1 Night in Paris...take RER into city for dinner from CDG
 

Good afternoon, we will have one evening at CDG between flights and would like to take RER into town for dinner. This will be 3rd time to Paris, but this time on our own! We've been to the main sights, stayed in St. Germain area, so interested in something new but easy access to RER for dinner. I was thinking Montmartre/Sacra Coeur might be an option, the travel time looks about the same versus Les Halles/Chatelet stop.

a) should be safe, right? I hear mixed messages

b) restaurant recs in area? Looking for mid to upper range. Classic french food. We ate at Restaurant de la Tour (http://www.restaurant-delatour.fr/en) for my birthday a few years back, something along the lines of that would be fantastic.

Thank you in advance.

I'm sure others will have different ideas, but I wouldn't head there for dinner.

I'd head to Ciel de Paris, atop The Montparnasse Tower, and have an excellent dinner with spectacular views of the Eiffel Tower and the entire city. Be sure to ask for a window table. They have several options for dinner. We've eaten there 3 times and have never been disappointed.

www.cieldeparis.com/en/

How much time between flights? Remember that you'll need to re-clear security when you return to CDG.

<i>a) should be safe, right? I hear mixed messages</i>

What do you mean safe?

<i>b) restaurant recs in area? </i>

What area and how long do you have? If you want to go into Paris for diner and you are staying the night near CDG, I might recommend your taking the RER B to les Halls and reserving at Benoit. It´s not terribly far from the RER B exit:

http://www.benoit-paris.com/

Their dinner menu is currently 39€ which I would consider moderate.

If you have a flight departing that same night, you probably do not have sufficient time to go into Paris for dinner.

I would also take the RER to Les Halles/Chatelet stop. About a 5 minute walk once out of the metro stop is Pirouette which has great food.
http://www.oenolis.com/mods/pirouette-en-2/

RER is safe. Just beware of bag snatchers. To take extra precaution, you Can wait for non stop trains (only off peak hours). On the way back to CDG, I would prefer to take a cab, not because it is safer but so convenient and not That expensive.especially if your hôtel is not close to RER station.

SAfe. No. Of course. Paris is a cutthroat. They even killed their own king the good Henri IV who was mugged whilst tzaking money from an ATM. By a guy called Ravaillac, for those interested.

And if you survive the muggers, avoid the parks, they are full of rats.

If you do intend to go to Paris, and want an 'étoilé' I've only been to Pergolèse, in the street of same name, close to Porte Maillot.

I am not sure going to Chatelet will save time - by the time you exityou'll have spend 10 min a that maze...

If you want a very good quality price ratio, I ate superbly at PouicPouic in the 5th rue Lobineau

fil des saisons fontaine rue du temple in the third close to Republique was fantastic too.

A lot of people try to pretend that Paris has no crime and is perfect. It's not, yes, it will probably be safe, but there are occasional problems on the RER line as well as others. I was on one when there was, a person being violent. As far as pickpocketing, that can happen too or theft. So yes, it probably will be safe, but no, Paris is not perfect or crime-free.

I have no idea what mixed messages you are hearing other than that it is generally safe but no one can promise you 100% no problems.

It's a big city and its as safe or unsafe as any big city.
I do agree Chatelet stop is a maze and takes some time to exit. However its a direct shot on the RER B to CDG so that helps.

>>> I was thinking Montmartre/Sacra Coeur might be an option, the travel time looks about the same versus Les Halles/Chatelet stop.

I am kicking around this statement. Montmartre is not on RER line. Just look at the map https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8849.../data=!5m1!1e2. You have to change to a metro to get there. In which case, it really does not matter where in Paris you are going and opens up all kinds of options.

My God. One aggressive guy in the metro !
Worse than I thought. Avoid metro. Avoid Paris. Avoid aggressive people.
Avoid france.

We've ended many trips to France with dinner at the Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon - a feast for the eyes.
http://www.le-train-bleu.com/uk/index.php

I think there are shuttles to the Gare de Lyon from CDG.

Stu Dudley

wow thank you SO much for the restaurant recs.

We will arrive late afternoon into CDG, fly out next morning. Will stay at one of airport hotels with close access to RER.

As far as "safe", I was reading a few threads on here how some neighborhoods in vicinity of Montmartre are not as safe as others.

I realize we'd have to take a second train to get to the area, but on the Paris metro time table it looked about same amount of time to get to Sacre Coeur area as Les Halles or St. Michel (~55 min). Thought it would be cool to visit area we hadn't seen yet.

I will check out the restaurants suggested. We are open to wherever, just excited to have time to have dinner in town on our trip!

Not sure what you are looking at for times, but CDG to Chatelet/LesHalles (or St, Michel) is ~40 minutes with no changes. CDG to Montemarte is approximately 1 hour with a change from the RER B to a metro line. Given that you have the entire evening that 20 minutes or so shouldnt make a difference to your plans, so I would go wherever you want.

I think you may be referring to the possibility of terrorist attacks on the RER. And it's possible. But we're still going to Paris this coming week and we're going to use the RER, so...

We do see pickpockets on the B line. Your luggage is going to be back at the hotel, so you will be hands free and that helps a lot.

We've stayed a couple of times near the airport and once the RER just broke down. Seriously broke down--we're talking hours, and we could not get off because we were between stops. However, I'd still in hindsight keep the travel arrangements we made. We were in the Sheraton inside the Terminal twice--maybe even three times. It's worked well for us.

