I am meeting a friend that is arriving one hour after me. She will be at Terminal 2E and will need to collect her luggage. I will have carry on only at 2A and will be able to proceed directly to her gate. I am picking up a rental car and was hoping to have time to do that before meeting her. If my flight arrives later for some reason, she'll need to go to baggage claim without me. I would like to have contingency plans because I was in the same scenario a few years ago without alternate plans for meeting. My questions are:
How long will it take to walk from 2A to 2E?
Is there a shuttle?
Where is the car rental?
Is there enough time to pick up the car before her flight arrives?
Thank you.

The rental cars are are on higher floors in the parking structure and trying to find her after you get the car would be very difficult. My idea of a backup would be to meet at the car rental desk??

FrankS has confused Terminal 2 with Terminal 1.

There are car rental desks on the ground level of 2E so you could do the rental formalities easily before meeting your friend at her exit. (The cars themselves are just out the dorr in the car park, on ground level also.)

If she does not see you when she exits, tell her to meet you at the car rental desk at 2E. In case of some sort of major delay when one doesn't want to be rooted to the spot, I always tell people to come back to the meeting point on the hour and the 30 minute mark, for as long as it takes to meet up. That way it's possible to go to the restroom or snack bar or newsstand without totally wasting your time.

Thanks FrankS. If I remember correctly from the CDG terminal map, there's parking at each terminal?? Is there a larger separate parking structure with the rental car companies?

Thank you kerouac!

Tammy,
As I recall, kerourac actually works for the airport or airlines in Paris....so I would take his advice over mine. But at Terminal 2 the rental cars are on the floors above the rental desks and once you get your car our of the rental area it would be very hard to meet up..imo

Thanks again FrankS

Nope, at Terminal 2E you rent at the desk and walk right out the door at surface level to a big flat parking lot. No parking structure at all for the rental cars. Pay parking for private cars in underground.

In terminal 1, the cars are all up in the "camembert".

(Once you have signed the rental contract of course, you don't have to walk out to the car immediately. You can go meet your friend and then you both walk out to the car together. Naturally, if you have extra time before her flight arrives, you can walk out into the lot to locate the car.)

I work for an airline, but I do not work at the airport. However, I have often rented cars at 2E upon arrival from other continents, which is why I know exactly where the rental offices are and where to find the rental cars.

Perfect kerouac! Do you know the answers to the following:
How long will it take to walk from 2A to 2E?
Is there a shuttle?
Will there be a cafe to grab a quick coffee and snack to go?

It's an easy but tedious walk from 2A to 2E because you have to go through 2C to get there and also walk through the rail station. Nevertheless, it won't take more than 15 minutes to get from one to the other, and you will pass many cafés and eating establishments along the way.

Thank you again kerouac for this info. My travel mate will feel much better now that we have a little more information than the CDG website offered!

Calling kerouac.....where is the baggage claim for Terminal 2E in relation to the rental car desks and where passengers exit their gate?

Here is a link to maps that may help:
http://www.easycdg.com/pages/maps_easy_cdg.compag.html

It's at the area marked "baggage claim" -- you know, all international airports are set up the same, with immigration, followed by baggage claim followed by the customs exit with all of the people waiting outside. The car rental desks are not very far at all, but you do leave the main hall for an intermediate hall.

I think you should have an agreement that if you have not met up by a certain hour, you will meet at your hotel.

You can even use the car rental desk as a messenger service if one or the other has to leave for any reason. Many many years ago, I worked at a car rental desk and we loved anything that broke the monotony of the job.

Thank you for everything....sarcasm excluded.

Sarcasm???? Who was sarcastic? I thought we were helping.

Sorry nukesafe, I should have been more specific. That was directed toward kerouac's response that baggage claim is located in the area marked "baggage claim".