I will be in Paris in 3 weeks and we have decided to take a day or 2 to visit bayeux area. Where in Paris is the easiest location to get rental. I was thinking about taking taxi from hotel to airport and leaving from there but it would be expensive 60 euros for the taxi ride and then the car would have additional fess because of the airport..
There must be a easy place to rent closer to Paris
Thanks
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Gare du Nord. The cars are right below the rental offices in the garage. Two rights and a left and it%26#39;s a straight shot to the highway.
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I%26#39;d strongly recommend NOT renting a car in Paris at all. The train to Caen is cheap, fast and there are car rental agencies across the street from the Caen train station. There is no scenery between Paris and Normandy except snarled traffic in Ile de France and the motorway itself so zipping past it on the train is worth considering.
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Thanks for the feedback. How easy is it to get to Caen then? I am a little embarrased to say that I have never been on a train. Typical North American who loves his car. Ha ha
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Everyone keeps saying the airport fee is so high for rental cars. Approximately what is the fee?
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Very easy. Trains leave for Caen from Gare Saint-Lazare every 1-2 hours all day. The fare varies between 15€ and 45€ depending on advance booking and the day of the week you travel. It%26#39;s really very low pressure and relaxing compared to air travel. No airport security, you can board right up till the doors close and you are delivered directly from Paris city center to Caen city center. Bayeux is less than 40 mins drive from Caen and traffic jams are rare.
If you know your dates you can book the journey on the SNCF website now and possibly take advantage of the %26quot;PREMS fare of 15€ one way.
www.voyages-sncf.com/leisure/fr/launch/home/
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You can also take the train from Gare St. Lazare to Bayeux and rent a car there.
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%26lt;%26lt;You can also take the train from Gare St. Lazare to Bayeux and rent a car there.%26gt;%26gt;
The problem is that there is only one (it%26#39;s been a year so this may have changed) car rental company in Bayeux and it%26#39;s kind of a mom %26amp; pop business as I remember. EuropCar, Hertz, Avis, etc. are all in Caen. You also run the risk of adding 1-2 hours in train connections because there is very limited direct Paris-Bayeux service and most trains require a connection in Caen.
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%26quot;There is no scenery between Paris and Normandy except snarled traffic in Ile de France and the motorway itself%26quot; Metromole, are you telling us there is nothing at all worth seeing between Paris and Normandy? In Oct, we will be leaving Paris by car to drive to the west side of the Normandy Coast and staying in a small coastal village south of Cherbourg. Based there, we want the car to tour all of Normandy and Loire Valley. We thought driving from Paris would be fun. Is there a different route that you would suggest, other than on the autoroute from Paris to Normandy?
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%26lt;%26lt;%26quot;There is no scenery between Paris and Normandy except snarled traffic in Ile de France and the motorway itself%26quot; Metromole, are you telling us there is nothing at all worth seeing between Paris and Normandy? %26gt;%26gt;
I%26#39;m talking about the direct motorway routes to Normandy here. It%26#39;s just my opinion but our experience has been this:
The entire driving experience in Ile de France within 30 km of Paris can be, and most often is, a nightmare. We don%26#39;t own a car so when we need one, we rent. It%26#39;s been our CONSISTENT experience that getting from the %26quot;peripherique%26quot; (ring road) of Paris to open, unclogged motorway can take anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours depending on direction, traffic problems and time of day. It%26#39;s stressful and the aggressive Parisian drivers you%26#39;re stuck in traffic with can wear you down. A potential very low point on an expensive vacation.
If you%26#39;re driving straight through to Normandy, the trip from Paris is a lot like driving through the farmlands of the midwest of North America as far as scenery goes. There%26#39;s not a lot to see (other than crops growing) until you get to Normandy. If you are stopping off at sites along the way, that%26#39;s another story. The OP said he/she was taking %26quot;a day or two to visit the bayeux area%26quot; so I recommended the train because of the unfortunate amount of time renting and driving a car from Paris would cost him/her.
If you aren%26#39;t on a tight schedule and plan to drive zig-zag to make stops along the way, the drive would be more worthwhile.
%26lt;%26lt;Is there a different route that you would suggest%26gt;%26gt;
Paris is out on the French %26quot;prairie%26quot; so views of smokestack industry near the city and crops growing are the only views within 3-4 hours of Paris from the motorways when you%26#39;re trying to get directly from Paris to a distant destination like Bayeux.
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Merci Metromole, by the way I love your name! Maybe we should re-think getting a car from Paris. We have to return to Paris at the end of our trip, so we thought we%26#39;d just pick up and drop off the car at CDG airport. You are right, I don%26#39;t feel like spending time stuck in traffic. Perhaps a train to Cherbourg then drive south down the coast to the village. I know that there is a car rental in Cherbourg, but do they let you drop off the car in another location when you are finished? And would this be very costly? We orginally thought we would drive through the Loire Valley on our way back to Paris. Maybe we should drop the car back in Cherbourg and return to Paris by train. If there is anyone else out there that has some suggestions, I%26#39;m all ears.
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