Reims and Epernay - is a car needed?
 

Hello!

We will have two nights to spend outside of Paris and are looking at Reims as a base. We would like to do this without a car. It seems easy enough to get to Reims by train and it sounds like you could see the town and visit Champagne houses without a car but our problem is that we depart from CDG at 10:35 a.m. in the morning and would need to get there from Reims without a car. There are early morning trains but they get in to Gare de l'Est. Is it easy/quick to get from Gare de l'Est to CDG by taxi?

I guess the only other way to do it would be to rent a car to drive from Paris to Reims and back to CDG, but this seems like an expensive option when we don't really even need the car while in Reims (though if we had one we might also visit Epernay).

Any other ideas?

With a 10:35 a.m. train, you'll need to be at the hellish CDG airport by 8 a.m. at the latest. A taxi from the Gare de l'Est will take about an hour in normal rush hour. So you'd need to be at the Gare de l'Est by 7 a.m. Are there trains that early?

Personally, I wouldn't do this. Too many things could go wrong - a strike, an accident, or two, on the périphérique.....I'd spend one night in Reims and then either return to Paris or an airport hotel.

St.Cirq - You are amazing!

That is exactly what I was beginning to think - with a 10:35 flight it isn't really feasible to stay outside of Paris (I am the same person who was asking about driving up through Dordogne and the Loire Valley, but my husband is also really interested in Champagne so I thought I'd try out a completely different plan!)

So if we do just go to Reims for the one night we can take the train and return to Paris for our last night before leaving for home. We actually have a reservation at Hotel La Muguet in the 7th (we've stayed there before and like it) but is there anything that isn't completely soul-less near/at CDG that we should consider?

Thanks again!

I think your best bet would be to stay in a hotel that has a shuttle to the terminal--that makes life much simpler the day of the flight. People here have recommended the Radisson, and the Mercure sounds pleasant since it's been redecorated.

Well, maybe revisit the idea of staying in Fontainebleau? Look at www.chateauxhotels.com/legrisparc

Or, 10 minutes from the airport: www.chateauxhotles.com/gressy

Though there are some *nice* hotels at the airport, I wouldn't characterize any of them as having much *soul*.

The Courtyards by Marriott at CDG is lovely, and they have a shuttle to airport terminals. They have a very nice restaurant, and lovely bar area. I stayed there one night last October, and am doing so again in May. It makes am AM departure quite stress-free.

First of all, I don't know what the rest of your itinerary is like. We were happy doing Reims and Epernay by train as a day trip from Paris, so that is a possibility. I'd be worried trying to make connections described above from Reims to CDG in the morning. I'd consider going back to Paris for the final night and heading out to the airport from there, or going up to a place near the airport the final night. I know there are some nice places near there -- several recommendations have been made here lately for some -- including "chateau" type accomodations.

My two favorites near CDG are Chaumontel in Luzarches and Chateau Ermenonville in that city. Both are quick shots to CDG but by car. Not sure how easy train connections might be.

kireland, have you considered doing your two nights before your Paris stay? No worries about making it back for am flight and no need to book airport hotel.

i would do it by car. we just did this at christmas. the drive back to cdg is about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. it is a snap to leave reims at 6:30 and be at the gate by 8:30 at the latest. the champagne house in reims are close together but i don't think that they are close to the train station. i would maybe leave for cdg the night before maybe even after dinner, drop off the car and have a leisurly morning and then catch the shuttle to the airport.

The problem with doing it by car is that it usually costs an arm and a leg to rent a car for fewer than three days. At least that's been my experience. Maybe someone else knows of a cheap 1- or 2-day rental outfit.

Actually St. Cirq., a couple of years ago we rented a car from Avis for just one day near St. Sulpice. It cost us about $50 total, which I thought was great. We didn't do this in advance. By the way, although they closed at 5 PM or something like that, they said we could arrive back at any time during the night and park in their spaces in the underground garage which we did.

Thanks, Patrick. Although $50 a day is about twice what one would pay for a small car from AutoEurope for a day, that's a reasonable price for someone weighing the difference between a train and a car trip.

Actually there were four of us, and it was a pretty large four door sedan. This year we're renting a small car (Clio or similar) from AutoEurope for a week from Cannes to Paris and it is running $50 a day on the basic plan.

Sorry, I posted too soon. If you know of a way I can get a five day rental for less than that, please let me know. Of course, I was used to paying something like $25 to $28 a day with a long term Peugeot lease, but not with a short term rental.

Patrick: This year's rental prices are definitely up. I just locked into a 13-day rental with AutoEurope yesterday for $442.00 for a mid-size car(they upgraded me for free from the smallest). I usually pay about $25-$30 a day - this year it's $34, though a bigger car (and a diesel, so I'll save on fuel costs), so I'm happy, especially since I will probably drop the car off after day 10 anyway. But the drop of the dollar has clearly affected rental car prices.

My wife and I are spending three nights in Reims this Sept. I too have been trying to decide if one can fully experience Champagne by spending the entire time in Reims, and maybe taking the train to Epernay.
Any thoughts?

My friend and I are planning on taking Reims and Epernay as a day trip from Paris next Friday! Yeah!!

Any other tips from people who have done this? Also any recommendations for good lunch spots?

Thanks!

Golly, Stormygirl, we must be planning the same trip. We'll be in Reims on Friday as well. Wear your red carnation and perhaps we'll see each other. Places that have been suggested to me for lunch in Reims include: Le Vigneron on Pl Paul Jamot, La Coupole at 73 Place d'Erlon or other places on this "restaurant street" or Fois gras and champagne or gewurtztramminer at the bar at Les Crayeres--apparently you can do that. Looking forward to seeing you in Paris, if we don't bump into each other in Reims first.

Two years ago my husband and I spent 2 nights in Reims before heading to Paris for a week. We really loved the small city atmosphere. In fact, we were sitting at a cafe for lunch, trying to figure out which champagne caves to visit, when the charming man next to us struck up a conversation in rusty English. Turned out he manufactured the wooden stands that the champagne bottled are stuck in when they go through the turning process. He even offered us a ride to Pomerey (which has a great tour and nice bathrooms:)

Definitely check out the Cathedral. It's a bit shabby but beautiful I was entranced by a life-sized porcelain statue of Joan of Arc wearing real chain mail. She's so lovely and serene looking.

I recommend Le Vingeron (sp?) for dinner. Fantastic food, charming decor and a fixed price tasting menu with local champagnes matched to each course. Wonderful!

We had a "coupe" of champagne (a single glass as an aperitif) everywhere we went and the quality was consistently the best. There was one cafe on the main street, across from a big courthouse or government-type building, that had a fun sandwich/snack called a pain gourmet (or maybe pain unique)- a long baguette split open, filled with pate, cheese, and ham (not in a stack but in a line, so you eat your way from flavor to flavor.) They also gave us marvelous free canapes when we ordered a bottle of champagne.

Reims is a lovely town; Enjoy!