Hi Fodorites,
we'll be landing at Roissy CDG Terminal 2E at 05h40 in the morning and catching a connecting flight from Terminal 2E to Nice at 09h55 using Air France in both cases . Can you please assist me with the following questions:
1. Do we have to collect our checked luggage at 2E, or will it be transferred by AF?
2. Would it be advisable for us to buy our Paris Passes here, even though we'll only be in Paris at the end of our trip?
3. Will it be difficult to purchase airtime and data at the airport, or should we do that in Nice?

Thank you for your assistance.

Check benefits of Paris Pass - few can benefit from all that is offered and there are cheaper options for what most people really do. You can buy Paris Pass in Paris - check official site.

Never buy the Paris pass.

Ditto

>>1. Do we have to collect our checked luggage at 2E, or will it be transferred by AF<<

Yes, AF will transfer the bags. You will go through Immigration at CDG and collect your bags/do Customs at NCE.

I wouldn't worry about the sim card/air time at CDG. You have 4 hours, which is plenty assuming your incoming flight is not delayed, but you could be rushed if there are long queues, or maybe a gate isn't immediately available. IF you have time - then sure, but you ca easily wait til NCE

Thanks for the quick responses, I appreciate it.

Kerouac, should I rather purchase the Museum Pass? We'll be spending four full days in Paris.

The Museum Pass is a good deal if you are going to enough museums. It is easy to calculate by checking the sites of the various museums. Don't forget that most of the national museums are closed on Tuesday except for the Orsay and Versailles, which are closed on Monday.. (Municipal museums are closed on Monday, but they are generally free anyway.)

I agree with the others on this subject. To calculate whether your plan is better with each museum ticket or a pass, see here: Paris Museum Pass | Official Website

You can select each of the places you intend to visit and it will give you access to the opening/closing times, and usually a link to the individual website. Please note, this website states that the numbers it uses are from 2016, so check each museum individually. A four day pass is 62 euro.

If you want or need public transport passes, I'd suggest you buy individual mobilis passes for the days involved. https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/mobilis Depending upon where you plan on going, the mobilis is 7.50-17.50 euro per person per day. A 4 day Paris Pass is 198 euro.

I had a long layover at CDG last year, and I was also coming back to Paris at the end of the trip, so I bought museum passes and RER Navigo Découverte weekly passes at CDG during the layover since my stay matched the week pass validity.

I suspect that you are at the airport too early for offices to be open.

The Paris tourist office to buy the Paris Museum Passes was conveniently located at the 2E downstaris arrival area outside the luggage area.
The RER office to buy Navigo Découverte card is a large glass enclosed office located at the RER/SNCF ticket level, right below the Ariport Sheraton Hotel.

Even though a weekly pass sounds like an overkill, the Navigo Découverte, if your stay lands on correct days of the week, includes RER trip to CDG as well as trips to Versailles. These trips alone would almost pay for the Navigo Découverte. Neither of these are covered by zone 1-2 tickets. Your trip through the RATP turnstyles would also go smoother with the contactless Navigo Découverte vs. paper ticket/passes as long as you have steady hands and don't "doble tap" your contactless card.

Thanks to all of you for the responses and the excellent advice gives.

I have done a quick calculation of all the places we would like to visit, and it seems like the the Museum Pass would be the way to go.

We are considering buying carnets to use on the Metro as our main means of transport in Paris, but I have done no real research on the Mobilis Pass. Glancing at the website and the options, I am unsure of which one would suit us. We are not going outside of 'old' Paris, and we are skipping Versailles as our time is a bit tight (Greg does that disqualify your option?). We'll also probably be using a taxi from our hotel to CDG at the end of our trip.

What would you recommend?

A carnet (or two or three) should be fine, keeping in mind that the RER ticket to get into Paris (or back from there) will cost 10.30 per person.

Thanks to everybody who responded, you have helped us a lot. We are now thinking of taking the RER instead of a taxi to CDG, as there is a stop reasonably close to where we are staying in the sixth, and using the Mobilis ticket on that day - we are only flying back @ 23h00 of our last evening. By the way, our Paris stay is from a Friday to a Monday, hence the carnet option.