Getting into and out of Paris via RER A (St Germaine Station)

[MaryD]

We are staying near Rouen actually but need to get into Paris on Friday, March 16. We see that the RER will get us into Paris without having to drive into Paris itself. Can we get into Paris from the RER A Line at Ste Germaine (I am supposing a stop is at Les Halles) and then out of Paris back to Ste Germaine (from Les Halles) and HOW EARLY AND HOW LATE can this be done in each direction? Having a real problem reading the time schedules.

NOTE: We attempted looking at taking EuroRail from Rouen to Paris- found early trips in - but no LATE trips out (past 5:20 PM). Is this correct? We wish to stay in Paris at least until 8:00 PM.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mary D

[scirocco]

There's no particular need to go to St Germain and/or take the RER Line A when travelling from Rouen, unless you specifically want to for some reason. There are frequent trains direct from Rouen to St Lazare station in central Paris (near the Opera district). From there it is only a short hop on the Metro to anywhere in central Paris.

If you prefer to drive some of the distance from Rouen, or don't wish to park in central Rouen, you could pick up the train route at one of the smaller stations along the way, such as Oissel, although that would limit the number of trains you could take.

The first train in the morning from Rouen to Paris is at 05:20 and the last train back from St Lazare to Rouen is at 11:20 pm. Journey time is about one and one quarter hours to one and three quarter hours depending on the number of stops.

I'm not sure where you are getting your timetable information from, but the most user-friendly journey planner is the DB Bahn one:

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml

Type in Rouen Rive-Droit as start and Paris St Lazare as from and to respectively to see the trains and times.