Paris Travel Answers

Hi Carol, What is the hotel / address / or at least the arrondissement where you are staying. And what time do you arrive at CDG? Karl

Hi Karl, We arrive 7am The hotel is "Hotel du Lion",1 avenue du General Leclerc

Great choice. You can easily take the RER B line directly from CDG to Denfert-Rochereau and your hotel is a block away. Life doesn't get any better! At 7 AM take the Express train if there is one. That way you don't have to stop so often. It's quite a ride since your hotel is three quarters of the way across Paris, but the good part is that you don't have to change trains. It is direct. Do not hire a car in Paris. They are an expensive nuisance. Get a carnet of 10 Metro tickets to share and you can go to virtually all the major sights. Four nights somewhere else in France . . . Depends on what you want to do. Since you are headed to Germany, you might want to take the train to Strasbourg and spend your time in Alsace. I'd rent a car there to visit the wine villages. It's much easier than buses and trains for off the beaten track sightseeing. Perhaps just rent the car for one or two days. ribeauville-riquewihr.com/EN... Or for a completely different feel, take the train to Beaune and spend a few days in Burgundy. It would be an easy trip on to Germany from there and there is a lot to do including wine tasting. If you have a car, visit Guedelon where they are building a castle using only 13th century tools and methods. It's fascinating, just like going back in time. http://www.guedelon.fr/en/ Type Beaune into the VT Search Window above and see what has been written about it. There are lots of photos, reviews and web links for you to use. Enjoy France.

Thanks so much Beausoleil,you have helped immensely. When you say Good choice,do you mean the Hotel? What are your thoughts on Bastille Day? Regards Carol

Hi, For Bastille day, you have of course the march past on the Champs Elysees in the morning, but with the crowds it's sometimes better to watch it on TV. Or you could go up the Montparnasse tower to watch the fly-past. In the evening you could try one of the Firemen's music and dances, in most of the arrondissements they are free entry with just a donation to the firefighters on your way out. Then after that there is the firework display at sundown, though this works out at around 23.00. The fireworks are fired on the esplanade in front of the Trocadero but can be seen from all of the high places in town.

my five cents local call is that the four days in Paris you dont need a car,then to see the big cities near like Reims, Rouen,Beaune,Versailles, etc etc you are ok with the train. If you want to see some smaller towns like Chantilly,Senlis, Maincy (Vaux-le-Vicomte) than you are better off renting a car from one of the peripherique places in Paris like porte d'Orleans. line 4 from montparnasse takes you to porte d'Orleans . Bastille Day is a great tradition and full of folks out so need to book in advance the hotel, nice event here National day. To get into Paris it is best the cars Air France that will drop you off at Montparnasse and from there its walking distance to your hotel . The alternative is train RER B to Denfert-Rochereau also close to the hotel. If really tire after your trip and luggage you might want to consider taking a taxi to the hotel from Montparnasse very close and cheap. Another alternative is to hire a shuttle van to take you straight from CDG to hotel , the one I am familiar with is yellow van at http://www.yellowvanshuttle.com/ pre booked it. Many possibilities, hope it helps your planning

Hi Carol, I see beausoliel provided excellent directions and because your hotel is right next to the RER metro it will be a snap. The Hotel is a little further out of the city center than I like to stay, but the Paris metro system is excellent and you can get most anyplace in less than 15 minutes. Karl

