10 hour connect time in Paris

[sealy street]

10 hour connect time in Paris-suggestions? Easy ideas for going into town for lunch?

[AmoMondo]

Use the RER or airport bus to get in to town.

 

The RER has the advantage that you can fairly easily transfer to a metro line to get to where you need to.

 

I'd head for St Germain des Pres - this is a great area and there is a lovely square right beside the metro stop that is awash with great cafes and restaurants. It has a fantastic atmosphere and is a lovely are to wander through. It is not far from there to walk over the seine to Notre dame, the Louvre and the Tuileries gardens. At the other side of the gardens you have the bottom of the Champs Elysee. From this point you get great views of the Eiffel Tower over on the left back and the Arce de triomphe at the top of the Champs Elysee. Alternatively you could head for St Michel and start at Notre Dame.

 

Decide what you want to see. get a decent map. (My favourites are the Insight fleximaps that cant tear or be stained and have all the local transport info and maps as well as the top 10 attractions and other useful info). Plan out what order you want to tackle things in. You don't have loads of time but there are quite a lot of the great things to do and see pretty close to each other. Lunch in paris is rarely quick but really worth it. It is part of the Paris experience, sitting in a cafe and watching the world go by whilst you eat.

[sealy street]

Thank you! We were there in 2007 with the Celebrity Millenium - did a private tour in Paris after bus from ship to us to Paris from La Harve. We had a fantastic tour and saw all the major sites. One thing we missed was sitting and having lunch and people watch.

You mentioned: from the bus it would be fairly easy to get to the Metro-will we be able to see the entrance to Metro from exiting bus?

Thanks again!

[mpb43]

Just last month, we had a similar time frame in Paris. We had spent the night at an Charles de Gaulle airport hotel awaiting our flight home after spending time in the countryside.

 

We took the RER B train. It is a point to point ticket. Remember to buy a round trip ticket. We didn't do this and spend quite a bit of time finding a "live" ticket booth because our American credit cards did not work in the automatic machine.

 

The Zone 1 Paris stops give you several choices for enjoying people watching without having to take any connections. We were in the mood for a walk so we got off at the Denfert-Rochereau stop (a pleasant residential section of Paris) and walked up to the Luxembourg gardens. We then returned from the Luxembourg stop. This is quite a walk and you can easily just get off at Luxembourg. I think every Parisian was out the day we were there. Lots of people having picnics and there are several cafes in the area. Another stop on this line that we didn't explore is at Notre Dame.

 

When you return to Charles de Gaulle, remember that several trains will be going though the train station. Make sure you take the RER B that will stop at Charles de Gaulle.

 

This was very doable and the trains ran frequently.

[AmoMondo]

mpb43 you brought back very pleasant memories mentioning the Luxembourg gadens. A baguette and pastry from the bakers and a chilled bottle of orangina by the pond....yep very pleasant!

[rsquare]

You mentioned: from the bus it would be fairly easy to get to the Metro-will we be able to see the entrance to Metro from exiting bus?

Thanks again!

 

AmoMondo suggested either the bus or the RER and said that it is easy to connect to the metro from the RER. The latter is a suburban train which runs underground in central Paris; some but not all RER stops are also Metro stops, although usually not at the same platform, since the RER trains are bigger than the Metro cars. If you take the bus (operated by Air France), it will take you to the Etoile, probably on rue Carnot, and you should be able to easily see the Metro entrance, which is well marked.

 

If you get off of the RER at St. Michel, you can transfer to line 4, direction Porte d'Orleans and get off at St. Germain des Pres, the second stop after you get on. It would be a bit more complicated to get to the neighborhood from Etoile; you'd have to take a number 1 train direction Chateau de Vincennes to Pyramides, then transfer (follow signs saying "Correspondance") to the number 12 line direction Mairie d'Issy and get off at the rue du Bac, from which it is about a six-block walk east along the Boulevard St. Germain des Pres to the square.

 

Depending when your flights are, I would not take the RER back to the airport late at night; use the bus. It's fine during the day and early evening when lots of people use it. This is based on advice from a French client of mine.

[sealy street]

Connect time: arrive paris 8:35am depart paris 7:10pm

I will pose the above options to others in group, they may not want to "do" any connections (opting for a straight point A to point B). My fellow travelers are very "the less hassle, the better".

Thank you all for suggestions.

[Kingsbridge]

You could also take the Roissy Bus which stops at the Opera. It is strictly for passengers going to and from the airport. It costs 8.90 euros each way and you can buy the ticket from the driver. Your American credit cards will not work in the machine. There is a metro stop at the Opera but if you're happy to stay on the Right Bank there are lots of restaurants and popular cafes. You can easily walk through the Place Vendome and left down the Rue de Rivoli as far as the Louvre if you're feeling energetic.

 

I always take the Roissy Bus to and from the airport because I feel it is less of a pickpocketing opportunity than the RER train. The only downside is the possibility of heavy traffic which makes it hard to predict how long it will take. If you want to go over to the Left Bank, the #84 bus will take you from the Place de la Concorde all the way through the Left Bank to the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon. I like this bus route because it's like a sightseeing tour.