Think you are worrying needlessly. Paris starts later than US cities and you will likely get into town just fine, whereas if you tried to wait out the am rush you'd have to sit for a couple hours in a lousy airport boite, feeling the onset of jet lag. You'll arrive on United at Terminal 1, not exactly a hotbed of fine dining. IMHO, you're probably best off just grabbing a coffee and croissant at Brioche Dorée on your way to the RER. There is one on the lower level where you pick up the CDGVAL to get to the RER station. The arrival adrenaline and a cuppa will keep you going. Plus, the train (RER) you will take originates at the airport so will be nearly empty when you board.

Thank you Seamus.
one more question. Does the RER arrive at street level at RER station Chatelet-Les Halles, or would there be stairs/escalators involved to get to street level for a taxi ?
I think I am leaning towards a shuttle, or perhaps a car service, for convenience sake.
Thanks for your help.

No RER train in Paris is at street level that I can think of, it is an underground system within the city. IN any case, it definitely is underground at Chatelet-Les Halles, real underground. There are trams in Paris that are at street level, one goes around the outer edge in the south that I use sometimes.

Thank you Christina. That settles it. Now it's a decision between shuttle or private car or taxi. I am shying away from taxi, due to the possibility of incurring enormous charges if there is a traffic jam, and the meter continues to run. I used a shuttle last year, and it was fine, but it was arranged by the hotel and I don't know what is was called. I read one bad review of Shuttle Inter.........didn't show up and never apologized. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

harvmatic, you really need to relax a bit. Just walk outside the terminal to the taxi rank and get a cab. The chances of an enormous traffic jam are incredibly remote. Count on about 50 - 60 euro door to door and you will be fine. A shuttle will not be much, if any, less and quite possibly more.

Thank you Seamus, but I like to shop around and get the best deal. As seniors, we have to budget where we can. Has anyone used Viator from CDG to Paris, recently? They seem to be the most reasonably priced, but price is not my only concern. I have read some negative comments on Shuttle Inter, but I realize that anyone could have one bad experience with any service. Any help is appreciated.

Since you will be there for 3 weeks, and none of us wants to spend more than necessary, think about buying the zones 1-2 or 1-3 for one or two of the weeks and the more comprehensive for the week or weeks your plans call for being away from the center.

We have returned from our trip and thanks to all for your wonderful tips re the Navigo Decouverte and the shuttle from CDG.
WE booked online with Super Shuttle and they were there to meet us and called our apt manager, when my phone was temporarily not working. I highly recommend them for clean, comfortable and prompt service and at 43 Euro for 2 people, a real bargain. I had booked and prepaid online, so saved my euros for the tip etc.
The Navigo card was fantastic. We purchased the one for all 5 zones and went everywhere on it, for 1 week. We even took the RER back to CDG when we left Paris a week later to go to Ireland(long story !)
Thanks to all perhaps for your recommendations.

thanks for the follow-up as to how things worked out. So how did the RER trip work going back to CDG? Was it easy for you and are you glad you took it or not? How far did you have to go to get to the RER, it sounds like you couldn't walk to the RER, what did you do.

We took the metro from Rambuteau, 2 stops to Chatelet and then the RER to CDG, and had no problem whatsover, but it was a Sunday morning and there were very few people on the move at 6 AM. (We cut our Paris visit from 3 weeks to 1 week and flew to Ireland for 10 days instead. Long story, that included a sort of "perfect storm" scenario...........that eventually worked out much better than expected). Still love Paris, though !

bookmarking

Signs on Metro station platform walls announce "Navigo Dezonage." I read that on weekends, holidays, and a mid-July to mid-August period, the basic zones 1-2 Navigo can be used in all zones at no additional charge.

Does that apply to the (visitors') Navigo Decouverte or only to the (residents') bank-linked Navigo?

I'd recommend taking the RER from CDG on an Express train (will only have one stop from CDG2 to Gare Du Nord - and its CDG1) That'll get you close to your destination, then take a taxi from there directly to your apartment. It'll be substantially cheaper, and not much hassle at all. You'll be at Gare du Nord within 30 minutes, and your apartment 10 minutes later.

Navigo Dézonage only applies to monthly Navigo passes. RATP info here:

http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/r_72748/d...-jours-feries/

Thank you. I had been to that site and suspected "Navigo forfait habituel" excluded the "decouverte" version, but was not sure.

Hi, I will be reaching Paris on Thursday, Can the Navigo pass be purchased on Thursday?
Thanks

I think Thursday is the last day you can buy it for that week. It would be "valable" through Sunday.

<I><<Hi, I will be reaching Paris on Thursday, Can the Navigo pass be purchased on Thursday?>></I>
No.
The pass for the current week is only sold through midnight Wednesday. Passes for the following week (which begin validity Monday and remain valid through the following Sunday) start selling Friday.

<i>the weekly pass is only sold until Thursday of the week in which it is valid. Weekly passes bought on Friday, Saturday or Sunday are valid beginning the following Monday</i>

Seamus, this is from your post on 2 Feb and this information is correct. Now you have posted that Navigo is only sold through Wednesday which is incorrect. You had it right the first time you posted.

From the www.ratp.fr website:

<i>Celle (Navigo) des forfaits semaine est ouverte du vendredi précédant la semaine de validité, jusqu'au jeudi inclus de la semaine de validité.</i>

You are correct that my post above was incorrect, Sarastro. I am in Paris at the moment, foolishly relied on a second hand translation instead of going to the definitive source as you did. Mea maxima culpa!
Omprakash, you <u>can</u> purchase the pass on Thursday for use beginning the following Monday.