wliwl

We may, or may not, want to rent a car for a day in Paris. We'd just drive around Loire Valley.

Here are my questions:

What do we need to bring from home? Obviously, driver's license. Do we need car insurance papers? (We'd probably just buy whatever insurance they are selling.)

Where would we get a car? Can you rent a car for just one day in Paris? Auto Europe seems to indicate a 3-day minimum - but is that just if you are reserving a car?

What are the odds of them having a car available when we get to the rental place? It would be June 16 or 17.

Thanks for your help!

Travelnut

There are tons of car rental agencies in Paris... I'd go to an internet cafe at least the day before and reserve using the internet. My thinking is that this will circumvent any upcharge for being a 'walk up' customer.

Personally, I recommend full CDW but that's my comfort level.

I used www.Avis.<b>fr</b> instead of Avis.com because the rate included insurance and was still cheaper than the US website. (!) (we picked up our car at the train station in St Pierre des Corps, near Tours/Amboise area).

nytraveler

Most cars in europe are standard transmission. If you want to rent a car with automatic I would definitely reseve in advance - or it could be impossible to find.

Usually reservations do not require prepayment of deposits - unless you're getting some super deal - so what's the risk in reserving now and getting it off your mind?

Also - I would not want to waste valuable vacation tine searchng out a car rental company, finding the office, looking at all the options etc. Unless money is no option - in that case simply speak to your concierge the night before and he will have whatever car you want waiting for you in front of the hotel in the AM.

Also - do reco you get an International drivers Lic from AAA. Agencies differ on whether they require this or not (in addition to your real lic - no one cares about your US insurance - it's useless in europe) but it is handy if stopped by the police for any reason.

ira

Hi wl,

How long will yo be in Paris? Is this your first visit?

wliwl

travelnut:
Thanks. How did you get to Tours? Did you take the train? I think it is expensive, and so we're thinking of just driving out of Paris. TOo risky?

nytraveler:
Thanks. Don't care about standard transmission. We'll drive anything that fits all four of us. We can't do the concierge because we are staying in an apartment.

nytraveler

Driving out of Paris is not risky - but can be time-consuming. At a minimum I would check out companies, rates and locations in advance. the trick is to get a rental office near the peripherique (ring road) so you can get right on the highway - and are not stuck driving through central Paris traffic.

Intrepid1

Here's another alternative to the fast, but sometimes expensive, train to Tours.

You can go to Austerlitz and take the slower (about 1 hr 45 minutes) and cheaper train to Blois. Either rent a car from Avis which has a rental agreement and location with SNCF at the rail station, or rent through autoeurope which has a location (it is actually a Europcar location) within a couple of kms of the station in the town of Blois.

You can easily explore the eastern end of the Loire Valley from there to include Chenonceau, Amboise, etc.

Consider this if you are really worried about renting a car in Paris or driving in and out of the city.

wliwl

Thanks again everybody!

Ira:
This is our second time to Paris. Husband and I spent 10 days there in (gasp - was it really so long ago?!) 1995. This time we have our teens with us. We'll be in Paris for 6 days. That's why I want to be flexible on this one. If we feel like leaving the city, we will. Otherwise, we'll stay put with a side trip to Versailles. I'm on planning overload right now!

intrepis:
Do you think we need advance reservations for that train to Austerlitz? Husband doesn't care where he drives (he'll drive in Manhattan for instance) but I'll be a nervous wreck in lots of traffic without really understanding the signs etc.

wliwl

intrepid:
The SNFC site lists these as possible &quot;choices&quot; for Austerlitz: Acqui Terme (IT), St Astier (24), Astorga (ES), Astorp (SE). Which one am I choosing? Thankas so much!

wliwl

intrepid:
Sorry! Cancel that last stupid question! I put in Paris and could see it came up with Austerlitz. That route is 161.00&euro; for the 4 of us - reasonable I think. Thanks so much.

wliwl

Now, what's the scoop with this - SNFC says it will not make reservations for that train, but it is willing to sell us tickets. So, am I buying tickets that would essentially be good on those trains for any day? Also, is the train ever &quot;sold out&quot;? Could I just show up at the station and buy tickets? So many questions - I'm sorry. I'm such a pain!

Travelnut

We took the TGV from Gare Montparnasse to St Pierre des Corps (outside of Tours). Bought round-trip tickets, total fare was 124&euro; (r/t for 2). I believe the TGV fare already includes seat reservations. If you're taking the regional instead, then it is optional. Don't know how crowded those trains can be...

I had read that the drive from Paris into Loire V. was not that interesting and could have a lot of traffic; also, had not driven in France before and didn't want to start in Paris.

I had a couple of Michelin fold-out maps and some detailed printouts from Mappy.com; all in all, those worked out well. Signage can be confusing sometimes - you navigate by directing toward certain towns/cities on the road signs, rather than highway numbers.

RonZ

Search posts by bettyo, who is doing a similar trip.

Christina

They often don't have reserved seats on the smaller, local runs on French trains. They probably don't have them on that train because it's not a TGV, just a regular train, and I imagine it's not croweded as most folks would take the TGV. The ticket should be good on any train on the route for any time within 60 days, as I recall -- but it has to be that same kind of train from Austerlitz to wherever, you can't use it on a different train that is a TGV or anything.

If there aren't reservations, there isn't much point in buying tickets real far ahead for those kind of short runs.