Will be arriving at CDG at 9:00AM on Monday 10/9/06 and will need to get to 81, Boulevard Saint-Marcel. Would love suggestions. It will be myself and 23 year old daugter traveling. Will each have 1 suitcase and 1 carryon.

The cheapest is the RER / Metro for around 8 euros per person. You would take the RER to chatelet and then change to the line 7 direction Marie d'Ivry , Villejuif and get off at Les Gobelins. However, you will have a long walk at chatelet to connect and will have to deal with your bags on escalators and stairs.

You could also take a taxi for 40-50 euros. Or there is the Air France Bus to Gare de Lyon for 12 euros each followed by a taxi or the Line 91 bus.

I would probably be inclined to either do the metro and battle with the bags or just take a taxi.

You could save considerable lugging by riding the RER to Port-Royal and then the N° 91 bus to the Les Gobelins stop (which appears to be directly in front of your hotel).

In either the RER/Métro or RER/bus scenario, you have to come up out of the ground once, but the latter eliminates the change at Châtelet.

BTW, many RER stations are luggage-friendly, as they implement bypasses like this at the turnstiles:

http://france-tourisme.net/photo/cal...R-CDG2-4_M.jpg

Here is a map of the Port-Royal station showing the N° 91 bus (Direction Bastille) stop:

http://www.ratp.info/picts/plans/pdf...port_royal.pdf

Robespierre...

Is there a place where these pdf plans are grouped?

I know some people on this forum are great advocates of RER/Metro when getting into Paris from CDG but I have to say it does not sound like a fun start to a vacation to deal with jetlag and public transportation in a city I may have never visited before. Yes, you may save money, but sometimes convenience and no hassle is worth it's price too. I'd suggest taking a cab, or at least one of the airport shuttles. We have been to Paris many times and always take a cab -- not because we are rich and/or love spending money -- but because we do not want to deal with luggage on the Metro (and we know Paris pretty well too).

I totally agree w/ Lori. The only reason I planned on using the RER for my March visit was because the flat is a very short walk from RER St Michel station and no changes/metro/bus/long walk would be involved.

But in the end there was a security alert just as I approached the CDG RER ticket window. All trains were cancelled w/ no notice, so ended up taking a cab instead. And it was great.

Oh, it's just like getting on the TGV from CDG to Lyon: you get on the train, you get off the train, you take a bus or taxi to your hotel. It's really not a saga.

Robespierre, you always seem to need to get the last word in ... perhaps to you it is no saga and you are apparently very fortunate you do not seem to suffer from jetlag or disorientation in an unfamiliar city but it can be an issue for others. I am not against saving money (nor do I think JanisJ is either), but sometimes comfort and convenience are a wiser choice. There are times when "door to door" service is a better decision depending on the person/circumstances.

In principle, I would agree that "comfort and convenience" indeed possess monetary value. But each person has to decide if moving one's luggage a couple of times is worth the incremental cost. No matter the mode, the time consumed is (approximately) the same, and the ride in any transport is about as comfortable as any other.

All other things being equal, what it comes down to is: do you think that not having to carry your bags out of a train station and onto a bus is worth $50?

Yes! I do think it's worth it. Perhaps it depends on where you're coming from. For me it is over 15- 20 hours of traveling, usually overnight with a 9 hour time difference. I am tired and grump. More importantly I am not as alert as I should to navigate public transportation and to be aware of pickpockets and baggage thieves, something the RER from CDG is a somewhat known for.

It's more than just time enroute and offset. I live 8 time zones west of Paris, and I've never had the slightest problem with the train, sometimes after having to board three airplanes to get there.

This is yet another of those "is xxx worth it?" questions that no two people answer exactly alike. The most we can hope to do is equip a questioner with all of the pros and cons and let him/her decide.

I think the reason that the RER to CDG has a higher than usual concentration of baggage thefts (if that's even true) is that it has a higher than usual concentration of baggage. The rest of the RER is not used by people coming and going to airports.

barbmike - http://tinyurl.com/mpjhn

"<is it just me or is this type of question asked around 2/3 times per week "

Yep and Robespierre gets the last word on every one of them . . . . . .

 

If you think this question (CDG into Paris) is asked alot you should read the ones that want to know how to get from Heathrow into London !!! Robespierre is always there telling people to take tube/buses and I'm usually there telling them to get a car service

and he gets the last word on those too!

Janis, Since you often recommend car services too, maybe someday we will run into Robespierre jetlagged and confused as he exits CDG or LHR and we can offer him a ride in "our car"

Actually - I don't think he ever gets off public transport. Just rides the buses/tube/metro/RER all day every day.

cfrieday, a few days ago there was a thread like this which I bookmarked for my upcoming trip. Someone suggested two different shuttle services: beeshuttle.com and parishuttle.com for E17/E19 a person. That seems like less of a hassle than trains and cheaper than a taxi. I am looking it to it for myself.