Fly drive in France with a few days in Paris

PadraigL

Hi

Doing a family fly drive to a gite in western france. We plan to spend 2 days in paris at the end.
I am planning to drive the car into paris for the 2 nights. Most hotels say that public parking is available close by.
I was looking around the Gare Du Norde, as I was going to give the car back to the rental company who have an office here, but decided now that I have paid for the car and might as well use it to get to Beauvais.

Anyone stayed around this area?
Should I choose another area?
Or am I mad to bring the car into Paris. I am looking forward to it really. Maybe take it around at night when its quiter.

Any thoughts or anyone done anything like this.

shrapnel222

hi there

gare du nord is fine, just try and avoid the barbes side of it. to be fair, if you're not going to give the car back at gare du nord , then maybe try and find a hotel somewhere else- that part of town is not so family friendly at night (red light district and all that). when are you going? if it's july or august, you'll be fine driving around paris. Any other time, you'll just be stuck in traffic for most of the time. and if you go to place de l'etoile, just remember your car insurance will not cover costs if anything happens, that applies to anyone and everyone ( i say that but don't know if this applies to rentals).

PadraigL

Thanks shrapnel222

We plan to stay from 12th/14th july. I think I would like to keep the car to drive to Beauvais. I would plan to park it up for the 2 days and use the metro. I have also heard that you have to use your bumpers to park?
So I suppose a hotel close to the subway, a little way out so parking is easier.

shrapnel222

you'll be hard pressed to find a hotel that wasn't close to a metro station, but you're right, the metro is the best way of getting around paris in any event. there'll be lots of things happening on the 14th july, parades, fireworks, etc... As for using bumpers when parking, isn't that why they were invented?:D

Ponster

I don't really see the logic of

a) paying for the car for 2 days when it's going to cost you for the rental and the parking.

b) Staying around the Gare de Nord area if you don't have.

Here is a list of public parking around the Gare. You won't be using your bumpers in a carpark

The Swordsman

Ponster wrote: »

I don't really see the logic of

a) paying for the car for 2 days when it's going to cost you for the rental and the parking.

I spent two weeks in France a few years with my family, the last 4 days of which were in Paris.

I gave the car back when I arrived in Paris, opting instead to use public transport etc and to get a taxi from the campsite to CDG the morning I was due to go home.

Big mistake. The taxi fare cost 110 euro. It would have been as cheap to hold onto the car.

Beauvais is a long way from Paris. I don't know what the public transport options are (if you have small kids etc and suitcases, there may not be any), but if you need to hire a taxi, it will cost an arm and a leg.

Also, Paris is a bitch of city to find your way around in a car. If you don't already have a SatNav, invest in one.

Ponster

Paris to Beauvais is €13 one-way on the airport bus.

For a family with kids and suitcases you'll pay €120 for a shuttle bus.

A taxi to Beauvais is really the last option to take as it's a good hour away from Paris.

As The Swordsman said, Paris is a bith if you have a car. Very, very few of us who live in the city own cars if we work in the city.

PadraigL

Thanks for the replies.

I found a hotel in Gennevilliers close to the RER and it gets good reviews.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/hotel-balladins-gennevilliers-superior.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-230744-fr-UuQnvZtMJ0m1Jkqhj_oNqgS719932764;sid=a25f356f8e52ad1c663af3928256842b

It also has the advantage that it the Beauvais side of the city. We will have 3 large bags with 2 teenage kids and I am still erring on keeping the car. If it was only myself and Mrs Padraigl I would like to stay in the center of Paris.

PadraigL

Came across this old topic and thought I would update for anyone with teenagers visiting Paris.
We actually stayed at La Regence hotel in La Defence area of Paris.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/la-regence-courbevoie-paris-la-defense-5.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-230744-fr-UuQnvZtMJ0m1Jkqhj_oNqgS719932764;sid=f57aa67550aa1ebaa8f48305a82588f5

We drove from Limoges early sat morning arriving before midday. La Defense is tricky enough with the one way system. We were using a map and some printouts from Mappy but we still got lost. A GPS would be the proper thing to do. Sometime the map and the road name did not correspond. I had bought the map on holidays and it may have been old. But it was all in the fun of the holidays.

We stayed a Sat and Sun night during Bastille weekend. Two double bedrooms, all for €220. The parking which I had pre-booked turned out to be free as the small hotel car park was full when we arrived and the owner had his car parked on the street in one of 3 free spaces in the area. Don't really understand why but the car stayed in the space for 3 days with no issues. Needed nothing to display either. Expecting a clamp every time we came back to the hotel.

The double rooms were basic. Would not suit anyone wanting comfort for a couple of hours each day. We just used them for sleeping as we spent everyday and evening in the centre of Paris. Suppose you couldn't do this with small kids. Ours were 12 and 16 at the time.

Dropped the bags off and went looking for the train or RER as its called. La Defense was a pleasant surprise. It's a major business district for Paris. The Grande Arche (Its in line with the Arc De Triomphe and the Louvre) looked the business and the area was thriving with people. The RER was easy to get. Just bought 10 tickets at a time for €11. Quick and easy to the centre of Paris. We go a red sightseeing bus for around €80 for the 4 of us. The ticket lasted for 2 days and visited all the major attractions. We done one full round first and then decided which ones to visit on the 2nd round. Would recommend the Arc de Triomphe at night. We would arrive back at La Defense train station about 11. A bit weary the first night as the area was somewhat deserted and we had to remember which exit to use.

Because it was Bastille weekend there was a fly over of the French air force. It took the "Axe historique" line, over La Defense, Arc De Triomphe and the Louvre. The atmosphere was great.
Monday evening we drove out of Paris, which is easier than driving in, to Beauvais airport. Overall it was fab weekend. It made the holiday, as the stay in the country was a bit boring, thats another story. Would deffinetely recommend that hotel for price and location.