Paris Flights

I need to write one because all the bad press these airports gets its unjustified. I use them every month for business, and pleasure a few times a year too. Orly is very small and nice. The issue is with Roissy CDG.
First its the main airport that service Paris, and its call the Paris airport, but its not IN Paris. It is in Roissy-en France, dept 95 Val d'Oise. This is why the cost is much higher on the public transport 9,10€ nowdays on the RER B.

the panels are well indicated and much in English, the folks there all speak English at different levels but undertood plus many other languages. Crowded yes, you are coming to Paris ,for what, you are not alone, almost 30 Million people use per year,the most visited city in the world coming to the most visited country in the World (latest I read 78 million people more than the entire population of France) so cant have it all nice and dandy with your crowds here.

Does it needs improving yes It is coming with more restos, toilets,rest areas, wifi areas etc. Would it be enough,doubted never enough for Paris,the most beautiful city in the world and the airport is not so pretty.

I go by there again twice this month, early next month again; its easy,in and out. Even connecting with the TGV train there was easy and I am not a train person. I leave you with a site in english that can help you a lot it has all needed information better explained than the official airport site of Paris. Hope it helps ,and enjoy Paris,France and the rest...
http://www.easycdg.com/pages/indexpag.html

and the airport site
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-GB/Passagers/Home/

and the train site to get you into the city of Paris
http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_5000/accueil/
you hit departure is Roissy CDG and then your terminal, arrival is the address,postal code or metro/rer station you are going to.

yes the flight is better and quicker,with low cost carriers given already the price will be similar.

Great trip done it many times, and why not by car??? if you go from Paris to Madrid and back to Paris you wont pay drop off charges.Trip is about 17 hrs straight stopping for gas only or if want to sightsee then two days to do it, but heck you see the two countries up close and personal. sound crazy but I am the road warrior here ::)
www.viamichelin.com will help you planned the route but its easy under the Somport tunnel and under the Pyrenées as opposed to the other routes its my favorite way.

now to answer your points/questions
1) CDG is the RER B to Gare du Nord, then change to metro line 5 to Austerlitz, very easy for 9,10 euros one way per person.
2) Euro Rails never taken it but its own by SNCF and for tourists is always more expensive, better buy the ticket when you get here if decided to go by train, as told before its not advisable.
3) you got it,the car
www.autoeurope.com
www.kemwel.com
car brokers deal with many carriers.

Once back in Paris 2-3 days hit the main sights, see destination above right windows for Paris tips by posters like us,there are zillions in there for ideas.

Hope it helps and have a great trip on a great run lol!

Six hours is too short a period of time to get out of CDG and then look for a hotel nearby, there are cheap hotels for around 40 euros per day, no fractional rate.
If you are member of Air France FF or any other airlines associated with AF, then you can use their arrival lounge free of charge. There are showers and comfortable seats and food depending upon the hour of the day: breakfast or lunch. it closes around 12 noon or 1 pm.
Are you coming in on one airline and then leaving on another? then you might have to go out of the terminal. Depending upon the terminal you would be using, you can buy a day pass for around 50 usd

The biggest airport of France, and one of the biggest in Europe, is Charles-de-Gaulle Airport north of Paris. In 2008 more then 60 million passengers crossed this airport, making it the 5th biggest airport in the world.

CDG has three terminals, all handling both local and intercontinental flights. The terminals are all connected by the CDGVAL, a sort of metroline that makes a connection every few minutes.

It's very easy to reach the Airport from the centre of Paris, using the RER line B. Station Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1 is the best one to take for Terminals 1 and 3, Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV is the best one for Terminal 2. For a trip to the airport from the citycentre you'll need to calculate 45 minutes...

There also is a TGV (highspeed-train) station on the airport making it very easy to reach a lot of French cities with a fast, direct connection. For other European destinations you'll need to change on one of the other TGV-station in Paris. For more info about this, check out my TGV-tip.

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Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle International Airport sits approximately 14 miles north of Paris. The airport is the largest in Paris.

The security checkpoints are often understaffed creating long waits.
You should allow for extra time for layovers when catching connecting flights to avoid missing a plane.

There are an excellent mix of amenities, restaurants, and shops.

Charles de Gaulle International Airport stands out is the train system that links airport passengers with Paris and other nearby attractions including the European Disney World and Belgium.
It is easy to reach much of France and Belgium using trains that leave the airport regularly.

How much time does one allow to get from Hotel to Gate "??" at CDG?

We used "Yellowvan" in mid June 2010 - booking through the hotel desk ..paying €24 upfront at the desk. The balance (€14) was paid to the driver at the airport. Done that way, I suspect, to make it more likely that he receive a tip.
The van was a "black" shuttle & the driver said the two van lines had merged their businesses. There seemed to be some confusion with their management. We booked 48 hours ahead. Were given a written confirmation by the hotel desk of price and pick up time but between getting that confirmation and actually being picked up the pick up time was changed three times by phone through the hotel desk.
The van arrived 45 minutes earlier than the final time we had been given & the driver (plus a van full of other passengers all with their own schedules to meet) had to wait for us to check out.
We had planned to depart the hotel 4 hours before flight time. The trip to the airport (at 8:30 am) took 1 hour 15 minutes door to door; Check-in 30 minutes; passport check 20 minutes; coffee and cake 15 minutes; security check 30 minutes. In total approx. 3 hours. I'm glad we allowed that 4 hour margin. Had the 45 minutes change in the van pick up time been the other way (late) or if there had been traffic delays on the road (not unusual at that time of the day) we would have been worried.

When taking a RER train to CDG Airport, you need to take off at CDG 1 (there’s a CDG 2 - next after CDG1).
Even if you take off at CDG2, there’s a free shuttle going to CDG1 quite often.

Don’t throw away your metro (RER) ticket: you’ll need it to exit from the train station.
You need to know ahead a time what terminal your plane leaves from. There are small train-shuttles going to Terminal 1, 2 and 3. Pay attention to the signs.

When you arrive to your terminal you may check in right away using machines. (Do not wait until the electronic table shows your gate). It’ll print the boarding passes for you. Usually, the information about your gate appears 2 hours before your departure time (no need to arrive to the airport 3 hours in advance like we do in North America).
You need a boarding pass to enter the gate where you’ll go through Customs check and then straight to the duty-free shopping (the prices are not much lower than in the city). There are Paul and Espressamente cafés inside, I like the second one (good coffee).

Air france 777-ER
boarded at 4 pm for the 4 50 pm flight
separate boarding for First Business and Premium Economy passengers
very quick boarding
comfortable seating
2-4-2 arrangement
a section screened off between Business and Economy
Took off at 5 12 pm and it took only six hours and six minutes to reach Paris.
Lots of movies including a good selection of World movies
The meal served is the same as in Economy Class
The fare is twice as much as the economy fare and in my opinion it is justified and comparable.
On arrival at CDG I used the AF arrival lounge and had a nice shower and breakfast before venturing into Paris