I have a flight to the USA at 1:50 PM/13:50 on a Monday afternoon. Can someone recommend a time that I can leave the Louvre and still make my flight-without "sweating it"? Also, is it possible to bring small suitcases/backpacks to the Louvre.

I am hoping to take a 09:15 tour that "Skips the lines" that lasts 2.5 hours, but I am worried that I may be pusing it.

I would leave your hotel at 9:15 to get to CDG for an intl flight at 13:50. NOT start a 2.5 hour tour of the Louvre at that time.

But that's just me. I don't like to "sweat" it.

You really need to allow at least 50-60 minutes just to get to the airport, plus then have time for check-in, security, etc. Last time we were at CDG we waited just inside the terminal door for about 90 minutes before we could even get to the American Airlines counter as the police moved in and exploded an unattended piece of luggage. We had allowed ample time and were glad for the cushion.

Departing from CDG I tend to be at the airport at a minimum of 2.5 hours before the scheduled departure time. Sometimes this means waiting for an hour at the gate, but often it doesn't. I agree with the others depending on the method of transportation, I would be leaving the city by 9:30 to 10:00, not starting a museum tour. Even though 1:50 is one of the later U.S. bound departures, no one heading back to the states should plan on doing much that last morning in Paris.

For a 13h50 departure from CDG to North America, I strongly recommend you depart central Paris no later than 10h00.

This allows just under 1 hour en route and approximately 3 hours to work through the de-tax, check-in, and security lines. Keep in mind that the TSA must approve every passenger boarding a flight to the US and this process takes time. Many airlines close check-in at 90 minutes before departure.

I should confirm this information by calling a knowledgeable representative of my airline.

Thanks for thet replies, have never been to Paris and had no idea the CDG was that bad compared to the states.

Hi taz,

>I have a flight to the USA at 1:50 PM/13:50....<

You should be at CDG at about 10:50.

It takes 0:45 hr to go from the Louvre to CDG by public transportation.
See www.ratp.fr

CDG sucks. It's an amazingly bad airport designed with numerous choke points where foot traffic jams up, and it's exceedingly busy. And to think . . . it's most visitors' first experience with France.

When we were there the security personnel who pre-screened everyone on the line for check-in were extremely slow. Worse yet, they ran our passports and had the wrong information on me, even though I had the simplest itinerary possible -- round-trip, nonstop, no open jaw, no connections, etc. One family (two adults, two kids, average looking travelers) were stuck with an interrogation for about 45 minutes by an incompetent screener because the system generated wrong information on them too.