kerrilynn

Hello,
I will be staying in the Marais Quarter, just north and over the river form Notre Dame Cathedral in early August. I will be driving to Mount Saint Michel and then Geneva and was hoping someone could help me out on a somewhat easy location to pick-up a rental car. Train station, business address or airport.
Thank you for any assistance.

Michael

Look for a rental agency near the Porte Maillot, which will give an easy access to the autoroute going west. Kemwel and Autoeurope use rental agencies in that area.

Sarastro

You could look for agencies near Porte Maillot but if you want to go to Mont St Michel, I would look for agencies near Porte d´Auteuil as it is from there that A13 begins which is the main freeway from Paris through Normandy.

Also, by choosing a pickup near Porte Maillot, you will be funneled through N13 to A14 to eventually reach A13 and the tolls on A14 are significantly higher than they are if you stay with A13 all of the way.

kerouac

The main train stations have the best hours, 7 days a week for most of them, and they are the most likely to have the best selection of cars. Driving out of Paris is quite easy -- easier than driving into the center.

PalenQ

You may be able to score deep discounts on TGV trains to Rennes from Montparnasse station -going at nearly 200 mph and maybe cheaper than driving if you get the cheapest fares - www.voyages-sncf.com

lots faster -be a lot earlier in MSM then work your way slowly over to Geneva via Loire Valley and Burgundy.

Various rentals available at Rennes station - Rennes may be a neat city to stay the night in - capital of Brittany -save a car on car rental and putz out the next morning.

RonZ

You may wish to take a train to Caen and pick up a car there. Otherwise, Honfleur would be a good first stop. Geneva the assumption is a car return to the french side of the airport, Ferney-Voltaire. Just past a little guard station you will see a sign on the left reading "french sector."

WoinParis

A mix of Kerouac and PQ : get your car from a trainstation for sure and indeed do check if you cna't get it closer to MSM.

RonZ

Re kerouac, we are fairly close to Gare du Nord and when heading north pick up our cars there. Two rights out of the garage [right downstairs] and the first left brings you straight to the highway.

PalenQ

A mix of Kerouac and PQ : get your car from a trainstation for sure and indeed do check if you cna't get it closer to MSM.>

Pontorson is the closest station but has poor sporadic service -you could take buses right to the Mont that connect with morning TGVs to Rennes from Paris.

I actually like RonZ's suggestion of Caen - if you are into D-day sights hit them first then go over via Avranches to the Mont.

For lots on French trains and ticketing check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Even walk-up tickets on the non-TGV non-highest speed line to Caen are cheap but you can get some discounts by booking in advance but not as much differential as on TGV lines.

pavot

Overdue thanks to Kerouac especially for my own similar question(s) last year!

Picking up a rental car from Gare du Nord was indeed very straightforward and so was getting to the Peripherique. (I even "drove" the route a few times via Google Maps, which made the process almost familiar when I had to do it for real.) Thank you very much for urging me to consider that plan.

(No one ended up going to the nearby Joseph Gibert when we couldn't pick up our car early, though -- we went for coffees instead....)

michelhuebeli

Aside from the discussion re. pros and cons of driving or taking trains and all that - going back to the original question, here's a location in Paris that we have used and found easy in regards to access when heading west - as you will be doing in heading towards Mt. St. Michel:

124 Ave. Achille Peretti
Neuilly sur Seine, Paris 92200

The N13 / A14 is just around the corner and takes you out of Greater Paris in a jiffy.

It is a CITER branch, also a franchise of Enterprise and National - the usual combobulation of brands

See https://www.enterprise.fr/en/locatio...eine-f5cq.html

PalenQ

Weekends see much less traffic I believe in Paris area - if that works.

kerouac

Oh my god, the A14, the most expensive autoroute in France! I took it once, never again. The A13 takes you in the same direction with no toll on that section.

michelhuebeli

Yes, we set our GPS to "no tolls" and gallivanted leisurely along departemental routes. Added an hour to the journey, but was worth it - we spent the savings on wine, goodies at the boulangeries in the many villages we traversed, and at a market or two

kerrilynn

thank you so much for the great info. I think I'm going to pass on the car rental in Paris and pick one up in Caen.