12 hour lay over in Paris

[ddcordwood]

I have a 12 hour lay over at DeGaulle airport near Paris in early April (on the way home from Botswana). Is it worth venturing out to Paris to do some sightseeing? If so, I would appreciate information on the best way to get to the city, what to see, where to eat etc. I will be with my 11 year old son.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

The quickest way into the city centre is on the RER train (Line B). For directions to the train station, from your arrival terminal, see here:
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/en-GB/Passa gers/Arrivees/QuitterAeroport/EnTransportEnCom mun/EnTransportsEnCommun.htm
(The journey time is around 45 minutes).

RER Line B will take you to St-Michel Notre-Dame station. It takes only a minute or two to walk to Notre Dame Cathedral, so you might want to take a look at it. (Personally, I think that touring the inside of the cathedral would be very boring for most 11-year-old boys).

St-Michel Notre-Dame station is also on the edge of the Latin Quarter. Within a 5 minute walk from the station you'll find dozens of cheap restaurants, serving 3 course meals from as little as �10. (Just follow the 'Quartier Latin' signs). If you pay a little more than the minimum (say �15-�20) you can find some really great food.

RER Line C also serves St-Michel Notre-Dame station. A short journey (4 stops) will take you to Champs de Mars Tours Eiffel station. Here you'll find the Eiffel Tower. You'll need to allow at least 2 hours if you want to ascend it. (There's always quite a queue at the base of the tower. The first lift only takes you part way up, then you have to queue again for the lift to the top). However, the ascent and view make it well worth it. (Your son would almost certainly find this far more interesting than going round Notre Dame Cathedral).

[Buenchico]

An alternative way to travel between Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower is to take the Batobus. This provides an (unguided) river trip, along the Seine, with some good views of the city:
http://www.batobus.com/english/boat-cruise-par is-seine.html#

From the Eiffel Tower, you could cross over the river to view the Palais de Chaillot, which stands on the opposite bank. From the neighbouring Trocadero Metro station, you could take a train, on Line 6, to Charles de Gaulle �toile station. This is adjacent to the Arc de Triomphe (which you could ascend if you wanted to) and at the head of the Avenue des Champs-Elys�es, where you could join 'caf� society' and sit outside one of the dozens of (over-priced) bars and restaurants.

To get back to CDG, you could board a Metro train on line 1 (which runs under the Avenue des Champs-Elys�es, with a choice of several stations) and travel to Chatelet, where you connect with RER line B again.

Chris

[Le Chat]

A fantastic answer from Chris ..in comparison with mine, which is remember not to ask any Parisians for any help in any way, shape or form. They are a loads of unhelpful, miserable barstewards, who wouldn't give you the steam off their pi55. Talking from experience and feel annoyed at remembering our 24hr stopover in DeGaulle in July.

[arwenant]

i would just like to disagree with 'lechat', i have been to paris lots of times and i have never had any problem at all with anyone who i have spoken to and as a french student there have been plenty of such times. Such racist statements should be kept to yourself unless you really wish to cause offence!

in response to the original question there is so much you could possibly do but my personal advice would be to hit les champs elysees as there is plenty to do in a realatively small area and it is one of the best places to get transport from. i hope you enjoy your trip to Botswana and your stopover in Paris, and just to clarify Parisians are wonderful people and it really is the best city in the world!

[Le Chat]

arwenant - racist? Please! Just talking from experience here - I would feel the same if I had had the same treatment in Liverpool or Malaga!
I'm glad you have had a more positive experience, that is good to know.