Rental Car Pickup - Paris??

We will be in Paris in early-mid Sept, then renting a car on the moring of our departure to visit other destinations in France.

I realize Paris is a big, congested city and not a prime spot for driving.......and why would you need to with such reliable public transit (and your own two feet!).

That being said, I shouldn%26#39;t have any problems picking up the car in Paris and leaving the city (towards Normandy), should I? I should be able to manage my way out of the 7e, right? RIGHT??? Now I%26#39;m all worried!!

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If you are in the 7e, you are actually staying in one of areas that is not quite as congested from traffic, generally.

Put your mind at ease. You simply need to find your way on to the Peripherique ring road around Paris, and it won%26#39;t be too difficult from the 7e. Once on the Peripherique, you%26#39;ll find things are pretty easy (although possibly slow if you hit rush hour), you should find your highway to Normandy with little trouble.

Driving around the Arc d%26#39;Triomphe may not be recommended for first-timers, but driving in Paris and in France in general is much easier than, for instance, trying to drive in downtown Boston or NYC. Part of the reason is the highway signage/directions in Paris and France (in fact, all of Europe) are much more logically laid out than in most U.S. cities.

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We picked a car up at Gare du Nord and drove out of the city toward Giverny. it took about 1/2 hour or so to get out of the traffic (noontime or so) and onto the highway. GPS was helpful. I worried, too, and it was OK.

Have a good trip!

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If you are planning to head towards Normandy, then think about picking up your car in the Port Maillot Area. This is on the western edge of the city, and there art a number of rental agencies in this area. From here you can quickly get on the A 14 to Normandy, with a minimum of city driving.

If you are renting online (I recommend Kemwel) you will be given a number of choices of places to pick up your car in Paris. Port Maillot will be one of them.

With luggage I recommend taking a taxi to the car rental location. From the 7th it won%26#39;t be to expensive. You don%26#39;t want to be lugging luggage up and down Paris metro stairs. If your French is limited, write out the address ahead of time and hand it to the taxi driver when you get in.

You can arrange to drop off the car at any location without an extra charge when you are done. Even CDG. If you choose to return it at CDG, give yourself LOTS of extra time.

If you choose to pick up the car at another location in the city, make sure you can find a route out of town that does NOT take you through the Arc de Triomphe (Place Charles de Gaulle) traffic circle.

You will generally find French drivers to be less aggressive and more polite than US drivers. I%26#39;ve just returned from a three week driving trip in Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley and Burgundy, and driving was a pleasure, compared to Southern California.

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On Sunday trucks are not allowed on the roads....mandatory rest day for them. So driving on the perpherique on Sunday was a much easier experience for us than on the Friday we also did it.

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Diegodreamer has given exceptionally good advice here, much more specific than mine.

If you follow this advice, you will laugh later about how silly it was to worry about driving out of Paris to Normandy....

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