France - Post office / courier at CDG?

I will be transiting through CDG from the countryside in France, and have about 2 hrs before my flight on OS. I will be needing to send several large, fragile packages of porcelain objects back to the US. I see on the CDG website that theres a post office in Terminal 1 where I'll be flying from. Does anyone know if this is a full service post office with packing materials? Wanted to check that it wasn't some sort of self service set up.

Also, does anyone have experience with sending packages by French post to the US? I saw that FedEx has a hub in CDG, but it seems as if their office is not accessible of I'm coming by TGV and don't have a car... Correct me if I'm wrong!

I don't need these boxes to arrive anytime soon... Just safely... I will be traveling through europe for a couple more weeks and just don't want to carry these things around with me.

Thanks!

Hi Flaii, I am doing a bit of searching for you to try and find this out. I have found the following on the French version of the ADP site: "Nos espaces La Poste sont à votre disposition pour vos opérations postales courantes (achats de timbres, envois de colis ou de lettres avec accusés de réception, etc."

Since they say "sending packages" (envoi de colis) it sounds like they are actually a staffed site, although the fact that they don't list hours of operation makes me wonder. Actually, on "cdgfacile" (http://www.cdgfacile.com/guide-de-laeroport/services-aeroport/) they do list hours of operation and say "buy stamps, send registered letters, and all other postal operations". So, maybe?

However -- the only packing supplies you will probably be able to buy are fairly flimsy corrugated cardboard boxes. No tape, no bubble wrap, no peanuts, nothing. From visiting several post offices of various sizes here in France, my experience is that you're better off if you need sturdy boxes to go past a self-storage place or a Home Depot type place -- Castorama, Briconautes, that type of thing. I know, not easy without a car!

In the meantime, I've been bashing my head against laposte.fr. They do list a post office at Orly, but not at CDG.

Is there any way you can get FedEx to do a pick-up from you at some point? They will do it, but generally you need to have a half-day where you aren't going anywhere. And of course you need to have the stuff already packed. And they probably don't operate on Saturdays, at least my local FedEx office is not open on Saturdays.

Sorry I can't help you more, but if you need me to do some more searching let me know.

E.

Shipped, thanks so much for your detailed research and reply! I really appreciate it. Key for me is what kind of packing material I can find any post office even not in the airport. That tells me I should improvise some packaging here where I am just in case. Thank you again! I'll report back if I do end up going to that post office tomorrow!

I will be transiting through CDG from the countryside in France, and have about 2 hrs before my flight on OS. I will be needing to send several large, fragile packages of porcelain objects back to the US. I see on the CDG website that theres a post office in Terminal 1 where I'll be flying from. Does anyone know if this is a full service post office with packing materials? Wanted to check that it wasn't some sort of self service set up.

As you will be flying OS, your departure terminal will be terminal 2D. There is a full-fledged post office just a few minutes walk from 2D. It is located on the basement level, in the area connecting 2A-2C to 2B-2D, alongside the car rental desks.

JOUY31, thanks so much for your help, and thanks again to shippeb.

Based on the earlier advice and being anxious that I might encounter difficulties with mailing after I got to CDG, I made an extra effort to pack my items in a box and go to the post office near me in Confolens. I'm glad I did, because it was there that I discovered the 20kg limit for mailing to the United States. This post office did not have any mailing supplies that i could see.

I took out some things but there was one item that could not be divided further to meet the limit. Because I did this the day before I left, I had the chance to give away what I was going to mail, rather than be stuck with it at CDG. The other reason why I'm glad I did this, was that I ended up with no time to go to the post office in CDG anyway. My TGV was late 30 min departing Poitiers, and late 40 min arriving in CDG, and I had planned a 2 hr connection before my flight and I would have just been so panicked if I had only discovered at CDG that I could not mail my package.

Thanks to you two again!

Thanks for coming back to us with the outcome, flaii! I'm extremely glad you did, because I had no idea that there was a weight limit on what could be sent to the US. Although 20kg does cover a lot, it still would keep me from making a mistake some day. Just when you think you know it all... :)