Update Venice 2 Pisa

In message <[email hidden]>, GLH1013 <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

We will have a 6 hour layover at De Gaulle airport and 9:00AM.

I don't understand this sentence.

Quoted message said:

Plan to catch a bus to Paris and see a few sights.

Take the train, it's faster.

--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk

Thanks much-the train it is. Do you know which train would be best? Gary

In message <[email hidden]>, GLH1013 <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Thanks much-the train it is. Do you know which train would be best? Gary

See paris.orgMetroOpen ↗

Click on the RER map. You want B3.
--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk

Quoted message said:

A quick update- The airline tickets have been purchased. Leaving Chicago 9/15, thru Paris taking
our bikes with us (American & Air France). No charge for the bikes. Returning
Florence-Paris-Chicago. We will have a 6 hour layover at De Gaulle airport and 9:00AM. Plan to
catch a bus to Paris and see a few sights.

Keep in mind that CDG is one of the absolute worst airports to depart from; you will be in multiple
lines that snake backward, forward, up and down. And, since you're leaving the airport, you'll be
going through the full security screen when you get back, so you'd best assume the worst and plan to
get back two hours prior to your flight.

But let's say you want to go for it, and see the Eiffel Tower-

Take the RER B line, direction Robinson/St Remy-les Chevreuse (the direction should be pretty easy,
since I think CDG is at the end of the line, so you're going the only direction it travels). Connect
at St. Michel-Notre Dame to RER C line, direction Versailles-RG/St
Quentin-en-Yvelines/Argenteuil/Pontoise (you have a choice of several endpoints, because RER C
splits up into several different destination trains *past* the Eiffel Tower). Get off at the Champ
de Mars-Tour Eiffel stop, which will be a very short walk to the Eiffel Tower. The time listed for
this trip is 64 minutes one-way, so you can see you're eating into your six hours in (or more
correctly, near) Paris! But, fortunately, there's only one transfer, so the chances of getting lost
are very small.

For the return, that the RER C direction Massy-Palaiseau/Versailles-Chantiers/St Martin
d'Etampes/Dourdan-la-Foret. Connect with RER B at St Michel-Notre Dame station, direction CDG.
Another 64 minutes.

So, assuming there's no transit strike, you've got just over an hour trip in each direction, and
your six hours in/near Paris are really only four because you've got to get back through CDG
security etc. At most, you'll have one hour at the Eiffel Tower, and that assumes you don't have to
wait long for the next train. According to the ratp.fr website, the trains leave every 10-15 minutes
on weekdays; doesn't mention their weekend schedule.

As someone else mentioned, you can always take the bus, but surface transportation in Paris is
subject to traffic delays, of which I've experienced some pretty nasty ones (and a missed flight)
during my visits.

I hope I didn't make all this sound *too* discouraging! It's actually very easy getting around the
Paris region using the RER and Metro, and if the alternative is six hours inside CDG (which you may
have been able to tell is not one of my favorite airports)...

Best resource for info is the previously-mentioned ratp website at

ratp.frindex.htmOpen ↗

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

So, assuming there's no transit strike, you've got just over an hour trip in each direction, and
your six hours in/near Paris are really only four because you've got to get back through CDG
security etc. At most, you'll have one hour at the Eiffel Tower, and that assumes you don't have
to wait long for the next train.

Hmmm. One can spend more than an hour waiting in various lines (ticket line, first elevator line,
second elevator line) just to get to the top. However, it's possible that if they were getting their
bags checked through to the US the security check on the return to CDG might be less onerous
--though that's just a guess, not a guarantee.

I'd forgo the Tour Eiffel and think about doing something that wouldn't require standing in (much
of) a line. Maybe a stroll along the Seine, buy a rosary at Notre Dame (depending on one's faith),
buy a book from a bouquiniste (depending on one's interests), buy an ice cream on the Ile St. Louis
or a pastry from a boulangerie (depending on one's taste buds -- by the way, the pastry known as the
Paris-Brest is in the shape of a bicycle wheel because it commemorates you-know-what).

Then run like hell and catch the train back to CDG.

Quoted message said:

Thanks all for your replies-Food for thought, The other possiblity is that

we

Quoted message said:

will be so tired from biking those Italian mountains and hiking the

Cinque,

Quoted message said:

that we just might sleep at De Gaulle. No way-we will hop that train to downtown Paris.

Please let us know how it turns out! Robert's right about the lines for the Eiffel Tower, but,
if you're willing to hike up the first two flights (instead of the elevator), there's usually
no waiting whatsoever, and then, depending upon crowds, a 10-30 minute wait for the trip to
the very top.

Having said all that, the Arc d'Triomphe offers a view almost as good, particularly if the day isn't
the clearest.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Having said all that, the Arc d'Triomphe offers a view almost as good, particularly if the day
isn't the clearest.

Q: Where's the best view in Paris?
R: The Top of the Tour Montparnasse. It's the only place in Paris you can't see the Tour
Montparnasse.