ddoakes

I am travelling to Paris with my 15 year old daughter in March. I booked airfare and hotel on travelocity, which I will never do again. Our flights got changed and now leave out of CDG at 7 am. That puts us needing to be at the airport at 5 am for a 2 hour check-in. The hotel they booked us at is near Disney. I am considering getting a hotel near the airport for our final night (travelocity wont help us out with this). I have narrowed it down to the Novotel or one of the Ibis hotels. Can we walk to terminal 1 from the Novotel or Ibis if the shuttle doesn't run at 4:30 am. Or will the shuttle run that early at all.
My other question is about the teenagers over there, can my daughter wear jeans and sneakers, or does she need to dress up more. Thanks in advance for your help.

Seamus

No you cannot walk from these airport hotels to the terminal. Yes, the shuttle should be running, but do verify that when you check in and reserve shuttle space. Your daughter will be fine in jeans and sneakers.

cwaj45

I was there 2 weeks ago with my teenage daughter. We stayed at the CDG Hyatt and it was pretty nice. You never know what termainal you will be going out of and this airport is huge and a maze. The train station is also there. I would stay in Paris late and then go to the airport hotel after dinner as there is nothing to do there.

hopscotch

There is a Sheraton right in the airport. You can walk from the desk to the gate, at least for some airlines.

MorganB

The shuttles start full service at 4:30 am. Earlier than they they are on night service which is less frequent.

The Sheraton is a lovely hotel but would be far far far more expensive than the Ibis or Novotel.

ddoakes

would love to stay at the Sheraton, but it is too expensive. Even the Novotel will be a stretch considering I cant get my money back for my hotel in Marne la Vallee also that night.

JoeTro

Maybe you could work out the Sheraton on Priceline?

ddoakes

I wish priceline worked that way, meaning to pick a specific hotel. I would put in for a 4 star and they would put me 20 km away knowing my luck.

JoeTro

Yeah, that is the bad news about having to leave it up to chance with Priceline. But you can suggest regions or zones, so if you pick the airport one, (if there is one?) maybe something will work out? Check biddingfortravel.com to see what zones people have succesfully gotten bids, what hotels are around there, and the prices you could get for them. Just a suggestion - good luck.

kswl

no advice to offer, ddoakes, but loads of sympathy that your trip is being complicated like this. I'm not sure I could have even awakened my daughter at that age as she slept as though in a coma. Good luck and Godspeed on your trip.

MorganB

ddoakes, have you considered seeing if you could change your flight to a later one? Is that a transatlantic flight out of CDG or a short haul to another hub city? You may want to contact the airline directly since they switched the flight time. They might be able to accomidate you with different routing.

MorganB

Jeans and sneakers are fine for your daughter.

ddoakes

Travelocity will change my flight to a 1 pm flight, but then I will miss my flight from Boston to Nashville (On a different carrier, non refundable of course). My flight will be a hop from CDG to Frankfurt then on to Boston. I am looking at shuttles from our hotel to cdg which looks like one way would be about the same as a hotel near the airport since pick-up would be around 3 am. Thanks for the support. We are very excited to be going to Paris, even with the inconviences.

MorganB

Out of curiosity, did you want a hotel near Disney or did travelocity stick you there?

Bummer on the connecting flight! What a nightmare. I hate those early early flights because it makes you so tired. Basically you dont sleep the night before. You know, since its just a CDG Frankfurt flight you could get there more like 1h30 mins before and still have lots of time. I bet the counter wont even be staffed two hours before flight. That has been my experience at CDG with early flights at anyrate.

ddoakes

Travelocity put us at the hotel in the Disney area (Marne La Vallee). It was a good deal, $701 per person for airfare and hotel for 5 nites. My daughter has dreamed of going to Paris for years. This is her 16th birthday gift, and I'm sure we will still have a great time even with the early call. Kids are so resiliant!! We are a bit apprehensive about the cultural/language barrier, but our enthusiasm far out weighs any doubts. Everything I have read about Lufthansa airlines sounds like a nightmare also!!
I have asked myself so many times with all these headaches, Why am I doing this, I must be crazy! Just seeing the look on her face when she sees Paris and all the sights will melt away all the frustration.

MorganB

Wow what a nice gift! Have a great time! Let me know if you have any other questions. I live in Paris so I can give you tips if you like. One that I will start with which is the golden rule:

Always say "Bonjour Madame / Monsieur" when you address anyone. Must be the first thing out of your mouth. When you are done always say "Merci, aurevoir".

Learn a few basic French phrases if you can. It is best to try to speak a word or two. French people will be much more forthcoming with english if you can manage a couple of words in French.

ddoakes

Thanks, MorganB. My daughter is in her first year of French in high school, and we have gotten several french phrase books. I'm sure that we will be funny when it comes to pronunciation. The manners thing is not difficult for us since we are from southern US. We are used to manners, as opposed to those yankees up north. Ha Ha. Now you northerners, don't get upset, you know I'm right.