Quite honestly, I would never leave the Dordogne on any mode of transportation and expect to catch an afternoon flight out of CDG. I always give my self 3 hours (2.5 at bare minimum) to check in at that airport and get to my gate, and unless you leave the Dordogne crack of dawn, it'll be pant pant all the way. I once took a TGV from Lyon right to CDG the morning that I had a flight and even that was nerve-wracking!

Spend the night before in Paris or at the airport, IMO.

Good advice from St. C.

((I))

I got a very good rate with Kemwell.com
They are the sister company to Autoeurope. You may want to compare as I found the rates for Nova were higher for my rental in May.

thanks for your replies. Our plane is at 3:00 and we have to drop the car off first. Other options I am considering:

a. changing flight time.

b. driving up and dropping at Bastille and cabbing to airport ( would that work?)

c. any other suggestions? I know staying Paris the night before makes sense but I hate losing a night in Sarlat and hate having to find a hotel in Paris.

thanks

Pat

Sorry, I've never found an easy way to get a Paris flight without staying the night before.

I took the night train from Brive once, although I got a ride there, and didn't have to worry about leaving a rental car. didn't enjoy the experience a lot, and ended up in Paris wanting a shower and a proper rest before heading out to the airport.

You could try returning the car in Toulouse and catching a flight from there to Paris. It's about 2 1/2 hours to Toulouse on the A20. Roundabout way of getting there, but we do know people who do it. In fact some people here have flown from Brive, but the only time i looked at that option it was not cheap.

(By the way,there is a new airport opening just outside Brive next year, which might make getting here a little easier.)

I'm sure more experienced posters will jump in on this one, as I am currently planning on going to the Dorsogne for the first time (but just went through all the logistics of figuring out the best way to get there). But here is my opinion: I would not drive into Paris to return a car, if it wasn't necessary. Driving time from Sarlat to CDG without stops is about 6 hours, so if you need to be at CDG at noonish, you would have to leave Sarlat at 6 AM. But, I would be afraid to run into a problem on the way and missing my flight, and after 6 straight hours of driving, I would be pretty pooped.

If you have a choice to take a later flight, that would work. Which train were your planning on taking from Brive originally? I think if you can change your flight, you can take the 7:40 AM train that arrives into Austerlitz at 11:44. You would need 1 hour to get to the airport, plus 2-3 hours at the airport for checking-in and security + I would allow an extra hour, in case something happens. So a flight after 4:30 might work. The only problem would be that you would have to return your car in Brive without seeing the employee and leave the keys in the drop box. I would be afraid that they would charge me for something that I didn't do. If you don't change your flight, then you're looking at taking the 5:37 AM train out of Brive, so you would have to leave Sarlat at 4:30 AM. That's an early wake-up call!

Anyways, good luck on whatever you decide to do! When are you going?

Pat, if you're the freewheeling (and deep-pocketed) type who won't freak out if she misses her flight, you might just get up very early and drive, dropping your car at CDG. I don't know how you'd drop off your car in Brive for a really early train. Are the rental offices open before 8-8:30?

If it were me, I'd spend the night in Paris but I'm a nervous Nelly.

Good luck. What does the rest of your itinerary look like?

<i>I don't know how you'd drop off your car in Brive for a really early train. Are the rental offices open before 8-8:30? </i>

Technically, you can return a car before the office opens, You just need to let them know that you're doing this, and drop your keys in the Key Box outside. But frankly, I would not do this because I would be afraid they would charge me for something I was not responsible for.

Leely, I'm also a nervous nelly, and now I sleep in the town I depart from. Of course, I had not always been a nervous nelly, but after an unfortunate and expensive incident in Italy a number of years ago that involved a train strike, I'm now much more cautious.