I totally agreed with the others about Montmartre. It's not the same distance and it can be a pain in the neck sometimes to get there. But as YesTravel says, if you want to go there, then do it.


DebitMN--I'm writing down your Ciel de Paris tip. We've made most of our reservations for the week while our adult kids overlap stays, but my husband and I have two nights "free". We've never been to the top of that building.

<i> 1 Night in Paris...take RER into city for dinner from CDG
Posted by: mku4440 on Dec 19, 16 at 12:01pm</i>

On a CDG layover I checked into the Airport Sheraton, cleaned up, walked over to the RER escalator, took the train to Luxembourg, and then walked around my old neighborhood in the 5th and 6th. I went back to one of my favorite restaurants http://www.montparnasse-1900.com/en/, named in my younger days as Le Bistro de la Gare Montparnasse, then returned late to CDG. Up the next morning, I had a short walk to my check-in desk and was soon in the Luft. The Paris sortie was a great refresher.

AlessandraZoe - lunch at Ciel is also lovely. Same great views sans the lights.

We are also big fans of Le Ciel.

Well, the Chinese embassy told it's citizens not to take the RER from CDG: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...e-Airport.html

I met American friends in Paris a year ago, and they were surrounded by a group of men on the way in on the RER who pressed in on them, and one had his passport stripped from him but he got it back after they left it on the floor.

And the U.S. State department issued this warning:
"The US government also urges citizens to be aware of the risks of riding the metro in France, particularly the RER B from Charles de Gaulle airport. The State Department website advises that pickpockets target unsuspecting tourists..."
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160316/what...and-vice-versa

So maybe the OP's question could be answered with a bit more respect and understanding as to whether the situation has improved?

I cant see the lack of respect ?
"it is generally safe but no one can promise you 100% no problems."
"there are occasional problems on the RER line as well as others"
"its as safe or unsafe as any big city."
"RER is safe. Just beware of bag snatchers"

True that there were high profile incidents involving Chinese tourists (and not only on the RER).

I ride RER everyday and, cross fingers, the most serious things I witnessed were bags snatched away. This usually happens between Aulnay and Roissy, only on trains that stop everywhere and generally on the last car of the train. Unsuspecting tourists leave their bags unattented and a guy will snatch it just before doors close.

Since the incidents with the Chinese, there are more police or SUGE (SNCF police) patrolling the trains, advising people to care for their bags and also asking not to put their feet on seats (which seems to be a bad habit for several tourists...)

<i> asking not to put their feet on seats (which seems to be a bad habit for several tourists...)</i>

The SNCF can, and has issued fines to those who put their feet on the seats. I guess the idea is treat the SNCF property as you would your own.

US issuing warnings about taking RER ?
And you are talking about respect ?
BS.
Listen to US and stay home or come to Paris and oay a little bit attention. But don't ask for respect when US authorities show none for Paris.

<i>dfourh on Dec 20, 16 at 5:14pm
Well, the Chinese embassy told it's citizens not to take the RER from CDG: </i>

The vermin know that Chinese typically carry a large amount of currency. They are favorite targets of pickpockets everywhere. The train from Schiphol to Amsterdam is another favorite ride for pickpockets and luggage thieves.

There is a fancy new restaurant by 2-star Michelin chef Thierry Marx inside Gare du Nord -- l'Etoile du Nord. It has been built on a platform overlooking the activity of the station. It would by far be the easiest place to go since it is right on top of the RER station.

http://www.sncf.com/fr/presse/articl...-nord-18112016

The station itself if in the midst of a giant makeover, which should put many complaints to rest about the area being "seedy."

Never seen yet l'Etoile du Nord - good to tell us Kerouac.

Close to GDN - down rue Magenta, just on the corner where you find some 'halles', there is a great restuarant called Mamagoto. A little bit 'branchouille' but good food, wine is not that great. Not that expensive.

Going the other way, rue Belzunce you find some great places. I went to 2 restaurants there, one was real great (ardoise gourmande), the other quite nice (forgot the name).

I would not take the RER all the way into Paris to eat in the train station. You're in Paris one night! Make it a memory. If you want to go to Montmartre, go. Take a taxi. I put a friend in an Uber to Gare du Nord yesterday at peak traffic time from the Terrass Hotel and it was 7 euro.

I would take a taxi to the Terrass, have a drink on the rooftop bar, then walk a couple of blocks to rue d'Abbesses and then either hop on the Montmartrobus (a small bus that wends its way through the little curvy hilly streets of Montmartre - 1,80 euro) for a lively tour of the village. You can visit Sacre Coeur if you like that way. If you want to go straight for a nice meal, continue walking down rue d'Abbesses to rue de Martyrs and go to Miroir.

Montmartre is a 10 minute walk from Gare du Nord.

If you want fine dining in Montmartre, check reviews for restaurant Eugène Sue.

Or, look up Cocorico, if you are big fans of roasted chicken and other birds.

Of course the real question is what is really important? Do you want so see something new (Montmartre) or just have a nice meal in Paris before you return to your airport hotel? Frankly, the more time you spend eating, the less time you will have to discover anything new in Paris in just a few hours.

Not being a foodie, I would recommend going to see Sacré Coeur and some of the streets of Montmartre and just grabbing a bite to eat anywhere that looks convenient. Will it really be a travel tragedy if the meal is not excellent?