darlenef17

We will be in Paris for 5 full days. On the 6th day, we have a flight to Italy that leaves Orly at 2:30 in the afternoon.

I had hoped to keep our apartment until noon; however, we have to be out at 10:00 as other renters are coming that day, and we cannot keep our luggage there.

We will be close to the St. Michel metro and plan to take the RER C to Orly.

Is there luggage storage at the Metro station?

Any suggestions on what to do with this awkward amount of time? I really don't want to spend extra time in the airport.

Also, what time should we leave the St. Michel station to be at Orly by 12:30 (Easy Jet website says to arrive 2 hours before a flight). I've read it takes about 30 minutes on the RER C. Is this correct?

Thank you all again for the great responses I'm sure to receive!

Gretchen

It's not a great amount of time. Go sit in a cafe, or for a bit upper experience, go have a glass of wine in the lounge of Le Train Bleu. Time your need to get to Orly from there at the Gare de Lyon.

Cathinjoetown

You may have already done so but if not, take time to read this which gives specific directions on getting to Orly by RER. I would give myself 45 minutes.

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...lic-transport/

Once you have to be out of your apartment, I don't have many suggestions, just croissant and coffee at a café close to St Michel or head out to Orly and eat lunch there, although the choices aren't brilliant. (cheaper and better than the food on Easyjet, marginally).

darlenef17

Gretchen - That sounds like a lovely suggestion, although on the Gare de Lyon website, I can only find information on transportation to CDG.

Cath - I had visited that webpage earlier and left thoroughly confused. I was told to take the RER C from St. Michel. I guess doing so avoids having to change to a bus, but on this map, it appears that either one you take requires a transfer to actually get to the airport. And I could not agree with you more about avoiding the food on Easy Jet!

Southam

A simple search for +"train bleu" will provide this for you: http://www.le-train-bleu.com/uk/#index.php
The Big Ben bar opens at 7:30 a.m.; food service there and in the big room commences at 11:30 a.m.
It is unquestionably an eye-filling experience, at premium prices, but on a sunny Paris day I would settle for any convenient sidewalk terrace to sip my eye-opener and watch the passing parade.
No RER stops right at Orly terminal but the shuttle is brief.

Cathinjoetown

Darlene,

If you take RER C, you get off at Porte de Rungis and take the bus, clealr marked, very short.

If you take RER B, get off at Antony and take the OrlyVal shuttlebtrain, again very fast.

Gare de Lyon is not on either of these lines, would require a transfer.

Or, taxi is around 30€, 30-35 min.

Gretchen

I'll just put in another plug for Le Train Bleu. For the price of a glass of wine you can see the Paris folk arrive for their lunch in this very beautiful space. And don't neglect the WCs--a trip back in time for architecture/ambience--not function. To fill an hour with a true Parisian experience (and they have a luggage room), it is more than worth the "tariff".
To the OP, you need to be a little more inventive--find the train station or whatever near the Gare.

nytraveler

Do you have to arrive at the airport 2 hours in advance - or check-in two hours in advance. these are two very different things - you may to need ealier.

Christina

I wouldn't try to cut it so close that you are thinking, should I leave 30 minutes ahead rather than 40. But I always make sure I get to the airport in time, don't like the stress.

No, they don't have a place for you to store you luggage in any RER station (automatic or manned). They only have that in a few train stations in all of France now, actually, never a metro station. In Paris, they do have it in several train stations: Gare Montparnasse, Gare de Lyon, Austerlitz, Nord (automatic) and in Gare de l'Est and St Lazare (manual). The cost is around 5-10 euro, depending on size, I think.

So you could go to that restaurant and just use their room (convenient), but then transfer RER at Chatelet-Les Halles if you want to go to Orly by RER.

Or you could go to Montparnasse and use their automatic luggage thing and do something around there, and just take the Air France bus to Orly direct, it stops right outside the train station (line 1). http://www.lescarsairfrance.com/file...il/L1_plan.pdf


None of these are that convenient to being around the St Michel metro stop, actually. Given you want to leave around 11:30-11:45 to go to the airport, having lunch in Le Train Bleu isn't really possible, though. I'd hang out in some cafe in Montparnasse, myself, if you want to get rid of luggage. Or, I might just hang out in some sidewalk cafe around the Luxembourg RER stop (or even arouned St Michel, but it's more a zoo around there), which isn't too far from where you are and you can go direct by RER from there. It depends how much luggage you really have, but if not too bad, you can usually manage to have it beside you at some sidewalk cafe, depending where you sit. At least at that time, they shouldn't be bugging you as it won't be lunch service yet.

darlenef17

Cathi - Thank you so much for the step-by-step instructions. The maps, while easy to read, often leave a few questions dangling.

Le Train Bleu looks wonderful, but I'm not sure I want to try to try to go there on our way out. It's 20 minutes on the metro from our apt, so we'd arrive there about 10:40. I think that would be just enough time to enjoy a drink and do a little people watching.

It looks like metro line 14 out of Gare de Lyon will take us to metro station Chatelet, where we could take RER B to station Antony, then transfer to the OrlyVal shuttle.

It seems doable, but hectic for a travel day. Maybe we can arrange see it during our stay instead.

I'd like to stay close to the Saint Germaine area on our travel morning or at least be moving in the direction of Orly. If we go to a cafe close by, is it permissible to have bring our luggage? We will have one 22" carry-on each, and a purse. This makes more sense to me than zigzagging on a travel day.

Any suggestions on how to spend a couple of hours in the Saint Germain area or an area going toward Orly (with luggage) appreciated!

darlenef17

Christina - I just saw your reply. Apparently you had posted while I was in the process of responding to previous posts.

You have confirmed my feelings about trying to go to Le Train Bleu. Montparnasse sounds better from a logistic standpoint. I didn't know about the AirFrance bus, so thank you for that information as well.

Luxembourg Gardens would also be a nice place to people watch for a while before we leave, weather permitting.