Arriving by plane at Charles de Gaulle airport and other Paris, France Tourist Trap Tips

When arriving in Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport (as most international travellers do) most people may thing the quickest and the cheapest way to get into central Paris is to take the train.
There is indeed a train service running between CDG airport and the city centre called RER (actually the suburban train) but for many people it is not the best opportunity.
The journey to Châtelet (the main interchange station for public transportation) takes about 30 minutes but from CDG terminal 1 and 2, but the problem is that you will need to take a bus to get to one of the two stations at CDG
The bus sometimes leaves only every 15 minutes, and then add the time to get from the terminal to the station and queueing to buy a ticket (the ticket sales is remarkably slow) and you have just added a significant amount of time.
Then take into account that the train may not go to your final destination in Paris, it is after all a large city, and the metro is not very suitable for people travelling with large luggage.

Instead there are several bus services leaving from CDG airport to central Paris.
Some of the buses go to La Défense, Opéra, Charles-de-Gaulle Etoile (Champs-Elysées) or one of the main railway stations.
The buses leave right outside the terminal buildings and will make the trip into Paris less painful if you have a lot of luggage.

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Be aware of the prices (food, souvenirs) around the touristplaces in Paris, specially around the Eiffel tower. A chocolatecrêpe there can cost between 2-3 euro (absolutely too much) while you get one for 1euro just some quarters away (outside Paris they cost 50 cents)

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I really think people going to Paris get missguided by guidebooks about Louvre and the painting Mona Lisa. The painting Mona Lisa is a small not very special painting which has for some reason got a reputation of being one of the world's most famous. Don't go to the Louvre for a quick visit just to see her. Instead allow at least half a day (or more if you have time )for the museum and admire many of the other remarkable paintings hanging there, i specially recommend the halls with Italian, Spanish and French paintings.

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