Landing at CDG - how to get into Paris given Uber issue?
 

Hi all,

Leaving tonight for Paris but am reading that the ring road is entirely blocked due to protests over uber. what is the best way into the city? RER to Gare du Nord and then subway? Once you get to Gare du Nord, can you then take a taxi since you are within the city? We are travelling with kids and luggage so having to change subways twice to get to our apt in the 3rd is a pain! MERCI!!

The RER is the best way even when the roads are open. Gare du Nord was completely blocked by taxis until late last night. I don't know about today.

The traffic is heavy on the RER and the service is slowed southbound beginning at Gare du Nord. Otherwise, the trains are running normally. From CDG, it´s 10€ to any métro station in Paris.

I just read the news and they said the ring road was NOT blocked today, so I'm not understanding that, I just read LeParisien and it was recent. But they were also blocking around train stations, so no guarantee that being in Paris is the solution to anything, that definitely isn't so given their rallying point is in Paris (Pte Maillot) and they block train stations, also. But I read Gare du Nord was okay this am, also.

good luck, I'm going in about 10 days also and am watching for this to figure out how to leave, also. I never use Uber myself, and I understand the issues and don't think it is fair competition, either.

With a little luck, both sides will finally understand that certain changes need to be made in their operations, but that will not happen just yet.

Vive le métro.

I'm for deregulating the taxi business much like any other business - open to all, meeting licensing requirements that are not stacked in favor of established taxi companies - why should cabbies have a monopoly on this like any other business.

That said I feel for the cabbies for sure but let the free market play out, something France often fails to grasp and then we have this type of chaos all too much.

Paris taxi fares are skyhigh - let competition set a reasonable level. Rand Paul would OK that!

A Brazilian friend arrived from Sao Paulo today and called me. He had three big suitcases (carrying things for other people) and absolutely could not take the RER by himself. He said he walked away from the terminal with his cart and was offered a ride an unofficial car. He paid 80€ to get to the 14th arrondissement, and I told him that under the circumstances, it was not a bad deal at all.

If he had just called me sooner, I have a deal with Europcar to get a car for just 29€ a day and I easily could have gone to pick him up.

Our expectation is on Tuesday we arrive in Paris at 9:35am and should clear security bye 10:30-11:00am.

Our intent now is to take the RER to Les Halles and walk to our apartment on Chapon in the Marais.

Seems like about a mile to walk.

sound about right?

If the taxi's are in service, we may take a taxi.




















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erhaps bye 10:30am

Yes anywhere in the Marais is a short enough stroll from Chatelet-Les Halles metro/RER station. some of the street like the main one Rue Rosiers I think is pedestrian only.

Cripes, not sure what happened with the spacing.

Pal, THANKS much

Not going until Oct., so hoping cab-Uber mess will have sorted itself out a bit. Have booked Hotel St Honore near Chatelet-Les Halles, gambling that even if we have to walk to the RER, for a 10 am flight (i.e. rushhour transit), we're better off taking that line straight through - and cheaper than cab, anyway. Anyone want to corroborate or warn me of something I haven't taken into account?

Hop

I have no idea why the keyboard added the comment "Hop" - perhaps an indirect way of saying it wants a beer.

Anyway, to be clear, we are leaving for CDG from the hotel, not trying to come from CDG to the hotel.

Hi all,

Bonjour de Paris! Happy to report no issues today upon landing at CDG. Bonnes vacances!

Be careful with the fake taxis. In April at the Gare du Nord, people would come up to you offering rides when you exited the station to the front.

These were mostly African or Middle Eastern people.

They wanted 40-60 Euro to go down to St. Germain.

A real taxi dropped off a passenger in front of the station and I tried to hail it but he pointed to the side of the station.

So that's where we went and again, some fake taxis tried to intercept us. But we got into the taxi rank line, which has railing and waited for our taxi.

On the meter it ended up like 16 Euro.

If taxis want to be competitive, they need to have an app. to summon them, like Uber, with the ability to pay by credit card through the app. They need to come up to the 21st century.

But I mostly took buses while in Paris, using the excellent Citymapper app. (it will also calculate metro rides too) which showed you all the buses coming up near your location in relation to your destination. It would be better still if they tracked busses real time in GPS so you knew which ones were near but this was good enough.

You must always be sure that you are in the official taxi line and ignore anyone who offers you a taxi in any other way, scrb…..

We were just at Gare de Lyon recently and despite knowing this, it was a bit convoluted to find the taxi line. Appeared that only 1 remotely located doorway went to the official line and it took some winding around the station to get to it. This makes it especially easy for the unofficial drivers to attract customers.

I don't understand why they even allow unlicensed drivers like that to openly tout their services.

If the taxi drivers are upset about Uber, why not about this too?

Or maybe these ripoffs are charging too much that the taxi drivers don't see them as viable competition.

They do not "allow" unlicensed drivers to do this. They are arrested as often as possible, and their vehicles are confiscated.

However, I am completely in favour of a big hike in the tourist tax to increase enforcement personnel. Of, if you prefer, they can take the police from the anti-pickpocket brigades and send them to the train station to hold the hands of tourists who might be dragged off by illegal drivers if too many of them are too weak to walk to the taxi station by themselves without being seduced by these criminals.

No it's about people being misled in an unfamiliar situation.

They were operating with impunity in front of the station.

I am sorry, scrb, but I am confused. Are you saying that these cars were in the official taxi line?

Our experience with these guys was that they approach you on foot and ask if you "need a ride". If they are parked somewhere *not* in the official line and people enter their cars, it could be difficult to separate illegal drivers from people just picking up their friends and/or some other form of pre-arranged pick up that is happening in front of the station…..

They had cars in front of the station and also near the official taxi rank.