WOW! Sorry to offend; I thought your Mom and your sister were traveling together and could share a cab to meet you, I never meant for your mother to fend for herself sorry that your took it that way.

Actually Margo you stated it quite nicely, not offensively at all. It was this sentence from someone else that hit a nerve.

"They got all the way to Europe and can't manage getting on the train to town?"

And in any case, from the time I posted my initial question until yesterday my sister was coming but now she can't because of a sick child so my mother will be alone which is why I reacted so strongly. Sorry.

I always look for the straight-line solution. It seemed to me that if your mother and sister succeeded in traversing the first 4,000-6,000 miles from North America to Paris, they shouldn't have any problem negotiating the last 25 - thereby finessing the requirement that you get to the airport in the early morning.

I was (I hoped) giving them credit for being more resolute and adaptable than you were.

My mother began Private Pilot training at 78, so maybe I operate on a different set of assumptions.

"maybe I operate on a different set of assumptions"

Now ain't that the truth!

I always pick up friends and relatives arriving at the airport, even renting a car to do so. Most people seem freaked out arriving at the airport of a major city without assistance. Unfortunately, I am almost never picked up by anyone and sometimes have my own freak-out moments. My first arrival in places like Havana or Hanoi had me inwardly shrieking "what the hell are you doing coming here?!?"

Hey wombat7 - will I see you at the <i>Mensa</i> AG in London this August?

A: Not if I see you first.

Well, I gotta say I am totally impressed with your mother, Robespierre! This will be my mother's 2nd flight in her entire life, so starting pilot lessons isn't on the agenda as far as I know. And I will meet her as she is totally devastated and traumatized by the sudden death of my father last year. They started &quot;dating&quot; when they were 12 so it's a whole new world to her and just the fact that she is coming over to see where her first born has lived for the past 8 years is enough for me to want to make it easy and comfortable for her.

And I am back to taking the RER in my head because I am from New England and we are frugal (read cheap).

I'm intrigued. How will she get from where she lives to CDG?

Just curious: why would someone who's lived in Europe for eight years have any questions about the safety of the trains? And ask them here?

she didn't actually say she lived in Paris, she just said &quot;over here&quot;.

.. I might add that women typically have a different mindset about 'safety' than men do, including my own husband.

I live in Switzerland and go to Paris about 2 or 3 times a year and normally stay with a childhood friend who lives there. This time another Bay Stater who lives in Paris and who I met in CH is going away on business and has offered us her apt for free. Since nobody has ever visited me (my husband's sister who was my friend on Nantucket comes just about annually and introduced us is the only one and one of my 3 brothers 5 years ago) I have never had occasion to be on the RER early in the morning. Hence my question (yes, Travelnut is correct - women have different worries about safety and being alone).

One of my 3 brothers (not the traveler) will bring my mother right to Logan Airport in Boston, check her in, walk her over to the security gate, stay with her until they throw away her water bottle and then she is on her own for the 500 feet or so to the gate.

I've been contributing to and asking questions here for about 5 months now. It's good, I enjoy it, have learned lots of good tips and it keeps me from shopping on eBay too much!

Beaupeep, not long after my father died, my mother came to visit me in Paris. I didn't go and meet her at the airport (due to work &quot;commitments&quot; which I probably could have got out of) and have regretted it ever since.
She called me, distraught and sobbing, from a roundabout near the Op&eacute;ra, unable to locate the bus stop or taxi rank that I'd described to her. It broke my heart. And she was much more experienced a traveller than Beaupeep's mother seems to be, she knew Paris quite well, and spoke decent French.

If I could do it again I'd take all week off work, and would wait all night at the airport if necessary.

I am taking a week off, no ten days, because my mother said that she wants to see where my husband and I live and work but all of the newness frightens her and wants me to take charge. So I will be there. On the RER, because I am cheap...carrying my trusty pink Swiss army knife.

You'll be fine. As has been pointed out, hundreds of airport workers will be in the train with you - many of them unaccompanied females.

Hope your sister's child has a speedy and complete recovery (bummer).