DRIVING OUT OF PARIS
 

Hi all

We are picking up a car at Gare du Nord and driving towards Auxerre. Would appreciate anyone's advice on the easiest way out of the city and on the road to Lyon. I have also heard that you can hire someone to drive you in your hire car to the outskirts of the city and they then catch a train back while you take over. Has anyone done this - appreciate your feedback.

thanks
jenniw

Unfortunately, you are already lost.

You will get better replies if you post this on the Europe board, rather than US.

You can't just let someone else drive a rental car. You have to list all drivers when you rent the car and there is an extra fee for each additional driver. If they were to get in an accident and were not listed then it would probably void your insurance.

The Editor has a sense of humor...?!?! how cool is that !!

Head east following signs to the Peripherique. Then take the Peripherique south until you get to A6 southbound, which will take you all the way to Auxerre. It isn't all that hard to drive around Paris, but know your route ahead of time so you won't be looking at a map as you try to negotiate the city streets.

I'm really disappointed that The Editor, whoever that is, found it necessary to poke fun at you.

I don't think it was poking fun. It was necessary advice. And jenniw hasn't particularly taken well to advice on the Europe forum either.

Wonder if she will find her way back here to this question to read this/these replies.

You're entitled to think differently, Wayne.

Best wishes,

Rex

And you're entitled to criticize, Rex. The "poking fun" was the rather flippant comment about being lost already; that could have gone unsaid.

The advice given by The Editor to go to the Europe site was obviously valid; I just didn't see why it needed to be accompanied by a personal jab -- especially if The Editor is indeed The Editor for Fodors. I would think they would be more professional than that.

And you are all entitled to criticize back. However, with my criticism I did at least offer an answer to the original question, which is more than you and The Editor did.

I think you can safey assume that The_Editor is NOT <i><b>the</b></i> Editor, for Fodors.

I have offered advice on a thread posted elsewhere by jenniw (on the Europe forum), where it has some relevance.

The_Editor, is not a Fodors editor. Fodors editors screen names are followed by letters in red and a star.

Boy, what every happened to taking things with a light heart? I thought the ditor's comment was just plain funny.

I agree with you, underhill.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I know everyone makes mistakes. Lord knows I do! But I really don't understand why so many Europe questions wind up on the US board. I've asked people who frequent the Europe board, and have been told that rarely is a US question posted on that board. So why is
it that rarely a day goes by that there isn't a Europe question here?

Not that it's any skin off my nose, of course. But the poster loses response time.

I had the worst driving experience of my life last summer trying to find the rental car location within a train station on the southside of Paris and then trying to get my sparkling new Mercedes rental car (talk about pressure) the hell out of the city! Even with a map I had issues. Intersections often have six or more crossroads, streets starting north/south end up going east/west, some streets deadend and others suddenly have new names midstreet (when you can even find the street name on the second story of a building while you're trying to navigate the traffic). Oh yeah, buses seem to share a lane with bicycles which was just plain nervewracking to see. In the future I will take a train to a smaller city or town and rent from there. Be prepared with maps and a passenger seat navigator.

Well, I hope jenniw has a good sense of humor, because I thought The_Editor's comment was pretty funny.

That said, driving out of Paris can be decidedly not humorous especially if you are getting used to a new car. I don't know about the driving service, but I think it's a great idea. If possible, try to drive out on a Sunday (much less crowded.) The website www.michelin.com was helpful to us for getting good directions. Good maps are essential as well. Good luck!

Hi CAPH, I never thought about it but you are right. I don't ever remember seeing a US question on the Europe Board. Do you think that some new Fodorites think that IF you are in the US you should post your thread on the US Board and if you live in Europe then you should use the Europe Board???
That doesn't really make sense I know, but it is a thought I had. Take care.

Wow LoveItaly,

that really is a thought, after all some new posters seem to have trouble with their posts.

This would explain it!

Thanks to all who sent some really useful travel tips. It is much appreciated. I didn't realise what a hornets nest I had stepped on. I do have a sense of humour but coming from Australia rules me out of many of your assumptions. My theory is that the Europe questions end up on the United States forum because the U.S. forum is the default forum when I log in and I'm sure many, like me, are new posters and haven't worked it out yet. Anyway, I am most amused about the fact that I have had far more responses to my error than answers to the question. Thanks again for all the advice.

jenniw

jenniw: &quot;I am most amused about the fact that I have had far more responses to my error than answers to the question.&quot;

I'm sorry, but that is silly -- be very happy you received ANY answers. Think of it -- you post to a forum about Texas and ask a question about Boston, or post to a Sydney site and ask questions about Perth or Auckland -- how many useful answers would you expect?

The vast majority of the people who post to the United States forum have never been to Paris so how could they give you any useful advice?

You DID get some useful info in spite of it being on the wrong forum. But if you re-post this on the Europe board where it belongs you'll get a TON of good suggestions . . . .

Yikes, janis, she said she was *amused,* not irked! I thought it was amusing, too!

Now, she's going to get more responses about her response than about her question! ;-)

I never understood how/why a person could get confused enough to ask a Europe question on the US forum - - but then it just dawned on me yesterday. I come to fodors.com by typing FODORS.COM - - once there, I simply click on my name as the first thing I do, rather than clicking on &quot;Europe&quot;. And even though essentially my posts are on the europe forum, it still says United states at the top when it forst lists all my posts. So, if I were not paying attention, and I was in a hurry to get a new question posted, I could see how a person <i>might</i> simply click on &quot;Post a new message&quot; from right there, and not catch the fact that the message is going on the US forum. While you might assume that the &quot;sub-selections&quot; (country on Europe, states on US) would alert you - - not if you are focused on getting the question typed in.

So, for the first time ever, I understand how this <i>could</i> happen, indeed, fairly easily.

Thanks for at least one logical explaination, Rex. I would never have thought of that 'cause I always start at the home page and click on US. But what you said definitely makes sense. Still a little unclear though on why it never seems to happen the other way around--US questions on the Europe board.