Barbara_in_FL

DH and I are flying into CDG on the same day. I think he arrives at terminal 2D and I arrive at 2E. I will have to go through immigration (arriving from US); he is arriving from Germany. How easy will it be to find each other, and is there a good place to try to meet? I suggested going directly to the rental car office and just meeting there but he is reluctant.

fmpden

Download a map of CDG and both agree to meet at a certain point.

Sarastro

He is correct. Your plan as outlined will probably not work. The reason is that 2D and 2E have separate rental car locations and unless you are more specific, you may not easily find one another.

You might consider meeting in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel which is in Terminal 2 between 2D and 2E. However, have a back up plan, triggered at a specific time, in the event that one of your are delayed.

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/f...Des-Terminaux/

Barbara_in_FL

Thank you, Sarastro, for a helpful suggestion. I guess I had more faith in my ability to find the "right" car rental location than he does (he does not speak French and is not comfortable wandering around by himself for long).

fmpden, I realize a lot of silly questions get asked here, but really, "agree to meet at a certain point" is just wasting your time and mine. I can look at a map; it doesn't tell me what a "good" point would be the way someone with more experience with that airport could.

lincasanova

There are several coffee shops below in front of the RER ticket area.. I always thought that would be a good place. Someone , or on a map, you should be able to find the name of one of them. That way you can enjoy siting down if one of the two is later than expected. Unless you go into the sheraton dining room.. purposely there is no big lobby to hang out in. at least that is how it felt to me when I had that brilliant idea!

I finally went in to have breakfast..... OUCH!

annhig

Hi barbara,

i can certainly tell you that whatever you do, you are in for a long walk. Arrivals at Terminal 5 are obviously meant to be fit. we went through there about 2 months ago, and sadly I wasn't looking out for meeting points, but i do remember the hike from customs to the RER station.

sorry i can't be more help.

PS - i know that i am probably teaching my granny to suck eggs, but do make sure that you both have fully-charged and turned on mobile phones so that you can find each other somehow.

kerouac

The best place to meet is always at the arrival exit of second person. However, you do not even say when your flights are arriving. At the same time or 2 or 3 hours apart? If the flights arrive at the same time, that would indeed call for a bit of planning in case of flight delays.

But if one person is nearly sure to arrive significantly before the other one, just go to the other person's arrival point like 95% of normal people do (Have you noticed the number of people awaiting at the arrival zone in other airports? Did they look like they were doing something stupid?).

What about a delay? There are SCREENS to look at for that. If the first flight is delayed and the second one arrives first, just go to the other person's arrival exit. Duh!

isabel

If you go to the map of the airport (link given above) and click on the various terminals (2D, 2E) the drop down menu will give you fast food restaurants. I would pick one of them ('Paul' is a good one) and agree to meet there. It's specific, you can ask directions to it if either of you can't find it. There is some place to sit and eat. This way if one of your flights are delayed, etc the first person to get there has a good place to wait. Much better than either an arrival gate, or a car rental desk.

apersuader65

I'd agree with Kerouac's point, but not the tone.

First one to arrive travels to the second to arrive's gate. Even if arrivals are close to the same time, whoever is scheduled to arrive first should do the walking. If both of you check the arrivals board upon arrival, you will see if the other is delayed, and if so, travel to that gate.

Caveat to this is if your husband is averse to walking w/o command of basic french, then he should just wait at his arrival gate until such time as you can make it to him.

Treesa

I become geographically challenged at airports so I would just meander to the Sheraton and enjoy a glass of wine while waiting for my hubby/significant other.

kerouac

My tone depends on whether I feel that common sense is being flouted.

I tend to perhaps naively believe that spouses love each other and are happy to embrace when they have been separated. That is why I find it frankly obscene to say "oh I'll just have breakfast at Paul and whenever you finally show up is fine."

And if the husband is reluctant to meet at the easy-to-find rental car desk, why should he want to have to look for the Sheraton or a café?

annhig

I tend to perhaps naively believe that spouses love each other and are happy to embrace when they have been separated. That is why I find it frankly obscene to say "oh I'll just have breakfast at Paul and whenever you finally show up is fine.">>

as you say, kerouac, naively believe...."oh I'll just have breakfast and when ever you show up is fine" is NOT what the OP said, and i would not expect my loving but perhaps after 34 years of marriage slightly blase husband to wait at the gate for what could be hours!

much better I would say to find a place which is convenient to both and sit and read [or drink!] whilst the other traveller battles with passport and customs - which may take everso long.

Gretchen

I don't know, but have a Plan B, that if you don't find each other by X time you'll meet at the hotel?
Is there more than one taxi queue for terminal 2? Is there more than one MacDonald's in the terminal, not in the gate concourses?
The Sheraton makes sense to me because there is only one of them.

Barbara_in_FL

Always entertaining, this forum!

We are arriving about half an hour apart. I get there first but, because of immigration, and because I will most likely have to check one bag, I am anticipating that he will be free before I am...or else I would happily plan to meet him at his arrival gate, which would be an easy solution. I will also be traveling with two children, which typically does not speed things up. And, although they are generally well behaved, after an overnight flight with the two of them a loving embrace is going to be the LAST thing on my mind, unless Springsteen is at the gate to welcome me with roses and tickets to his next concert. Sorry to disappoint, Kerouac!

Given that DH cannot ask directions easily and does not want to wander around too much, I thought it might make more sense to find a place where he could stop and wait for me rather than wandering around Terminal 2E.

The Sheraton actually seems like a good suggestion because, if all goes well, he will not have to wait long. I do trust that he is capable of checking the screens to make sure our flight has not been delayed...although I have to add that, the last time I flew OUT of CDG, my flight was not on the screen. But that is another story. We will come up with a "Plan B" and I appreciate all of your suggestions!!