Get around IN Paris? www.ratp.fr

Get TO Paris from CDG? You have choices. I always take a taxi, but you can take the RER and then the métro, or the Roissy Bus and then métro or taxi, or private shuttle, or Air France navette and then a taxi or métro. Depends on what day and time you arrive, your tolerance for public transportation at rush hour (if that's the case) with luggage, you budget, etc., none of which you've mentioned.

I usually take the RER or the Air France bus, depending on where I need to go.

From the metro map it looks like you would have to change trains from RER B to either RER A or Metro Line 1.

Air France has a bus that goes right to the Etoile.

http://tinyurl.com/7bmt9q

I hope this helps.

For the answer to your question in general, how to get around Paris, it is indeed www.ratp.fr that will serve you best.

But in specifics, how to get from CDG airport to the Arc de Triomphe/Etoile area, your best bet by far is Line Two of the four Air France coach lines.

All the details are at
http://transfer.airport-paris.com/air-france-coach-service.htm

You can compare the prices directly and decide for yourself on the transportation from the airport, all of those places have websites. You cannot get in from the airport on the metro, it doesn't go there. The RER does, so you would have to take the RER if that's the option you chose, although you could transfer to the metro within Paris at some point, if you had to. If you are going to the Arc, the Air France coach seems obvious to me, but you have the prices, decide for yourself. I don't know where that hotel is, though, if it isn't really right at the Arc, you'd have to take the metro or something there, if that is possible.

I wouldn't bother myself with all that, but it's your money. No, a taxi is not going to be just a few dollars more than the train, assuming you mean less than 5 euro difference. If you were going to the Meridien Etoile directly, I definitely would take the AF coach as it goes right there. I'd also take it on return. The other point is more trouble (Hilton).

It looks like corcelles may be the closest stop to the first hotel I will be staying at upon my arrival.

If i take the air france service, how close to corcelles will i be? Do I need to take the metro after the shuttle? If so, I'd rather just take the metro the whole way there. I'll be arriving in the morning at around 9 am. I will have a companion and we will have two full size suitcases... we don't mind bringing that onto the metro.

You can answer your own question - both google maps and the already often indicated website www.ratp.fr will tell you. You need to famliarize yourself with those resources, you will need them again and again.

You can also get a map for the area around your hotel, and street pictures, at www.pagesjaunes.fr

That rather suggests Porte Maillot might be nearer. This is a station on both the RER (but change at Chatelet-les-Halles, which can be a bit fraught, even for those who are not jetlagged, though others may have personal experience of this particular change), and the metro (from the coach stop at Etoile), but that will also mean getting your luggage downstairs and along corridors.

When you talk about taking the metro the whole way from the airport to your hotel, you are confusing your terms. There is a suburban rail line called the RER, which runs out to the airport. You can take that to Gare du Nord and then transfer to the Metro.

Unless you are a teenage backpacker, take a taxi. Surely you can afford 60 euros for a cab if you can afford to stay at the Hilton and Le Meridien.

Thin

We used the bus and got a cheap tour of Paris.

So I believe the air france coach is around 15 euros which will drop me off at etoile. perhaps this makes the most sense since i'll have been on a plane overnight, and then hail a taxi to drive me the two km or so to the hotel. So, all told should be around 35-40 euros? Maybe i can use the leftover 20 euros for my breakfast?

What exactly is there to do/see in the etoile area?

Etoile is at the Arc de Triomphe end of the Champs....from there...Champs Elysee, Palais de l'Elysee, Place de la Concorde, Tuileries,etc..

Last month I used the Air France (you don't need to fly AF to use it) bus from terminal 2E/F CDG to Montparnasse for €15. It is a comfy sweet ride. Another bus goes to Étoile. There are four bus lines.

For travel within the city I bought a Paris Visite pass, 4 days for €20. It is good for unlimited use within the city on metros and buses.

I guess that if you are staying at those hotels you won't squibble about a few bucks for a bus ticket.

the air france shuttle was fine....although after i got on it seemed to take 30 minutes to pick up passengers at other locations at the airport.

the metro system in paris was awesome. the stops were frequent and i never had to walk more than 10 min to get to a station

Shared shuttle service takes you right to the door of your hotel to and from CDG, about 20 Euro each way.

spaarne -

You bought a four-day Paris Visite last month for 20€? That's funny. They're not sold for four days, and a 5-day is 28,30€.

A much better deal for four days would be Mobilis passes for 5,80€ a day. http://www.ratp.info/informer/forfait1j.php