We've changed our travel plans and ended up being 2 days in Paris earlier than we expected. We haven't booked accomodation yet and I was wondering:

Landing at De Gaulle airport, could we take the RER (I assume this is their metro system?) or train to somewhere near the airport? Ideally, it would be a location that is less expensive than Paris but nonetheless offer a glimpse of the country (and not be too far from the airport or train system so we could hop back on it to get to Paris)?

Any suggestions? A few years ago, when we were in Turkey, we took their metro-equivalent and got out a few stops before Istanbul. We discovered (by accident) a beautiful, small, very authentic Turkish sea-side city. It wasn't mentioned in any of our "tour-guide" books and there wasn't a tourist in sight. It was beautiful! Anything similar (we'll be there at the end of July)?

You could take the Roissypôle bus from CDG to Senlis, a lovely medieval town 25 minutes away.

The RER is the commuter train system. The métro is the metro.

Eurocheapo.com great budget Paris Day Trips

www.chartres-tourisme.com

One of my favs cathedral there is awesome.

Took the train it was cheap half an hour or so.

RER stands for 'Regional Express Network' -- a metro type system that covers greater distances in the suburbs than the metro.

Do you not want to have two extra days in Paris? You could get a room in a (purposely) completely different area from your later accommmodations. Of course, I agree that this could set you up for huge disappointment -- people often discover that certain areas not pushed by the guidebooks are far more appealing than the tourist zones.

I am going to Chartres the day after tomorrow to see the "Chartres en Lumières" operation.

www.chartresenlumieres.com

I agree with StCirq that Senlis would be very nice. You could take a taxi there for around 50 euro. Also, Senlis is close to Chantilly, connected by a frequent bus service.

From Senlis to Paris, you can take the bus to the Chantilly train station and then transfer to the train to Paris.

I am planning to do this Paris-Senlis-Chantilly loop shortly, so I am looking for very specific info.
I think the routing is:

Paris-Chantilly SNCF (train) - Senlis (bus): What tickets do I expect? one SNCF ticket Paris-Senlis, or SNCF train ticket Paris-Chantilly, then SNCF(?) bus ticket to Senlis?

Senlis - Chantilly Musee du Cheval stop (local bus): pay driver in cash at Senlis? Where is the bus stop in Senlis coming back to Chantilly?

Chantilly Chateau - Chantilly SNCF (local bus): pay on board?

Chantilly SNCF - Paris: would the tickets been issued as:
1. Paris-Chantilly SNCF-Paris round trip + Chantilly SNCF -Senlis (bus) OR
2. Paris-Senlis (one way) + Chantilly SNCF-Paris (one way)?

Reims celebrates the 800th anniversary of its cathedral this year. The lightshow is awesome. It will run every week-end (Fri. Sat. Sun.) throughout the summer until October.

http://tinyurl.com/6b7whj5

It takes only 30 mn from CDG TGV station (in the terminal 2) to Reims Champagne-Ardenne TGV (8 km from the city center). To get to the center you have the choice between bus, tram or train (to Reims-Gare). All the trip (CDG to Reims center) should take less than 1 hour) The train ticket starts at 12 € one way if you book in advance.

From Reims-gare, you're back to Paris (gare de l'Est) in 45 mn.