Rental car at CDG and on to Normandy
 

Arriving at CDG from London on AF.
Renting a car from AVIS. They show locations at 3 different terminals as well as the train station at CDG.
Anyone know at which terminal we would arrive, or would a pick up at the Roissy train station be easier to exit the airport area and head to Normandy.

We are headed straight to Normandy for 5 days and will return from CDG.

We are staying in a lovely cottage near Honfleur in a village called Marais Vernier.

AF = Terminal 2
Unless the car is significantly cheaper in Roisy, I wouldn't bother with adding a train ride to/from the airport.
Enjoy Normany.

You'll arrive at terminal 2E and I think rental cars are between 2E and 2F. No need to go anywhere else. Depending on the hour, when getting out of the airport N104 towards Cergy-Pontoise (then N14 and down to Les Mureaux to join the A13) might be faster than taking the A86. No need to go through central Paris.

Thanks for the replies. Will go to 2E/F to get car.

We will be doing the same thing this summer - flying into CDG on AA and on to Normandy for a week.

It has been several years since I've rented a car in France. Is there anything I need to know? Is there any insurance coverage that is required by law or strongly recommended (by FTers, not the car rental company ;)). I also need to call my insurance company to get a refresher on what, if anything, they cover abroad. Are there any companies that are recommended or that we should avoid? Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Firstly, I should be very cautious about driving any distance after an all night transatlantic flight. Fatigue is a major cause of traffic accidents. You might consider taking a train to your destination and renting a car the following morning.

Secondly, while there might be a US insurance company extending auto coverage to those driving in Europe, I do not know of one. Visa and MC offer free insurance for those paying for rentals with their respective credit cards. However, what is offered is somewhat limited and it is secondary insurance meaning you initially pay for any loss and the insurance arm of either Visa or MC will reimburse you. The reimbursement may or may not cover you total loss amount. There is also a lot of paperwork involved with claims of this type.

If you have an American Express card, consider signing up for the primary coverage they offer for as little as $25 per rental. If you should be involved in an accident, this coverage basically allows you to walk away.

For the rental itself, consider a quote from Autoeurope. Pricing is very competitive and you will always have an English speaking contact in the event of any rental problem - AE has a toll free number from anywhere in Europe. AE pricing, for US customers, does not include certain taxes or fees such as location surcharges, road tax, additional driver fees, or fees for cars with automatic transmissions (called an environmental fee). With any rental company, I suggest familiarizing oneself with the terms and conditions of the rental agreement; assuming nothing.

If you have not driven in France for several years, pay particular attention to the speed at which you travel. France has installed hundreds, more likely thousands, of radar cameras all over the country. The tolerances are very tight and personally, I always travel at 5km/h under the posted speed limit. The government has also increased efforts to collect on fines. Foreigners are no longer exempt from payments or from collection agencies.

I rent often in France and there's nothing special to consider, other than the radar cameras as mentioned. Although I generally drive a few kph over the limit which accounts for the skewed speedometers in cars here. Never a ticket. But all the fixed radar cameras here are advertised by signage well before you come to the camera. And they are noted in many GPS's and perhaps Waze. That doesn't help you with the occasional mobile radar that the police might set up. In any case when I see a radar camera coming up, I slow down.

The only thing to watch out for when renting is to make sure you have unlimited kilometers. Sometimes they sneak in a cheap rate which only allows 200km per day, but that is usually when you pick up in one location and return to another. If you are picking up and dropping off at CDG you should be ok, with Avis or Hertz at least.

Thank you both. We'll be flying in and spending the night in an airport hotel, and starting out the next morning.

Some of the radar cameras are noted with signage but certainly not all (and I am not referencing mobile cameras). It is now illegal to have a GPS which shows the position of radar cameras. Fines, if caught with a GPS showing radar locations, can be heavy.

Drive carefully and avoid exceeding the speed limit.

There are also some systems that record the average speed between two cameras which may be many kilometers apart. I do like nearly all the other drivers and keep the speedometer at exactly the speed limit or less.

That's not true actually. When the new law came out, GPS manufacturers thought that they had to disable the radar feature in France and they did so with a download. However the lawyers found an interpretation of the law which allowed them to turn back on the radar feature and that is the way it stands today. I have a Tom Tom bought in France legally with the radar feature. This all happened in 2012.

TomTom a récemment rencontré le Comité Interministériel de la Sécurité Routière et obtenu de nombreux éclaircissements nous permettant de proposer une solution 100% légale de Zones de Danger pour la majorité de nos produits.

As for the fines, its a scale of not so much for less than 10kph over the limit and goes up from there. I think it's less than €50 for the low end.

Nearly all? Hah! How can you not notice all the people flying past you at 150kph and higher? There are many places in France where those of us who live here know there's no radar and we feel free to drive as fast as we feel safe. I tend to drive pretty fast in certain areas but still lots of people go faster than I do.

It's been some time since I drove in France. I certainly noticed the cars & motos passing at well above the speed limit. Noticeable as they were, they were a very small share of the vehicles -- at least on the autoroute.

I think that overall, speeding on the autoroutes is done far less often than it once was. Even if one knows the position of all marked and unmarked cameras, there are always the mobile cameras or police patrols with hand-held radar guns.

Traveling at speeds greater than those posted can be dangerous and ultimately, the time advantage gained can be minimal.

Quick math question. If I drive 20kph faster than you for 3 hours, how much further along am I?

As for the danger issue, I count that as rather silly on the wide open countryside autoroute. I'm not trying to convince you to drive faster mind you, you should only go as fast as you safely can. But don't claim that those people driving faster than you on the autoroute are unsafe.