Five Things to Know About PARIS-CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT

As avid travelers, we’ve been to a lot of airports. We frequent the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta and several other large airports in the United States. We got to thinking the other day that other people may not glide from terminal to terminal on the daily like we do.

What could we do to help?

DING!

We decided to start an airport series on the blog where we give you some tips and tricks to make your time at INSERT AIRPORT HERE a little less stressful.

The first in the series is Charles de Gaulle, the airport in Paris, France. Coincidently our least favorite airport we’ve ever visited. We aren’t alone in that thinking!

The first time you set foot in this crazy, stressful and manic place, you’ll be clicking your heels wishing for some magical ruby slippers.

It’s a nightmare.

So here are five tips to hopefully make your time there easier.

One - Layover

The easiest way to make your Charles de Gaulle experience smooth is to have a long layover. The first time we visited we had a little over 1.5 hours. That was not enough! We were just sliding into the gate as everyone was boarding.

The second time we had about 2-2.5 hours. We found this to be much better and we arrived with ample time to breathe at our gate.

So, moral of the story, try to get a layover of at least 2 hours if you are entering Paris from abroad (i.e. from the U.S.). You’ll have to go through a security checkpoint and customs. This can take a while and you don’t want to be rushing and stressing all the way through!

Two - Navigating the Airport

As we mentioned in tip one, you’ll have to go through a security checkpoint and customs if you’re coming into Paris from abroad. Sounds fine and dandy, but remember that you have to get to the security checkpoint and customs before you can go through.

If you don’t speak French, this may be a little challenging.

The Paris airport is split up *similarly* to Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta. The biggest difference is that in Atlanta the terminals are connected by a tram system. You hop on the train and ride it until you reach your terminal. In Paris that’s not the case.

You ride busses.

The last time we were there we had to hop on a bus from the plane to get to a terminal, then we had to hop on another bus to get to security and customs.

This is where that long layover comes in handy.

You can try to ask your flight attendants if they can help you navigate from the plane to your next flight, but we didn’t have great luck with this.

Get off the plane and find a departures board, find your flight, and determine where it’s leaving from. Write it down or just keep it in mind. Now the easiest thing to do is to follow the crowd. Most everyone who gets off your plane is going to have a connection. Follow them to the customs/security area.

Most of the signs are in French, but many of them have English subtitles. Take a breath and look for a sign that points you toward customs or the terminal where your flight is leaving from.

Three - Security

Going through security in Paris is just like going through security in the United States.

Remove electronics bigger than a cell phone. Take out your TSA approved liquids bag. Take off your shoes, belts, jackets.

It sounds like overkill, but before I get to TSA security points on my departure day, I like to think of how many bins I’ll need. Usually it’s four. One for my liquids bag. One for cameras. One for my laptop. One for my jacket and miscellaneous items. That makes my time at the checkpoints smoother. I grab four bins, and start loading them up. Then I set my carry-on suitcase, backpack and shoes on the belt and walk through the scanner.

I don’t have to think too much about it.

This way I don’t stress. I don’t hold up the line. And I make it through smoothly.

The TSA at places like our local Florida airport are more forgiving of stress and hold-ups. Security in Paris is not as forgiving. They’re harsh and trying to move people through as fast and efficiently as possible.

On our first adventure at Charles de Gaulle, Joanie B. had her entire bag unpacked and the contents shoved back at her with the wave of a hand: hurry up!

We were stressed.

This might happen. Just grab your stuff, put it on the “repacking tables” and get to packing. Don’t make a scene and don’t make it more difficult for yourself. Just move forward!

That’s all your can do. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Four - Crowded Gates

This isn’t a huge issue, but it’s something that shocked us and caused extra stress we didn’t need.

When you arrive at your gate, after navigating through the Sea of Swirly Twirly Gumdrops and the Candy Cane Forest, you’ll see what looks like millions of people.

Calm down.

There are A LOT of people in very tiny gates. Just pop a squat where you can find one and get ready to board your plane. Adventure awaits, y’all!

Five - Stay Proactive

This is a tip that applies to every single airport ever.

Stay proactive. Make sure with every twist and turn in the airport you’re checking departure boards. Your gate and even your terminal can change. It’s better to find this out on the way rather then when you arrive at an outdated gate.

This is especially important in an airport like Charles de Gaulle. It’s large and separated by bus rides.

Stay on top of where your plane is leaving from and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you can’t find a departure board. There are people all throughout Charles de Gaulle tasked with helping you with that!

Grabbed this snapshot off of Wikipedia. This is ONE terminal at Charles de Gaulle. This will help you see the separation and understand the need for bus rides.

Thanks for reading, y’all! Do you have any tips for Charles de Gaulle that we left out? Drop them in the comments!

And a huge thank you to our Patrons and sponsors… Sylvia Vasquez Plexus.