Originally Posted by
stimpy
While I am sure there are problems, personally I have had little issue with Parisien taxis except that there aren't enough of them.
The OrlyVal train was out of service yesterday so I had to take a taxi (I wasn't going to take a bus packed with screaming children) into the city. True the driver didn't know where he was going, but his TomTom did. True he didn't have the AC on, but it was pleasant enough with the windows down and I didn't bother to ask for AC. There were none of the other problems mentioned and CherieFM doesn't bother me.
So "tout va très bien Madame la Marquise". Heard that two weeks ago from someone else. He said he had a less catastrophic quarter and all is well. You had a bearable ride and all is well.
If blindly following the handheld GPS is as good as a proper driver training with a feeling for what route really works best given current traffic conditions - fine. If being exposed to car exhausts and noise and 37 degrees heat is as pleasant as being in a quiet and well tempered environment - fine.
I think noone said that it was unbearable. It was more a question of this never getting any better because the profession protects itself.
Originally Posted by
stimpy
And while London cabbies are great, many other cities around the world are much worse than Paris for taxis.
That's how the country and Air France scrape by: there is always worse. Downward benchmarking, resting on laurels. The lack of ambition to be better is the crux.
And the fatalist tolerance of lobbies whose protectionist moves mean that you and I as customers pay more for a worse product than we could and should have. It bothers me.
Originally Posted by
stimpy
But back to the OP, I agree that at GV lounge would be the best answer. CDG T2 is a pretty sizeable train station after all. Schiphol has an EXCELLENT lounge for rail passengers. ^
Good to know! Where is that lounge? Last time I went to AMS with some time to kill I went to the KLM lounge before heading to the station. Where is it? Who can use it?