Hi. I was referring to your location. I don't know the hotel at all, but the location can't be beat for transport from CDG. It's a lovely, leafy green neighborhood with lots of shops and stores. Denfert-Rochereau is a major Metro hub so you can easily get anyplace in Paris. Metro line 4 (and RER B) go directly to the center of Paris, i.e. Notre Dame and the large museums and much of the Latin Quarter. Metro line 6 goes past the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe. Perfect base location. We travel very light so walking a block to a hotel is not a problem, especially after a long flight when we want to stretch our legs. If you have a lot of luggage, you might want to consider the shuttle gwened mentioned. He uses Yellow and we use Blue. We only use the shuttle when we have either a very early or very late flight but we have used Paris Blue Shuttle several times and have been very happy with their service. Check them both and see what you think. paris-blue-airport-shuttle.f... We take the Air France bus from CDG when it makes sense. In your case, it is only one block to your hotel from Denfert-Rochereau but several blocks from Montparnasse so I wouldn't use AF. It's a longer walk and it costs more. RER B line is the quickest, closest, cheapest. An alternative would be the shuttle directly to your hotel and if you are carrying a lot of luggage, that might be easiest. Paul (pfsmalo) has given you great information on Bastille Day so I won't add anything there. No matter where you are in France, Bastille Day is fun and busy. You should be sure you have your hotel booked for Bastille Day as it is very crowded then. It's a major holiday. You might want to buy the booklet map "Paris Pratique par Arrondissement" to help you get around. It maps the entire city very well, is completely indexed and also has maps of Metro, RER, trams and buses. It is very helpful. You can probably get one at amazon.com, a large bookstore at home or (easier) pick one up in Paris at a news stand, tabac, bookstore or lately even at tourist shops. It's also a great souvenir of your trip. It is a little (5 x 7 inch) booklet that has everything you need to get around Paris. We love it. Have a great trip.

I note your desire not to travel by train from the Airport to the hotel but it is the easier and quickest way from the Airport to the hotel. I have stayed at Hotel Du Lion (which is right next to the train station's entrance/exit passage). Taking a train from the hotel to the station (Denfert Rochereau)was a breeze. Luggage is not a problem at the station has lifts/elevators. Only difficult part would be the subway's exit and the hotel's staircase itself. You can read more about the hotel or train service on my Paris trip on this website.

Thankyou all. Great feedback Carol

Sorry ,one more question, have been looking up hotels to stay for Bastille Day,would it be best around Eiffel Tower or Champ-de-mars. Thanks Carol

Hi. The Eiffel Tower is at the Champ de Mars so you don't have to worry about it. If you want to be there, I suggest you book as soon as possible. There are plenty of nice hotels near the Arc de Triomphe and that would also be good. You may not have much choice at this point since Bastille Day is very popular and hotels are booked well in advance. Try the areas you want. If that doesn't work, try areas nearby. We often use http://www.booking.com for hotels and they will have all price ranges. Here's a lovely and fairly reasonable hotel near the Arc de Triomphe you may want to check. You can get reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com or booking.com http://www.ceramic-paris-hotel.com/ You can step out of the hotel and see the Arc de Triomphe a few blocks away and it's a nice neighborhood a bit off the tourist path. Either the Ternes or Etoile Metro stations are good.

If you can't find something reasonable with what Sally has given you, I think you'll be just as well staying at the same hotel (du Lion) as from Denfert-Rochereau you could take line no. 6 to Bir Hakeim station direct and you're just round the corner from the tower and the fireworks. You will want to try and find a spot on the riverside in front of the Quai Branly museum, but try to get there early and take some food and drink 'cos there will be thousands trying for the same thing.

Walterwu, as the Hotel du Lion is right next to the RER, there must always be alot of street noise, day and night, no?

Thankyou. I have booked Ceramic. Happy and safe travels to all!

have a great time in Paris on whatever you chose. Cheers

Footstool, The hotel is a block from the station. It is on a busy street and there probably will be a certain amount of street noise, but it is a city and there is nearly always street noise of some sort, especially the street cleaners very early in the morning. There won't be train noise though.

Of course. My favorite area is Ecole Militaire. It's a neighborhood, and i enjoy the local restaurants along Avenue Bosquet, not to mention doing my laundry in Rue Cler!

ahh nostalgia sets in footstool ::)

I'm very sensitive to noise while sleeping and get waken up easily. However, in Hotel du Lion, I slept throughout the night without problem. There seems to be a hospital near it and there are times of the day when I can hear ambulances siren from the hotel room.

You're right Walter. The St. Vincent de Paul Hospital is a block away. A man and his little girl were lost looking for it once when we were walking there and he asked to see our map. They found it. Actually they were nearly in front of it. It was fun to give someone directions though.

I'm mellowing with age, Gwened. Thinking about taking a 3 day safari in the Serengeti, then dovetailing a trip to Paris (friends) and Chunnel to London (relatives). Have you ever taken the tour of the Sewers of Paris?