Driving PARIS to CHENONCEAU: Some final questions for Fodorites
 

Okay,

So hubby and I decided to rent a car to drive to Chenonceau (Loire Valley) from Paris. Here are my two final questions:

1) Will we really save a big headache by busing or training to CHARTRES first and picking up our rental car there instead of PARIS? (My husband is a very good driver. If he navigated PALERMO well, I figure Paris shouldn't be too big a problem.) For some reason, though, people have recommended a Chartres car pick-up. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS on cost and convenience benefits.

2) If we DO decide to rent a car in Paris and drive the entire way to Chenonceau (people have estimated a three-hour drive), is there a nice midway point to stop off at -- to break up the trip a little, or should we just drive all the way to Chenonceau?

Finally, we will be driving back to Paris and returning the car there. Trains back to Paris do not run very late, and we did not want to worry about rushing back or finding a bunch of complicated connections, etc.

THANKS!

--Betty

Anyone? Hello?...

I believe it costs about 11.5 E for one way train trip from Paris to Chartres. For the four of us, this added up to one day's car rental, so we made the decision to brave Paris traffic. We pick up our car from Gare du Nord, which according to other Fodorites, is not difficult to get to the Periphique from there. We too are going to Chenonceaux from Paris (in April). We decided to stop in Chartres on the way in, and stop in at Chambord (for an outside look-sea only) on the way back.

Monique,

Thanks for your input! We will brave The Peripherique as well...

Cheers,
Betty

If your husband was fine in Palermo, he should be fine in Paris, especially if you get an early-morning start - traffic on the périphérique will be all backed up and he won't have to drive more than 10 mph for most of it.

Why not stop in Chartres on the way? It's right on the way. Then you can continue south on the N10 and D924 and see some pretty countryside.

To St.Cirq: We get into Paris from the Eurostar at about 12 in the afternoon. How should traffic be at that time of day? (I'm hoping the locals are settling in for their 2 hour lunch at that time.)

StCirq,

Thank you. Also, about what time do you think we should hit The Peripherique? (We will likely travel on a Monday morning.)

Stopping in Chartres will put your arrival at Chenonceaux into the afternoon. It might be better just to stay on the autoroute (direction Tours-Bordeaux) to Amboise, then go on to Chenonceaux and have lunch there.

What time are you picking up your car? What I usually do is go to the Porte D'Orleans. The A6 goes south from there. Then follow the signs to Bordeaux.

betty: As ken says, you can go all the way on the autoroute if you want, then have lunch on arrival. The alternate route through Chartres would take longer, but of course you'd get to see Chartres! I'd leave as early as you can whichever route you decide to take, but there will certainly be rush hour traffic on the périphérique starting around 7-7:30. And the traffic can continue for quite some time, too, in my experience.

monique: it depends in part on the day of the week, but on a weekday the traffic shouldn't be too bad at noontime or early afternoon.
monique:

Thanks, St.Cirq. We'll leave Paris hopefully about 12:30 on a Tuesday, and would have to return the car on Friday, before 12:30, to avoid another day's charge. How long should it take to get to Chartres from Paris by car? How helpful are the car rental folks in Paris (I'm using Europcar) in giving directions and providing maps?

monique: It's only about 85 km to Chartres, but to allow for some mishaps I'd say it would take you about 2 hours.

I wouldn't arrive at the Europcar desk without having purchased your own map and studied it carefully. If they do have a map, it will doubtless be one of those grand-scale tourist ones that isn't much help when you're lost. Get yourself a good Michelin before leaving. Whether they'll be helpful or not, who can say? I've had car rental staff that bent over backwards to help people and others who would barely give you a nod. I'm sure they'll at least point you on the right road out of the airport, though.

To St.Cirq: another poster had recommended I use mappy.com for directions, but enter Porte de la Chapelle, instead of Gare du Nord, as my starting point, to get directions. Does that sound right?