Niomi

I will be meeting my friend in CDG in December. She will be arriving at Dec 25 around 5 PM, and I will be arriving the day after (Dec 26) at 11:30 AM.

There's a pretty substantial gap there, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what my friend should do until I arrive. She has never been to France before and can't speak English or French very well.

Should she just stay at CDG? I read that the Sheraton is a good place to spend the night. Or is it worth it for her to travel into Paris on her own?

We won't be able to check into our apartment until 7 AM on Dec 26.

suze

If I were your friend I would book a 1-night reservation somewhere in central Paris, maybe near where your apartment is. Figure out how to use a shuttle, taxi, or public transportation to get myself there. People do it all the time. I certainly wouldn't want to sit around CDG overnight to wait for your flight the next morning!

Michel_Paris

Agree with Suze. Print the name of the hotel on a piece of paper and hand to driver. She should she see a little of Paris while waiting for you

janisj

And if the hotel is w/i a short walk of your apartment, even better. If she is really nervous about being solo, she could just walk around the hotel's neighborhood, have a nice meal, check out the street where the apartment is, get over the jetlag, and get a good night's sleep/relax.

If she finds she is more comfortable, then she can go see some sites and get used to the metro,etc. Then you can meet up either at her hotel - or at the apartment if she is OK w/ checking in here own.

But either way - sticking around CDG for would be my LAST choice.

grandmere

OTOH, if she arrives at 5, it would be at least 6:30 or so before she could get into Paris, Christmas night, dark early, problem with both Eng. and French, I think staying at the Sheraton would not be such a bad idea.

If she feels like venturing out on her own a bit, she could do what the others have suggested, otherwise, stay at the Sheraton. What is she more comfortable doing?

Michel_Paris

Or....stay at the Sheraton (or other hotel), take the RER to St Michel, get off, see Notre Dame & Ile St Louis, have dinner, train back to CDG & hotel.

imwaiting

If you plan to stay near CDG -- check out the Radisson. The last time I stayed there it was surprisingly inexpensive and included an incredible breakfast spread -- also had very nice rooms and there was, of course free transport to CDG although as I remember it was every half hour

Christina

I'm of two minds about this. I think I'm leaning towards just staying near CDG and meeting up with you the next day. That's because it is Christmas, nothing will be open anyway, and it will already be dark at that time. Also, she cannot speak either English or French, so this sounds like a lot of trouble for little benefit (going into Paris).

But if she is very capable and well-traveled, and knows what to do to get around cities (unlikely from the sound of the post), I would recommend she find the closest 2-3* hotel possible to your apt to check into for one night so she can just walk from there.

DAX

I would vote for staying put at an airport hotel.
There's an interesting old article about how shocking Paris can be for some first time Japanese visitors because it's very different than they expected.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15391010/

Christina

That article seemed extreme, but I don't know (one third have psychoses?). I've helped out several Japanese tourists in Paris who were just totally lost and couldn't figure out anything. I was very very patient with them as they could not speak French or much English, but they really didn't know what they were doing. One couldn't read a map and figure out how to watch the military parade on Bastille Day (she had already missed it by a couple hours) and another time I tried to help a couple young men catch the RER train to Versailles. They had no idea how to do it, where to look for the schedule, etc. Anyway, I showed them by pointed to schedules and signs etc but it took a while.

The metro doesn't even run regularly on Christmas, and things will be closed, so I wouldn't really recommend her roaming around Paris on Christmas night in the dark trying to figure out the transportation system.

If she will be jet-lagged anyway then I really would vote for just crashing at CDG, I don't see what will be accomplished by trying to go into Paris in the dark on Christmas night if you are jet-lagged and tired. If she is coming from a short distance away in Europe, I might vote differently.

Niomi

Thanks for the input everyone. Actually my friend is Japanese and she has indeed ended up deciding to find a hotel near the airport.

Re that MSNBC article, there is a great book called FOREIGN STUDIES by Endo Shusaku -- set in the mid-19th century -- describing the hardships of dealing with life in a foreign culture, specifically Japanese people in France.

kerouac

What an absolute waste of time to stay at the airport! There are thousands of Japanese tourists in Paris who don't speak English or French, and they seem to manage very well. Lots of restaurants have Japanese language menus, and all of the museums and attractions have Japanese audioguides and brochures. All of the shops on avenue de l'Opéra have Japanese staff, since it is the favorite shopping area of the Japanese (and rue Sainte Anne near the Louvre is their favorite restaurant street).

