driving time from Amboise to Paris
 

I'll be driving from Amboise to Paris on a Friday morning in April. I have never rented a car in France so this promises to be an adventure. I'll need to get the car back to Invalides Railway Station by 12 noon. (I chose Invalides as a drop-off because the apartment I'm renting in Paris is very close.) How much time should I plan on for driving. How difficult will it be to get into Invalides? How does car drop-off work in Paris. Would there be a "booth" at the Railway station where I drop off the keys? Should I fill up on gas before Paris or in Paris?

First, there's no such thing as an Invalides Railway Station to my knowledge - certainly not a train station - do you mean the métro stop called Invalides? I know AutoEurope has a pickup/dropoff place right near there, but I don't understand the "railway" connection.

If you knew the route, you could do it in 2.5 hours. Given that this will be your first experience, I'd an hour onto that, at least. It's not hard to get into the Invalides area from the périphérique, but I can guarantee you'll have some nerve-wracking moments.

If you don't return the car with the tank full, you'll be charged (at a premium) for them to fill it.

Sometimes even when you return the car with a full tank, you are charged the exhorbitant fill up fee. Be sure to save your receipt from the gas station in case you need to prove you returned it full.

My reservation says return to "Invalides Railway Station." What would be the best way to get directions for the trip from Amboise to Paris? And to StCirq, do you know where is the AutoEurope drop-off at Invalides? and thanks for the responses.

Hi monique,

> Would there be a "booth" at the Railway station where I drop off the keys?
Do not "drop off the keys". Make sure that you turn the keys over to an agent of the rental company and have all of the paper work complete before you leave.


((I))

The Invalides 'rail station' is indeed an SNCF rail station, albeit one on RER line C, run in tandem by the SNCF and the RATP. Formerly it was AirFrance's intown terminal with rail link to Orly Airport. Thus it's a rail station but really a metro station but it has a substantial above ground glass building above it that once was the AirFrance terminal and may contain car rental agencies as it did the last time i was in it or still may be for all i know. It's on the Seine opposite the Louvre. I'd take the Porte d'Italie exit from the autoroute and scoot down the main boulevard there to the Seine but that may not be the best way. Optimally this would be about a three hour drive i suspect.

Thanks, PalQ. I had no idea! And I walk by that Air France building all the time (it still says Air France on it).

monique: You can get exact driving directions at www.mappy.com, but do yourself a favor and buy a good paper map, too, and familiarize yourself with the route ahead of time. Trust me, you don't want to be on French highways, and especially driving into Paris, winging it!

I live about 20 miles from Amboise. The drive to Paris will take you three to four hours on the autoroute, depending on traffic getting into Paris (including backups at the toll gate) and depending on how long it takes you to find the Gare des Invalides. The autoroute toll from Amboise is about 15 euros. The autoroute entrance is at La Harpinière, about 8 miles north of Amboise on the D31 road, direction Chateau-Renault.

Unless things have changed in the past 18 months, there are four or five car rental desks at the Gare des Invalides. Most of the major companies (Hertz, National, etc.) are there -- I'm not sure about Avis, because there is an Avis office just a few blocks away on the rue Bixio.

There is a gas station in the underground parking garage where the rental car companies park their cars, so filling up shouldn't be a problem.

That's the procedure, by the way -- you park the car in the garage and then walk a short block to the rental car desk in the station. The garage entrance is on the rue Constantine Pelterie.

Maybe it's too late for you to do this, but if you are flying out upon your return to Paris, you could find out if there is a charge to drop off at the airport instead. When we rented in Dublin, we rented south of the city center on a road that (luckily) pointed to the highway south. Upon return we left the car at the airport in the north of town. Boy did we hear some stories from friends who tried to drive THROUGH the town.

thank you to ckenb and PalQ. You provided very specific information, but are the two of you talking about the same location? Is the Gare des Invalides the same as the Invalides rail station?

Yes, the Gare des Invalides is the same place as the Invalides rail station you are talking about.

Gare or rail station is something of a misnomer, though there is an RER station there nowadays. Invalides is not a rail station or gare the way Montparnasse, Saint-Lazare, and Austerlitz are. It is mainly an Air France bus terminal where there are several car rental counters.