I am renting a car and will be coming from Bayeux to Paris. Europcar's drop of fee for Caen is over $500. I will not pay that, so I must drop car off in Paris. Has anyone ever dropped off their car in Montparnasse. Is diving there that difficult? We will be staying around Luxembourg Gardens so it is close to the drop-off point.

The only other alternative is Orly Airport. But that it much further out and then involves a train ride back inot Paris.

Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.

Orly isn't "much further out" when you compare it to the hassle of navigating Paris streets to reach Montparnasse.

From a standing start in Caen, you'll reach your hotel sooner by returning the rental at the airport.

OrlyVal to Antony, RER B to Luxembourg station - 22 minutes. If you drove into town, you'd be lucky to be pulling into the return lot at Montparnasse in that time.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can ride the free shuttle to Pont de Rungis and take RER C to Gare d'Austerlitz or St-Michel Notre-Dame and walk or bus or Métro from there.

I've dropped off a car at Montparnasse, and the biggest problem I've had is FINDING the place.

Driving in Paris is no worse then driving in other major cities of the world -- ie, it can be pretty un-nerving. Make sure you have a map of how to get from the Circular to the station, as the signage is not as good as I would have hoped. Mapporama and ViaMichelin give adequate Europe maps.

The garage for rental returns is across the street from the main station, and the entrance for rental return is fairly well maked. You'll take a walkway to the main offices of rental agencies.

The rental agreement I had noted that I should not give the keys to a garage attendant without proper ID. I just decided to take no chances and returned the keys direct to the counter.

Sorry if you already know this, but I should mention the following:
1) Discover{R} card, which I usually use for car rentals, is worthless in Europe.
2) your auto insurance is almost guaranteed to NOT cover rentals outside the US and Canada.
3) check with your credit card company on what they will cover for European car rentals. You may be able to avoid CDW, which is as much a rip-off in Europe as it is in the US.

$500 sounds to be really out of line. Check with Auroeurope, the toll free number.

So, what's the drop-off fee for Bayeux? It's ten minutes further from Paris by train (and the last train of the day doesn't even stop in Caen).

May I ask where you are picking up the car, and whether or not there is regular train service to Normandy?

In our experience, the best (and highly cost-effective) way to tour the area is with a driver/guide hired from the Tourist Information Office in Caen or Bayeux.

Dropping a car in Montparnasse is a nightmare - very hard to find the rental drop place which is different from where you pick up a rental. We have done it twice - never again! We are dropping off in Rennes in May and taking the train to Paris. We rented through AutoEurope, but the agency is Europcar. It did not show a drop off fee.

If you drop off at Orly, isn't there an airport surcharge? Is it very much more?

If you drop the car off at Orly airport you can take the Orly bus right into Denfert Rochereau, it's quick, maybe 20-25 minutes and catch a taxi, bus or metro to the Luxembourg area.

It is indeed a pain to drop off your car at Montparnasse. The train station covers blocks and you best know exactly what street you need to drop on.

However, I have rented from Europcar in France numerious times and never paid a drop off fee. I also do not see any europcar agency in Bayeux. Are you sure you are getting a quote from Europcar?

Oh i see now, you are renting elsewhere. Did u rent outside of France? Otherwise there should be no drop off fee at all.

Thanks for all the replies. I changed my drop off point to Orly and we will take th trin to Paris. Yes, we are renting the car in Montreux Switzerland.

Yes -dropped the car off there after a a lot of difficulty finding the rental car office.

TOPPING...

Anymore recent experiences or anyone else wants to chime in?

We're picking up a car (AutoEurope) in Tours, but will be returning it in Paris. Since we're staying in the 6th eme, it makes most sense to drop off at Montparnasse.

Can anyone tell me what street or building or sign I'm looking for at Montparnasse when we return our car??? Thanks!

Sorry to disagree, but I don't think it's that difficult to drop off a car at Montparnesse. The Hertz office is at 45 Avenue du Maine, so that's what you need to look for. It's about a block after Avenue du Maine begins as an offshoot of Rue de Montparnesse; the Montparnesse Commercial Building (which is where the Metro is located) is just to the west (along the aptly named Rues d'Arrive and Rue de Depart) The car rentals and returns are in parking garages that are diagonally across a traffic circle and a half block further along the street, under the Galerie Commerciale Gaité, on the side of the street opposite the rental office. It isn't all that difficult to navigate if you stop at the office first. I've picked up cars twice at Montparnesse and dropped off a car there on one occasion, but since I walked to the Hertz office from our Left Bank Hotel in each case, I didn't have to worry about traffic. The folks at the rental agency provided reasonable directions for me to find the car each time, and when I returned the car, I stopped at the office first to find out where they wanted me to park it. They are open at 8:30 A.M., and I would guess they close at 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. I would agree with other posters that driving in Paris is a lot like other big city driving, not horrible but not easy. Hope this helps.

Midnightsun-

I'm renting the car from AutoEurope - do they use the same drop off rental office as Hertz at Montparnasse?

yk - AutoEurope is a broker, not the car rental agent. What address does it show at Montparnasse to be?

There's no address. It's just

"Paris Scnf Pasteur Montparnasse"

Okay, the address on Autoeurope.com for Montparnasse says "Pasteur". That suggest they use Europcar which has its office inside "Hall Pasteur" inside the the train station.

Avis and Hertz has offices on the streets adjacent to the station.

Anyways, the thing to do is to ask Europcar (or what ever agent) after you get to France specifically where their parking spots are for the Montparnasse office. That will save the trip of walking into the station itself to the office to find out.

yk: I agree with rkkwan that you should ask your rental agent when you pick up the car. I have known AutoEurope to contract with Hertz in Scandinavia; I'm not sure if they do so in France, so you're probably returning to the train station rather than the parking garage where Hertz (and Avis) have spaces.

An easy drop off is (suprizingly) the Hertz location at the Louvre. It is in the Carousel parking garage. Just got to the Louvre follow the signs to carusel parking, go in and follow signs for Hertz. Their desk is inside - one floordown from the shopping carousel, another "plus"