I will need a car in France for the entire WW1 & 2 battlefields tour we will be taking at the end of June. One option is to pick it up at CDG2 when we land, the other is to hop a train to, say, Arras, and pick it up there (smaller city, less traffic). I favour the airport option unless the line-ups at CDG car rental agencies are long, the process slow, and the driving out of the airport a hassle (traffic, maze of roads, etc). I've landed at CDG2 several times, taken the train from the airport gare, and have driven in France (mostly rural areas), so I have some familiarity with the variables. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks in advance.

We had no trouble picking up the car we had already reserved via internet. The roads leaving CDG are well marked and we had no problem getting out of town. I think it would be a bigger hassle to ride a train to another town to get the car.

I picked up a Kemwel rental at CDG Europcar (Terminal 2 B). We activated the GPS that Kemwel had provided for payment of the $40 round trip FedEx shipping) and were out of the airport in no time at all.

I don't think there will be any advantage in taking a train out of the airport, you could be halfway to Lille by the time you get on a train and the cost of the train will be more than the airport charges not included in the rental fee.

But, be certain to stop at an ATM to get some currency, because the road north out of CDG is a toll road and you will not be able to use the automated credit card booths with a North American issued credit card.

<i> because the road north out of CDG is a toll road and you will not be able to use the automated credit card booths with a North American issued credit card.</i>

But surely there are some booths that are manned.

To make my statement clear: and would accept credit cards without the chip.

Thanks for the advice, normanius and Jeff. I'll make the car reservations very soon, with pick-up at CDG.