I will be in Paris and then plan on renting a car and heading toward Brittany, then Normandy. I have never traveled in France. Would it be better to pick up the car at Orly as opposed to taking the train to Rennes and then picking up the car?

Why complicate your trip? Rent the car in Paris and drive out. If you can't do that, you probably shouldn't be on the road at all.

Don't let kerouac put you off. Not wishing to drive in Paris itself is certainly no indication of whether you should or shouldn't drive in France.

I have driven a number of times in France and given the choice, prefer to pick up a car outside of Paris rather than in Paris.

If you are going to simply drive straight through to Brittany, there is nothing wrong with training to Rennes and picking up the car. It will save you a long drive. You will need to work out the cost factor of an extra day's rental as compared to the train trip.

When I did my Brittany trip about three years ago, we caught the train to Chatres because my travelling companion had never seen the cathedral, and picked up a car from there. It was an absolute breeze. We were out of town and on the open road in a couple of minutes - no worrying about navigating through a big city.

Incidentally, we personally weren't very taken with Rennes. It was too big and citified for us. We mainly go for the smaller towns, villages and open countryside.

We had a fabulous two weeks driving all around Brittany. It is absolutely fantastic countryside, beautiful churches and it has it's own separate culture and history to the rest of France. If you have the chance stay at an occasional chambre d'hote (B&B) and get to meet some of the locals properly. Several places we stayed at considered French their second language. First language is Breton.

shandy wrote: "Incidentally, we personally weren't very taken with Rennes."

Fair enough. Your tastes and preferences are your own. I respond to say that there are many who, like me, like Rennes greatly. It has plenty that appeals to the visitor, and I didn't think it had an overwhelming big city atmosphere: it's a smallish city (about 300,000 people).

The easiest way is just to fy into Rennes and pick up your car there. That works out well.

Here is a place that you might want to take a look at for you Brittany travels.http://www.kerledan.com/en/home
Enjoy............

Not quite sure about the OP's plans:

Will you spend one or more nights in Paris first? If that was the case, I would not pick up the car upon arrival at Orly -- as you don't need or want a car in the city itself.

Or do you want to head for Bretagne straight from Orly (without going to Paris first)? If that was the case, you could pick up the car in Orly since you won't have to drive in the city of Paris to get to the autoroute for Rennes/Bretagne.

I'll be spending some days in Paris before I leave for Brittany so I won't be flying into Rennes. I don't plan on staying in Rennes just thought of it as a likely place to pick up the car. I am not afraid to drive in France as I think anyone who has driven in LA and Ireland can probably handle a highway in France. Of course, I'd prefer not to drive in Paris as there is plenty of other transit options there.

Is Orly a good place to pick up the car? Is it easy to get to by train/metro?

Pick up the car on the west side of Paris at the Porte Maillot. It might be cheaper than Orly because of potential fees for an airport pick-up. It might be useful to have a print-out of the detailed map for your return location (it is easier to drive out than to drive into Paris).

We've done it all 4 ways-from the airport, from a nearby city- Chartres-, from Paris and and from Rennes. It depends on what you want to experience and how much time you have.

If time is not an issue, we would leave from Paris (or airport if you were not starting out from a Paris visit) every time. There are so many interesting things to see in the Ile de France alone, let alone along the way to Brittany. Driving is no worse than any other major metropolitan city-especially if you time when you leave with some thought.

Chartres or Orly is an option to avoid driving "in the city", but if I were to go to all the aggravation of getting to a train station with luggage, finding the right train and lugging it on board...I'd go all the way to Rennes...especially if time was an issue. Car rental is right next door to the train station...very easy to get out of town if you've studied your map a little beforehand. You can get a Rennes TGV to CDG for your return, if that is where you are flying from on the return trip.

On our trip last year, we picked up a car directly at CDG to head out to Brittany. A check of costs and rail timetables suggested it to be both faster and easier to do it this way. But, I personally have no jet lag issues about coming from the US, and jumping right into a car for a 6 hour drive - and I realize this is not for everyone.

Also, would never drive in France again without my trusty GPS system ("Madame La Carte&quot, which I would use anywhere, even in the largest cities like Paris (but really only going in and/or out in that case, since there's no reason to have car there).

Agree that Brittany makes for fabulous driving. For more, see my phototravelogue at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-24d4pe

If you are leaving from Paris, you can arrange to pick up your car at the rental office located nearest the ring road. We have done this twice -- once on a quiet Sunday morning. Armed with directions & a map provided by the agent, it was fairly easy to get to the motorway!

Good luck!

2010

Driving in/out of Paris is no big deal. Doing a train trip just to avoid the small amount of driving you'd need to do to leave Paris seems silly to me. Pick up a car on the outskirts if you're really concerned.

Nice to hear a few voices of reason. Leaving the city is always easy. The only complication for most people is driving INTO the city and trying to find a specific address -- that can be difficilt even for Parisians sometimes.

Our experience is that it is usually easy to get out of Paris. We just check a city map and pick the nearest large boulevard heading towards the Peripherique.

And, many of the agencies will arrange to deliver the car at your hotel, sometimes requiring intervention by the hotel concierge, at no extra cost.

But, if you are not comfortable with a standard transmission, you will need to reserve early (regardless of where you pick up the care) and be prepared to pay a substantial premium.

Thanks for all the great information. I think Porte Maillot sounds like our best option.

Would Porte Maillot be a better location than Montparnassee?

I've looked at the map and don't see any problem getting onto the Peripherique on the way out from Montparnassee(sp), however, what about coming back?

It was my intention of coming back via Giverny to Charles De Gaulle on the morning before our afternoon flight home. Hopefully there won't be a problem picking up and dropping off at different locations. I haven't booked the rental car yet so I guess I'll find out.

Porte Maillot isn't even "driving out of the city" -- it is on the city limits right on the périphérique ring road. Montparnasse requires driving straight down one boulevard for about 800 meters to get to the autoroute, for those who are not panicked by the idea of complicated things like stopping at traffic signals when necessary.

Red light is feu, right?

feu rouge, more precisely.