggage, you could walk it, but you'd have trouble getting to it since you're unfamiliar with the city.) The address is 88 Ave Paul Doumer. To get there, motor on in from Blois until you hit the Peripherique beltway, cross under and get on heading north (clockwise). I don't know what the directional sign will say for the next city, but the governing sign will be 'Peripherique Interieur'. Two exits later, get off on Ave Ingres and turn right (toward the ET, you'll be able to see it, of and on). Follow your nose, the next major left is Pau Doumer. Just before you made that last little left turn you passed the La Muette metro stop. Walk back about two hundred feet from the car place to finish the trip. For the metro portion, go into La Muette and walk the tunnel to the Boulainvillers RER side, catch the RER C eastbound a couple or three stops to Invalides, where you switch to Metro 8 southbound for two stops to Ecole Militaire and walk a couple of blocks. Fourty-five minutes (at most) from car drop to hotel door - - cost will be about two bucks per head. Optionially, the car folks will order up a taxi. The trip is less than two miles and a wild guess for four plus stuff is around twenty bucks.

Blois might not be the easy way to return the car. If you drop the car at St Pierre des Corps (the suburban TGV station for Tours), you can then take the TGV directly into Gare Montparnasse. There are tons of car rental agencies at Tours/SPDC, and it is easier to get to than an agency located on a busy city street.

'and it is easier to get to than an agency located on a busy city street.' I screw up a lot more than the next guy, and, admittedly, I've only been to Paris a few hundred times in the past fifty years.......and my most recent visit was a long time ago - - pushing six weeks at least. Neither Ingress nor Doumer are busy streets. Ingress is a small, tree-lined street that nobody seems to use. Doumer is another quiet street (Hertz is in the big yellow and red Shell gas station on the left, no probems turning across traffic.) You'll have a left turn across traffic to get onto the Peripherique , but there's a traffic light. There's one compound intersection close to the Muette station (and, in fact, Ingres becomes (Chaussee?) __de la Muette), but you won't notice it. At the compound intersection, the sweeping left turn at the far end (and the most obvious, simple way to go with the flow) is Doumer. You'll have about five minutes on the Peripherique and less than five after you get off. Roe's correct, there's a Hertz joint at Tours (no personal knowledge, I just checked). But you're going to pay something for the train ride - - I have no idea how much. And some kind of wait for the next train. Plus another luggage transfer at Tours. The killer will be the hike from Gare Montparnasse to the Montparnasse-Bienvenue metro side. I'm a stupid, simple person. When I give easy directions, trust me, they are EASY. Now, for what I'd really do, since you already have a car, is swing through Chartres on the way in and stop for an hour. What will really tick you off is seeing how puney Notre Dame de Paris is compared to Notre Dame de Chartres.

will not get into the pros and cons of where to drop your car. But if you have a chance to spend a couple of hours in and around chartres Cathedral do it. One of the best sights in France in my opinion. I always do it when i have a chance

thanks for the help, but I cant find that Hertz location on the Hertz website. Does it have another address or name?
FYI: I dont think we'll have time to stop in Chartres

That's not surprising, they have little pick-up / drop points all over the place (as do other outfits). In fact, many places serve several firms. Google 'paris hertz paul doumer' and you'll see plenty of referencs to it. Or stick the same words in google maps and it'll show up as well. The sign is on the right wall (inside wall, not the street wall). The vehicle entrance is on the far right of the Shell station complex. You can't miss the station, it's huge.

I have no doubt about Doumer, but if you're set on one listed on the Hertz site, press on around the Periphique for a total of about ten minutes and get off at N13 / Ave Grand Armee. As you get off, you'll enter a huge traffic circle. The first big exit will be Grande Armee into town (it becomes the Champs Elysees in a bit and if you take a quick look you'll see the Arc). Anyway, take the next exit onto Blvd Pereire (south). Take the very first right (Rue Debarcarde, but you'll miss the sign). In about five hundred feet this road ends in a traffic circle. The Hertz Port de Mailot sign will be staring you in the face directly across the circle. The Porte Mailot metro station is in the middle of the big traffic circle you entered as you got off the freeway. However, enter through the RER station (1000 ft from the Hertz joint , right where you turned onto Debarcarde, and hike the tunnel for safety). This location will give you about ten minutes on the Peripherique and a minute once you get off it. The bitch is that first traffic circle, you might want to scoot around it a couple of times until you spot your exit. The subway will be Metro 1 toward Concorde and switch there to Metro 8 to Ecole Militaire. A taxi ride might be five bucks more than from Doumer since one cost factor is time and the traffic will be heavier getting across the river.

Hertz informed me that they no longer have a location on the Doumer. They suggested closest is Carrousel at Lourve 99 Rue de Rivoli, but that sounds a little too close to the heart of Paris. We can always drop at Orly I guess. I also see one at Parc de Prince, 2 ave de la Porte St Cloud which looks fairly easy according to google map. Any other easier locations? Thanks for your help

If you look at the Hertz website, you'll see that under 'location type' the only ones they show are 'corporate'. i.e.; owned by Hertz. As I said way back when, there are scads of other places all over the city that service multiple rental agencies. Whomever you spoke to is unaware of the real world. I checked this corporate business when you had your first misgiving and pointed out the one at Mailot which is in the corporate category. It's easy enough, just make two loops on the first traffic circle to spot your egress. It's a bit further and will probably up the cab cost a small amount. Carrousel is in the heart of the city and won't work for you if you don't want to attempt that driving. Invalides is closer to your destination but has the same problems. Orly will use up too much time with the multiple transportation changes, time you don't have since you said you can't afford to stop at Chartres. Lastly, since I hate to think I pass bum scoop: I called the Doumer outfit a few minutes ago. I know they exist since I bought gas there a few weeks back and was staring at the Hertz sign on the wall as I filled up. There was also a van with a Hertz sign on it sitting in the garage entrance. They are one of these places that deal with all kinds of rental agencies. You can turn in your car there. I am passing on the expense to you; a quarter pound of fudge will be about right. Please send it in a plain wrapper since my wife hides goodies from me.

Juno says, "I find driving into Paris, to a place where I know there will be parking isn't much harder than driving in any major East Coast city, except Boston, which is a nightmare." This may be true for someone who has been to Paris before and knows their way around. But, I have been driving in cities since I was 16 (quite a few years ago!), and I have never experienced anything like the day I drove into Paris during my first visit. I remember the stress like it was yesterday. I did not have a GPS (which would have been helpful), but even with instructions for finding my hotel we got turned lost. It was a nightmare. I finally found the hotel, dropped off the bags and was going to drive to the car return location. Even the people at the hotel could not help me find it. I finally took the car to Orly to return it and took a cab back. I would encourage you to drop it outside of the city proper.

Dot, consider dropping the car in Chartres. It's an easy hour train ride into Montparnasse station and it's a pleasant drive from Amboise. It gives you the chance to do a quick visit of the Cathedral. I would avoid driving into Paris.

Do not even think of driving in Paris. I did it not only once but twice. I guess I didn't learn the first time. Of course this was before GPS but I thought it was the worst city have ever driven in, think of Chevy Chase vacation movie where he drove round and round and never got any place. Try to drop off outside of Paris. We found even the airport location difficult.

Gail is hereby awarded the Helpline Medal for Honesty - for admitting she drove in Paris not once but twice. :)