First of all may I congratulate you on your choice of destination:
Paris is a wonderful city and I'm sure you'll have a great time - if I
hadn't already settled in London, I'd seriously consider setting up
home there myself. As a frequent visitor to the city, I just wanted
to add some commentary about your airport transfer, as this part of
the trip has the potential to sour the whole of your vacation...
There are effectively 3 ways of getting from CDG into the downtown
area of Paris - cab, bus and subway. They each have their benefits
and pitfalls.
#1 - Cab: This method of course wins on comfort and convenience as it
takes you door to door in (usually) a late-model Mercedes or similar.
My experience of Parisian cab drivers is that they are generally
honest and knowledgeable about the best route for the time of day
etc. Don't be tempted by the touts inside the terminal building -
unsuspecting tourists do sometimes find themselves being driven to the
Parisian equivalent of Compton and robbed or worse. Instead, follow
the signs to the official rank ("Taxis") where the security guys only
allow licensed cabs. Any danger is then more about the way they drive
- it's no exaggeration to say these guys will routinely speed down
narrow side-streets at 70mph ! If you can stomach that, and have
about 50 euro to spare, cab is the way to go.
#2 - Bus: there is a dedicated airport service (the "Roissybus") which
runs from all terminals at CDG into the downtown area from 6am to 11pm
daily about 3-4 times an hour. I'm guessing you're arriving at
Terminal 2 - if so, you'll need to buy your bus ticket from one of the
booths inside the terminal building before you board the bus. The
benefit of this is that the ticket booth guys are generally very
helpful and often speak some English. On the other hand, the bus
drivers are generally unhelpful and wouldn't admit to understanding a
word of English even under torture...! RATP claim the journey into
Paris takes 45-60 minutes but this is frequently absurdly optimistic -
the freeway past CDG is notorious for its traffic and things only get
worse once you get onto the surface streets - unlike a cab, the bus
has to follow a pre-agreed route and I have sometimes sat on it for 2+
hours. Having said that, when you get off at the end of your marathon
journey (in rue Auber just by the opera house), you can see the
entrance to the subway ("M=E9tropolitain" or "M=E9tro") just across the
street. If you're not in a hurry, the bus gives you a great street-
level introduction to the city and it only costs 8.50 euro (plus the
cost of then getting from Opera to wherever you're going in the
14e....). It's also a very safe way to go - no hassles on the
journey, and Opera is a pretty upscale neighborhood, even after
dark...
#3 - Subway: the subway is actually a railway - the "RER" - which runs
underground once it gets into the city centre and interconnects with
the real subway ("M=E9tropolitain" or "M=E9tro"). It wins on speed, price
and convenience, particularly if your hotel is close to an RER station
(for example Denfert-Rochereau in the 14e). However, you should
choose your train carefully - some departures are limited stop
services and that's the one you want. This is because the RER routes
through the "banlieue" - the doughnut of bad areas surrounding
downtown. From the limited stop service, these form a somewhat
depressing view (an endless stream of projects); riding the local
however, which stops at numerous intermediate stations, you may get
the chance to interact with the natives - petty theft is frequent and
robbery not at all uncommon, particularly if you're travelling at a
less busy time. If you do ride this train, check out the security
guys with the big dogs for a sense of how secure it really is...! You
can tell which is a limited stop and which a local service by the
inidicator boards at the airport RER station. If you see stops listed
before "Gare du Nord" it's a local - if the first stop is "Gare du
Nord" you're in business. A ticket into Paris costs 8.10 euro.
OK, that's all I have for now. Enjoy !
Nick
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