Charles de Gaulle airport should really have a 4-letter acronym so we fix that by inserting the great Aussie adjective.
The circular shape, interwowen ramps and satellite terminals of Terminal 1 may look elegant architecturally but confuses the heck out of passengers. When you emerge through passport control on arrival you go up to retrieve your luggage. So intiutive. The amount of space available for queueing for exit passport control has long been inadequate. The PA system could belong to a Tati film.
Terminal 2 is more conventional but rather strung out, like a chain of beads. I can't comment on Terminal 3 because I didn't use it.
To make things worse, the RER B from Paris arrives at Terminal 3, well actually close to 3 at Roissypole, and then goes on to 2. To get to Terminal 1 you have to change to an albeit free shuttle. That's for the RER (regional train from Paris). If you arrive by long-distance train, in particular TGV services, then you are at the SNCF station at 2. And we haven't got to the buses yet. Got all of that?
To be fair, the metro and RER B did deliver me to CdG comfortably and speedily. They do trains well in France.
I have yet to find an ideal entry airport for Europe. I was told my backpack was misplaced when I reached Rome, so I have bad memories of it, though I got it back a few days later. To be fair, it wasn't Rome's fault, it was either the Sydney or KL baggage handlers. But Rome airport is worn-out. I'm not game to try London with its alleged luggage loss rate, and besides you still have take the train or a shuttle flight to get to mainland Europe. Amsterdam is well-run but you'd better have a sackful of Euro shrapnel to feed the NS (Netherlands Railways) vending machines if you are going any distance immediately, or a PIN bankcard, or pay the service fee for a counter purchase of a ticket; since NS doesn't believe that their vending machines should accept banknotes. Frankfurt airport was ok, but a bit ugly. Madrid was ok, though a bit old, and might be viable if you can get a shuttle flight. It was the cheapest airport to commute from, only 2 € and half of that was the airport line surcharge. Come to think of it Barcelona's pretty good too. Zurich was also good, but travelling anywhere by rail in Switzerland costs an arm and a leg compared to the rest of Europe. I have yet to try Vienna.
Anyway once I got to the boarding gates and into the Malaysian Airline plane, I had no more reason to gripe and it was goodbye Europe, for this time.
The circular shape, interwowen ramps and satellite terminals of Terminal 1 may look elegant architecturally but confuses the heck out of passengers. When you emerge through passport control on arrival you go up to retrieve your luggage. So intiutive. The amount of space available for queueing for exit passport control has long been inadequate. The PA system could belong to a Tati film.
Terminal 2 is more conventional but rather strung out, like a chain of beads. I can't comment on Terminal 3 because I didn't use it.
To be fair, the metro and RER B did deliver me to CdG comfortably and speedily. They do trains well in France.
I have yet to find an ideal entry airport for Europe. I was told my backpack was misplaced when I reached Rome, so I have bad memories of it, though I got it back a few days later. To be fair, it wasn't Rome's fault, it was either the Sydney or KL baggage handlers. But Rome airport is worn-out. I'm not game to try London with its alleged luggage loss rate, and besides you still have take the train or a shuttle flight to get to mainland Europe. Amsterdam is well-run but you'd better have a sackful of Euro shrapnel to feed the NS (Netherlands Railways) vending machines if you are going any distance immediately, or a PIN bankcard, or pay the service fee for a counter purchase of a ticket; since NS doesn't believe that their vending machines should accept banknotes. Frankfurt airport was ok, but a bit ugly. Madrid was ok, though a bit old, and might be viable if you can get a shuttle flight. It was the cheapest airport to commute from, only 2 € and half of that was the airport line surcharge. Come to think of it Barcelona's pretty good too. Zurich was also good, but travelling anywhere by rail in Switzerland costs an arm and a leg compared to the rest of Europe. I have yet to try Vienna.
Anyway once I got to the boarding gates and into the Malaysian Airline plane, I had no more reason to gripe and it was goodbye Europe, for this time.
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