Otzi

I'm traveling to Paris with a group and rather than spend another day sightseeing by bus, I was thinking about renting an Avis car for the day and heading out West toward Bayeux. My hotel is in La Defense (Avis location nearby is closed on the Saturday I plan to drive) and the nearest car rental agency seems to be at St. Lazare train station. Does anyone know the best way to take the Metro there? It looks like I'd need to change trains 3 or 4 times UNLESS the Saint Augustin stop is nearby St. Lazare. Then I'd just detrain there and walk to the train station if it's only a short walk.

Does it make any sense to instead use the RER to pick-up my vehicle at Charles DeGaulle Airport instead? Obviously it would be a long train ride out there, but perhaps it would be advantageous to get clear of city traffic when I collect my rental. According to my GPS driving time would be about the same.

Almost any advice is appreciated, but please don't tell me I don't have time to do this. I plan to get up at the crack of dawn and am aware that it would be a 3 hour drive to get to Bayeux. The wife and I are pretty adept at speed sightseeing. I really don't need twelve hours to appreciate the bauty of the tapestry or to consume a fancy lunch. We often have a great time just absorbing the atmosphere as we drive around.

Honestly, I am little Parised-out after going on these school trips for the past ten years. My wife and I need a day away from all the "look at what I bought, Mr......." and the "Sally and I met this nice man at Sacre Coeur who made us this nice string bracelet and he ........." stories. One day of peace and travel at our own pace will help us enjoy the rest of the trip with the kids and chaperones.

Christina

Do you have a metro map? All you have to do is take line 1 east and transfer at Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau to line 13 which goes right to St Lazare, or transfer one stop further at Concorde (line 12) which also goes right there. I don't know how you could get 3-4 stops out of it or St Augustin. If you can't read maps very well, maybe your plan isn't that good to do all that driving and to get the car in Paris.

tod

Yes, from the metro map I think I can see a walkway(probably underground) from St Augustin metro to St Lazare station.
This means only one change of metro at Franklin D Roosevelt to connect with line 9.
I presume you are staying at Esplanade La Defense?
We are checking into The Ibis Hotel there in a few weeks time.

Maybe someone else can give you more info on whether you should take the RER (changing at Les Halles) to CDG for the car Hire.
I guess you've ruled out going to Bayeux by train.
Have a lovely day whatever way you go!

tod

Yep, Christina is a better map reader than me! Her transfer saves a walk which is probably quite long!

MrNuke

Additional routes that don't have any connections involved...
There are direct SNCF trains that run from La Defense to St. Lazare.

or

RER A to Auber. It is a bit of a walk, but Auber is connected underground to St. Lazare.

tod

Otzi, Are you planning to get up 'at the crack of dawn' to set out by car or go and collect the car? I think you would have to fetch it the night before which means added expense for the hire period and parking at night?!

MrNuke's suggestion to St Lazare looks perfect if you take the SNCF direct.

ParisAmsterdam

Trekking clear to the other side of Paris to get a car at CGD makes no sense to me... I realize la Defense is pretty dead on weekends but is there no car rental agency open? Maybe check with your hotel... they would know where to rent a car ...

rob

Cathinjoetown

Really good idea to check with your hotel rather than doubling back into the city if you don't have to do it.

Betty1

According to www.avis.fr, there is an office here
"Paris - Neuilly Sur Seine (92) 99 Ave Charles De Gaulle, Neuilly S/Seine, 92200, France 0820 61 16 12"
that is open on Saturdays and is just a couple of metro stops from Esplanade de la Defense at Les Sablons. Opens at 9:00 am, closes at 6:00 pm which wouldn't give you much time in Bayeux, but they might have a drop box so that you could leave your car and keys after hours on Saturday. Worth asking about. Good luck!

laurie_ann

If you think you have to go to St Lazare to pick up the car anyway why not take the train from that station to Bayeux. I did it with my parents a few years ago for a day trip from Paris. Very easy with a quick change of trains in Caen. Takes about 2.5 hours and then back the train was direct to Paris. Easy walk from station into town. We saw the museum in Bayeux in the morning and then in the afternoon did a half day van tour of D-Day sites with Alain Chesnel of www.overlordtours.com.

Robespierre

I'd probably take the bus. One change at ground level at Rond Point - minimal walking.

Otzi

Thanks for the help. I found online Metro maps, but without a corresponding street map to indicate where exactly the stations were located, I was getting frustrated.

According to Avis, that Paris-Neuilly Sur Seine office closes at 6:00 and only allows dropoffs during operating hours. I figure we won't be back until maybe 9:00pm.

The problem with taking a train to Bayeux is that it severely limits our mobility once we get to our destination. Having a car will allow us the chance to explore other options such as the D-Day beaches if time permits. Besides, I really enjoy driving in Europe where there actually seems to be rules of the road. I feel very safe driving there.

I think I'll heed Christine's advice even if she thinks I'm too dumb to read a map. Like I said, I couldn't fathom where exactly some of those Metro stops were based on the abstract maps I found online. The St Lazare stop appears on the Metro map as a huge long white elongated spot extending quite a way across various lines. It's hard to tell whether that indicates a stop there or some sort of detour or construction.

I'll be using my GPS in the car rental so I won't have to contend with map reading.

Cathinjoetown

The white elongated spot means it's a Correspondence where two or more lines intersect. I also believe it can mean long walks when transferring lines. If the rental desk is at or near the train station, follow the signs for Gare St. Lazare when you get off the metro.

Robespierre

The best RATP maps are

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan...secteur&fm=pdf

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan...secteur&fm=pdf

These are free at M&eacute;tro ticket windows as <b><I>Le Grand Plan de Paris</i></b>.