meralbia

I need help from all of you seasoned travelers!
It's my first time abroad (at 55!) and I'm flying home solo (the rest of the pack get to stay an extra week). I've found routes from Les Sablons to CDG airport on a Sunday morning, with arrival at CDG at 8:00 am (and a departing AA flight at 11: 45 am) on 5 September. Working with the RAPT online site the journey looks like this: Board from Les Sablons (6:48) on Md1 to Chatelet (7:04) then walk to M4 (hope I can find this line) board and ride to Les Halles (7:10) walk to RER B - CDG 2 TGV board and ride to CDG (7:58) arrival. It was easy to plan online. But will it work in reality? It's been interesting to become my own travel agent for this trip, figuring out lots of things. About this last connection though, I have some anxiety. After reading some of the posts about Sunday departures (wish I had known better when I booked, but, now I do know) the best thing is to check with folks who have done this before.

Thanks for your input.

Christina

Of course it will work, those lines go there.

I don't understand why you would do this, though, it just sounds like a PIA to me. I presume you are packing like one small suitcase for your trip, and that's all (I mean really small), given all that moving around on the metro/RER and walking just to get to CDG. If RATP gave you that plan for a Sunday, the times should work. I never check times as their are metros and trains to CDG all the time, and I never try to cut it so close that I am dependent on one particular time. I just get the next one after I get there, whenever it is.

Now I get that you want to make this trip very cheap, so that may be why you aren't taking a taxi (which actually might not be too bad as they can get on the peripherique not that far from Sablons, but still, I get that some people wont' do that.

However, if I were you, I'd just take the metro one stop from Sablons to Porte Maillot and take the Air France airport bus. That will only cost you a few more euro.

Christina

I checked and Line 2 of the AF bus goes right from Porte Maillot to CDG and costs 15 euro. It does leave that early, also. You can get a map of its bus stop on their website (it's on bd Gouvion St-Cyr right next to a Meridien hotel, I think). They have buses every 30 minutes.

crckwc1

We almost always use the Air France bus to/from Porte Maillot. but recently that line of the bus was on strike and we had to find an alternative. It probably won't happen again in the near future, but to be safe, check the day before to make sure it's running.

meralbia

What great advice, Christina! Thank you! Found the link to the Air France bus (in English). That is a lot easier than the RER. I so appreciate the information, as I didn't know about the Air France bus. And thank you, crckwc1 for the heads-up about strikes. I will check the day before (and use a call the night before taxi if there is a strike). Been watching the news for possible strike activity. Don't know how one compensates for a strike, but probably folks who live in France can tell us what the alternatives for travel are.

Again, thanks for the information; useful, timely and much appreciated.

TimS

If you end up taking the metro and RER after all, there is a simpler route. Take metro line 1 from Les Sablons to Chatelet. Walk through the connecting tunnels to the Chatelet-Les Halles RER station. Take the RER B to CDG. Be aware that the RER B line divides northeast of Paris so be sure to get on a train that is going to CDG. The fare is €8.70.

meralbia

Thank you for your suggestion, TimS. Just now learning the difference between the RER and the Metro, the zones and buying the pass, looking for the line by the end point destination. This information came at the perfect time, because now it all is beginning to make sense!

meralbia

thank you, TimS and crckwc1. Taking the airport bus from Porte Maillot was a snap: a nice ride, comfortable and on time. The metro was surprisingly easy to navigate, maps everywhere in the stations. When I return, it will be using the airport bus to and from the airport, and the metro while I'm in Paris. Next time: learn the bus routes (all the better to see the sights). For the first trip ever abroad, it was sensational.