Rental Cars in Paris
#1
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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Rental Cars in Paris
We are going to Paris in September and plan to stay at the Hotel Opal (near the Madeleine metro)for four days. We then plan to get a Hertz Rental and drive to Reims. We will circle down and through Lorie Valley returning to Paris to stay at the Hotel St. Christophe near the Monge Metro Station (We decided it would be fun to stay on both sides of the Seine). Any ideas on the best place to pick up and return a Hertz rental? Should we take a cab to the rental station to avoid the trains and luggage? How bad is it trying to "hoof it" with rolling luggage? We plan to bring two mid-sized rolling bags. It has been suggested to go to the airport or one of the train stations to pick up a car to avoid traffic in the city. We plan to leave town early in the morning. Any good ideas?
#2
Join Date: Mar 2003
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In many cities (I'm not sure about Paris), picking a rental car up at the airport causes a surcharge to be added to your costs. In some places this charge can be substantial. You can probably find out easily enough if this is true for Paris by doing some internet searches or comparing prices between airport pickups and other locations. An alternative to an airport pickup would be to get a car at Gare du Nord and head directly for the Peripherique, the ring road circling Paris that will get you out of the city in any direction. I would take a taxi to the rental car office.
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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Our usual mode is to do the outlying travel first, picking up the car at a train station (after training to Provence for example) and returning to airport. Then do the Paris portionn of our trip and taxiing to CDG for departure. We prefer to end our visit in the city. That said, picking up a car IN Paris can be daunting to get out. The advice to train to Reims is attractive. Whatever, take a taxi TO the rental agency. It won't be expensive and your luggage in the Metro will be a nightmare.