Hi everyone! Wondering if anyone has tips for renting a car in Paris (CDG) and driving out to Beaujolais wine region? We plan to return the car, then stay in the city a few days and then take public transit back to the airport. Any tips greatly appreciated!!! (Also, if anyone has any Paris accommodation tips, let me know. I looked through the group already but couldn't find anything available. Looking for mid July). TIA!

My favourite place to stay in Paris!
http://www.residencehenri4.com/fr/
RESIDENCEHENRI4.COM
Hotel Residence Henri 4 Paris | hotel 4 étoiles, Sorbonne, St Germain, Pantheon

We did this, only went to champagne and North to Normandy. We rented thru Europcar, dropped back off at a different location in Paris (depends where you stay) as to the closest.

Did you have a good experience renting with europcar?

Keddy yes! It was super easy, just like here

I’ve only been back from France for 5 hours. It was an AMAZING trip! Was there for 10 days - 1/2 of those were driving around Paris and other parts of the country, and 1/2 taking the train. Leave LOTS of time to get around driving in Paris (in&around, and in&out of the city), traffic is terrible basically all the time. I found it easier to prebuy train tickets unless you speak French - signage in the stations is confusing & very busy IMO. Also, the train personnel are on random strikes right now, so also good to leave extra time in the stations and download the apps/check websites for known strike times.
We stayed at OFF Paris Seine which was SO cool, for one of our nights. We stayed at Best Western Premier (near Sacre Coeur) for another night, it was okay. And we also stayed at citizenM hotels near Gare du Lyon which was a fun hotel. All rooms are small in Paris unless you’re paying $$$.

Also! Make SURE you have Waze downloaded. The traffic cameras are everywhere on the highways and they’ll ticket you for going 3-4-5 Kms over the limit. Waze let’s you know where all issues are (camera, police, accident etc). It’s the best app! Take a brick-style battery pak. You’ll need it for sure. And, make sure your provider from home gives you a Roam Like Home package. You’ll use your phone a lot in Paris and in France. Don’t skimp on this. It’s truly needed.

And bring conditioner. We were paying $275-350 CDN approx for our rooms, and 2 out of 3 didn’t have conditioner in the bathrooms. Annoying. Ha.

One great thing I wouldn’t live without: hippocket wifi. Postable wifi was amazing for traveling

Anna these are great tips thank you so much!!!

We rented a car thru Costco travel. Easy and reasonable.

Sue in Paris?! Great! We have done that before, but in the USA.

Keddy yes! From the airport. Surprising I know but so great!

Train

We did not attempt to rent or drive in Paris. We took the train to Versailles and got our rental there. So my advice is find a town outside of Paris in the direction you want to go that is on the rail route and has a car rental place. GPS a necessary option unless you have maps and data on your phone

Agree with renting from a smaller town with good train connections outside Paris eg. Versailles or Melun (near Fontainebleau). There are usually no drop-off charges in France so you can rent from one location and return to another. Standard transmission cars are cheaper if you are comfortable driving standard. We have had good experiences renting through Autoeurope - a consolidator.