Help me understand, are you wanting to visit a chateau on your way to the airport, or, visit, drive to CDG and then spend the night? Personally any chateau undertaking it too much, even trying to leave at 1900. But those are my thoughts.
So far my auto has been unscathed too.
I always ask for tap water.

I think my post might be confusing.

Itinerary:

Thurs - Mon Paris
Tues am - rental car to Amboise with a stop along the way
Wed - Thurs Amboise area
Fri am - depart Amboise - flight at CDG 7 pm same day - stop along the way

So I would like to see/do something on my way to and from Amboise. Looking for suggestions.

We always drink bottled water since we like fizzy - ad don;t like the taste of a lot of tap water.

Have driven through France (and many parts of europe) lots of time and have never had a problem. We make sure the inside of the car is empty - everything is in the trunk and is loaded there when we leave the hotel. For extra safety look for a lot with an attendant or park with the trunk of the car against a tree, wall - or even another car - to make it harder to get to the trunk.

We book cars from Europcar through AutoEurope, using the toll free number. There is an office on the Avenue d'Italie, right down the street from the highway.

We always drink tap water. Ask for a "carafe d'eau" [karaf-dough].

I've never been to a restaurant in Paris where tax and service wasn't included. Ordering tap is fine.

On our travels across France We always stopped for lunch where we could see our car or where the restaurant .had a car parc. Service is always included and if you liked the service leave a few euros.

Hi, you could run into traffic on a Friday afternoon so you need to make sure you leave yourself enough time to get to the airport. Why don't you go straight from Amboise to Charles de Gaulle and onto Chantilly castle or Senlis (both 1/2 hour north of the airport). That way, you won't have to worry about the traffic and can take your time visiting. We never worry about what's in the trunk of the car. Just make sure there is nothing obvious on the seats. Enjoy your stay in Amboise. I blog about Blois and the Loire (as well as Paris) because we've just bought a house in Blois www.aussieinfrance.com

Tax and service are included by law. The vast majority of people do not order bottled water.

If you stop in Versailles on the way to Amboise, you are already headed in the right direction, so it is not a bad idea, especially since having the museum pass will save time and money.

Kerouac - the sixth day of the pass only works on the day from Paris to Amboise.

Yes, that's why I think it is a good time to stop in Versailles on the way. I would assume that you don't have to be in Amboise until later in the day. Go to Versailles on the A13 and then after you have seen the château, use the N186 to get to the A10 to Amboise.

www.viamichelin.com will explain it all.

Kerouac - thank you! Next time I will be fully awake before reading a post! I can get to Amboise any time; probably can't check into the hotel until afternoon anyway.

Can viamichelin be used with GPS only or is wifi/3G needed?

http://www.viamichelin.com is a website. It has nothing to do with a GPS unit. You would access via computer or from a smartphone/ipod touch/ipad using either WIFI or cellular data.

To get tap water, you ask for une carafe d'eau. It is common to do this in even the fanciest of restaurants.

"Arriving Thursday morning May 3rd. Will the rain ever stop (rhetorical question)? "

LOL. I saw that forecast too. The weather prediction was much more positive a few days ago, so hopefully it will change again.

<< I blog about Blois >>

Say that fives time fast after a glass or two of wine.

<< Tax and service are included by law. >>
Is that throughout France or just Paris?

<< Tax and service are included by law. >>
Is that throughout France or just Paris?

Everywhere

PS I live in the Loire too and it seems to have been bloody raining here since the end of March/beginning of April as well. All I can say is, we've had the April showers, bring on the May flowers!!

It's good to hear that about the tax and service. I know your total bill is your total bill, but sometimes it's a 'shock' when you finalize your bill. Here, in NY, it means almost 9% tax plus 20% service (depending upon quality of service) and in San Francisco, many restaurants tack on 4% for employee health insurance!

Gwan - We've had flowers very early here. In fact, there were daffodils in Central Park in February - very pretty, but the environment is definitely screwed up.

We're staying in Amboise. We have dinner reservations at L'Epicerie and Le Choiseul (Le 36). Any other recommendations? Some of the reviews on line are so mixed particularly for the higher end restaurants. I did consider Le Bon Laboreur, but thought perhaps the drive was far after dinner. Any thoughts about that? We are having lunch at Les Chloseaux one day.