We will be arriving by train at CDG to meet our daughter who is coming in to Terminal 2C on Air France. I think the train comes to the After looking at airport maps and trying to research things, I am thinking we might try to meet her at the Brioche Doree' (as another Fodorite suggested). Is that easily accessible after coming in from baggage and customs or does someone have a better suggestion? Help!!!

Hello Wren:

I arrive more often into terminal 1, but 2C is like most of the other 2 terminals, long and kind of "flat", so it is rather small and fairly easy to find each other. Here is a link to a map of that terminal, and meanwhile, maybe some other folks can give you more specific info:

http://www.adp.fr/webadp/a_cont01.nsf/0/202A4E9074E89A0DC1256B1F00594AA3/$File/P_CDG2ABCD_FR.jpg

jpie

jpie...thanks...I had looked at that site, and it looks to me like the RER is just at the end of terminal 2C...we will be coming from the Gare du Nord. So will that be where we stop I wonder?

Small and flat sounds navigable...our daughter is 23, so it isn't like she would be afraid if we don't see each other immediately. But I thought it would be great if this turned out to be no big deal instead of a big hassle!

Yes, the RER terminal is at the end of 2C/D.

<b>http://www.adp.fr/webadp/a_cont01_an.nsf/0/A806156E4C6A964CC1256ABE004858F6/$File/cdg2gran.gif</b>

Hi Wren:

In terms of the RER, the one time I took it to terminal 2, the RER gare has a little free navette (shuttle bus) that drops you in front of each of 2 terminals and also goes to terminal 1, so just make sure you get on the right one to 2C. I am not sure if you can walk it or not..........but I bet somebody here does

Yes, the terminal is quite easy and I do remember at least 1 or 2 little cafes there, so if you know there is a Brioche Doree there, that should be easy. By the way, when do you go? I leave for France for a month on the 17th, but since I fly from LAX on tahiti nui I again go into terminal 1.

Have a great trip!

Jpie, This is embarassing, but we will make this rendevous exactly 3 months from today. (We will already be in Europe a week before) I get so caught up in planning the trip, and this is a facet that crossed my mind today!
Thanks for your info. It helps!

I hope you have a most wonderful time as
well!

This is absolutely, totally none of my business, but my curiosity has overruled my sense of decorum:

Why are you meeting your daughter at CDG, as opposed to in the city? Is seeing her 20 minutes sooner worth the round trip fare for [whoever &quot;we&quot; is]?

Hi Robes, No problem...I will explain! We are heading off from the airport to Giverny for the afternoon and spending the evening in Les Andelys. Then we will spend the next 4 nights exploring Normandy, 2 nights in Brittany, and then go to see from friends who live in the Loire Atlantique for several nights. Then she goes back to Paris for one last day and night (she was there in September for a week and wants to spend the time in the countryside). So this just seems to make sense...we will be coming from Bruges to CDG and getting our car. I am open to any suggestions!!!

Forgot to mention that &quot;we&quot; is her birth father (who happens to also be my husband) and I.

OK, thanks.

Now: are you coming from Gare du Nord because that's where your train from Belgium terminates? There are direct trains (Thalys and TGV) from Bruxelles-Midi to CDG, in case you overlooked that possibility.

That's another area that I could use help. I am having a difficult time with the Belgian and French train sites. We would like to get from Bruges to CDG the easiest way possible. Do you have advice? We could pick up our car at Gare du Nord and drive to CDG, but that sounds like a nightmare to me...rather take a direct train to CDG or make a connection if possible.

The best durn train site on the web is run by the German national railway:

<b>http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
</b>

Enter
&quot;From: Bruxelles-Midi&quot;
and
&quot;To: Aeroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle TGV&quot;
and you will see your choices (be sure to put in your travel dates and times, because not all services run every day). Those with no connections are direct; the 1-changes are at Gare du Nord.

Hi Wren:

If you want to use tgv.com, enter Bruges to Roissy (the town where cdg is) and you will see it marked cdg terminal 2......it is definitely better to pick up the car at CDG although it will probably mean a short change in Brussels, usually only 10 minutes and very easy. But if you are coming from Bruges, picking up your daughter and going to Giverny, then I think you will find the train to CDG a lot easier, especially if you don't know the city well fro driving......also be aware that traffic can be heavy going from Paris or CDG to &quot;the west&quot; in the afternoon, but it sounds like you will be picking her up in plenty of time get to Giverny in the afternoon.

By the way, I posted on a different post that there is a weird behavior on tgv.com where it &quot;mis shows the date and time&quot;, so for instance it may show that today the 2nd April is a sunday not saturday.....I found out that if you change you date and time on your computer to Paris time before your search fares(double click on the time in the lower right hand corner of your screen to change), this little bug goes away. SO just an FYI. Have fun with your planning! It sounds like a great trip. I drive that route often since my mother in law lives near Versailles and we take friends to Giverny alot.

Should I just wait until I am there to buy train tickets? The Brussels to CDG requires a reservation.

I am not sure what to tell you on that...since it depends on how tight your schedule is, etc. But there are loads of trains from Brussels to Paris (a bit less to CDG than to gare du Nord), and I am guessing also many from Bruges to Brussels, so if it won't make you crazy, you might just want to buy them once you are there, especially if you are going to be in Bruges a few days in advance. At least in France, the train agents are really helpful and it is really easy to do, so I am guessing it is similar in Belgium.

But if you want to get good deals, you can buy advance tickets more cheaply. They are called Prems and Smilys and such on tgv.com. Be aware that these tickets have less flex, can be non exchangeable, etc.

Also, you don't mention if you speak French. The tgv site tends to flip a lot into French even if you start out at the English site, so that can be harder for non French speakers. You might also type in budget rail here in the forums. Lots of people seem to like them to purchase rail tickets from in advance.

I WAS a Paris local but now I'm back in the States. But trust me on this. The RER and the TGV both arrive at the Terminal 2 station. You can directly go to the terminal by walking (2C) and pick up your daughter right at the exit of the customs area. I did this several times picking up people coming on Air France from SFO, Cinncinati, and Atlanta. But sometimes the terminals change to 2E or 2F, but they are both in walking distances. When you get to the airport, check one of the boards and it will tell you where it is arriving from. Concerning baggage, passengers MUST pick up their bags before exiting into the normal terminal building (customs). People are not allowed to go into the baggage claim area due to security.

That is so helpful! I read French fairly well...but I am not so great at understanding it orally! I can use the TGV sites and read it without too much chance of a disaster. I knew about Prems, but hadn't heard of Smilys. So you can get special fares from one country to another? That is good to know!

Aurally?

Ask the speaker to pronounce each word separately so you can hear where one ends and the next begins.

Yes Robes, When someone French is spoken orally I cannot understand it aurally! Therein lies the problem. A good French friend of mine suggests watching a DVD in French for an hour a day. That is what helped her English tremendously. She had sat in English classes in school and came over here basically a non-speaker. Now she is fluent. I just need to find an hour a day!