I'm not saying that she should do only "Japanese" things by herself, but there is certainly no reason to waste a day of her holiday sitting in a hotel room (and we do not have any Japanese language television channels yet -- so absolutely nothing to do!).

grandmere

Not too many stores open on ave. de l'Opera on Christmas night, I would think or anywhere else.

DAX

This is a funny but true precautionary excerpt on cultural differences which may cause some Japanese visitors to be surprised and disappointed by the French.

1.The Japanese are very polite and courteous : the French much less. 
2. Do not think that an abrupt answer or a vociferous question is targeted at YOU.
3. Sometimes, you may feel 'ignored" by the French, by a saleslady for example. 
Do not take it personally, this is how they may act even toward other French.
4. The French change their mood and attitude frequently, you are not the cause, do not feel guilty.
5. The Japanese are very clean and meticulous, the French less so.
6. The Japanese have a very strong sense of collectivity in daily life. Do not be shocked if you see people behaving as if they were alone in the whole world.

Paris Syndrome
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_s...haracteristics

nukesafe

It seems to me to be a waste to spend the night at the airport. The minimum rate at the Sheraton CDG is €185 a night. If you could give us the general location of your apartment, perhaps we could suggest a hotel the equivalent of the Sheraton nearby. Then all she would need to do would be to give the taxi driver the address on a piece of paper and be delivered to the door. Surely the concierge of such a Parisian hotel would be able to direct her to someplace suitable for dinner, and suggest nearby things for her to do the next day while she waits in the lobby for you to show up in the afternoon.

kerouac

Grandmere, I wasn't claiming that the shops would be open on Christmas, just there there is no lack of Japanese in Paris and even a Japanese neighborhood.

suze

Hey you can't say we didn't try! If she really is more comfortable staying at the airport upon arrival it's really only the waste of her evening and the next morning. Hopefully by noon these 2 will be on their way together.

Personally I don't understand the thinking. Not so much about what there is to do once you're in central Paris (because you could simply go to your hotel and stay in, if you aren't comfortable out alone in a city) BUT to my mind getting to an airport hotel, then back to the airport the next morning to meet the friend, then catching a taxi into the city, isn't any easier than getting into Paris and meeting up at the apartment in the morning.

Now that I'm writing it, actually it sounds more complicated to me -- with her plan she will still have to get from the airport to the airport hotel, then back to the airport in the morning, or somehow figure out a place to meet up with you, then taxi into Paris together.

Christina

I think most people would just decide on their own what they are comfortable with doing, it's hard to say what someone should do that we don't know at all. But I do disagree with a couple statements -- it wouldn't be wasting an entire day at the airport, she won't even get out of the airport and immigration, etc. until evening, 7 pm at best, most likely.

And it will be a whole lot easier to stay at an airport hotel than getting from the airport into the city IMO. It depends on the hotel, if it is one right there, there isn't much to do at all. If it's one with a shuttle, those are pretty simple also (I've stayed at the Hilton out there and really liked it). I guess it depends on the method one would choose for getting into the city and to the hotel. If a taxi, then that would be pretty simple but tons of folks won't pay for a taxi into Paris from the airport as they think it is too expensive (especially for one person). And then they would have to get back to the airport the next day and figure out the RER and ticket system, I suppose.

I wouldn't want to count on the concierge of a hotel recommending a place for dinner on Christmas night. First, that means you are staying in a very expensive hotel (I've never stayed in a hotel with a concierge in Paris) and paying 50 euro for the taxi. And they are going to recommend expensive restaurants, most likely (and many won't be open). Well, I just don't see why that is so great to go out at night to have dinner in Paris. And we don't know this person, maybe she is someone who is afraid to eat alone, on top of everything else. You can get pretty good rates at the airport hotels on Priceline or something like that.

But who knows, it wouldn't bother me but I wouldn't ask other people what to do, either, I'd decide myself.

Niomi

You've all got a good point, and if it were me I'd probably go into Paris. But she really does not want to go alone, I think, and will probably be bewildered just getting through customs - it's her first time traveling alone. I think the main thing is the taxi was too expensive & she didn't want to try the metro alone at night. So we've decided to meet at the airport. Thanks everyone!