jane

We will be staying in an apartment in the Marais district of Paris at the end of the month. We have to vacate the apt by 10:00 AM. Our flight home is at 4:00 PM. Any ideas on what we can do with our luggage so that we can enjoy a few hours on our last day in Paris without dragging our luggage with us. It would be great if we could check our luggage at the train station like they do in Switzerland but I don't believe that's possible.

jan

You might make an arrangement with a hotel in the neighborhood to hold it for a few hours. There might be a nominal charge, but it's a pretty reasonable request. Good luck.

elvira

You can leave your bags at left luggage at the train station; some stations do have luggage lockers. You can also check your luggage through to your destination (as long as you have a ticket or railpass for the destination). <BR> <BR>And, according to the SNCF site, there's some sort of pickup/dropoff luggage service offered by SNCF; see below: <BR> <BR>Do you dream of taking the train without being weighed down? <BR> <BR>With a simple phone call, you can ask us to take your luggage from wherever you want, and deliver it to wherever you are going. <BR> <BR>As of now you can opt for one of these services: <BR>HOME to HOME, STATION to STATION or STATION to HOME. <BR> <BR>Key points in the new luggage service <BR> <BR>- You can buy this service from any station or SNCF boutique, <BR>or by simply calling 0 803 845 845 (0.98 F (0.15 euro) / min). <BR> <BR>- Offer limited to 3 items of luggage of 30kg each per person. <BR>- 95F (14.48 euro) the first item , 60F (9.15 euro) for each of the two others. <BR> <BR>- Delivery in 24 H door to door. Discover the new luggage service and its facilities. <BR>Discover the new luggage service and its facilities. <BR> <BR>

jane

Thanks for the info on SNCF (whatever that is - I'll check the web). If they can deliver to the ariport for us, that would be ideal. If that doesn't work, we'll check out a hotel nearby, but I'm surprised that a hotel would provide such a service to a non-guest.

Christina

Jane, SNCF is the acronym for the French national railways. I believe the cited SNCF services are for people going on the train, or basically like freight shipping, not as a messenger service to take luggage to the airport for you within a few hours if do not have a train ticket (I could certainly be wrong, but I would be very surprised). I was not aware of any rail stations in Paris that will allow left luggage any more as they closed those down some years ago due to terrorism, but maybe some are re-opened, perhaps Elvira knows which ones; I know the CDG web site says they do not allow it. As for the hotels, there are actually some I have heard of that sort of do this as a business, believe it or not--keeping luggage for people due to them closing the lockers at the train station. I know I have read of one near one of the main train stations that does, but kept no notes on it. I would not expect a nice hotel to do this nor to do it for free for a non-guest. I have also read somewhere that the Paris Tourist Office may provide you with a list of such hotels (ones that will keep baggage temporarily for a fee), so it would not hurt to ask them (www.paris-touristoffice.com). There is probably an email address on their web site and you could ask if any train station has that service, also. There are certainly messenger services in Paris like most places, but I don't know exactly where you would tell them to take your luggage at the airport; I sure would not risk losing my luggage that way. That is one of the advantages of hotel stays or renting apartments from agencies that have a Parisian, I think they let you leave luggage there in such cases (the one I rented from did, as I recall).

usually a lurker

At the conclusion of my trip last May, I left my luggage at the Gare du Nord lockers for a few hours prior to getting on the RER train to CDG which leaves from there.

Donna

First check with whoever you're renting from. Chances are you'll be able to store your bags for a few hours.