<p>Keep in mind your D will be jet lagged when she arrives at the airport. She might see if another student is traveling on the same flight. My D noticed several other American students on her layover when changing flights for her trip to Paris. She connected with another girl and they shared a taxi into Paris.</p>
<p>She did not want to take metro as she knew she would not be very alert. Thieves do look for tired arrivals taking the metro.</p>
<p>Take a look at some of the travel forums on Fodor’s and Frommer’s as well as TripAdvisor:</p>
<p>Here is one of the postings from this month:
Ah…Paris.
As others have said there are a lot of nice hotels near the Metro system. The Metro is unlike any American subway system I have used. It’s clean, easy to use, and trains run very frequently. You can get to any major attraction in Paris within a few minutes.</p>
<p>My favorite is Hotel Residence Chalgrin ([HOTEL</a> RESIDENCE CHALGRIN](<a href=“http://hotel-chalgrin.com/]HOTEL”>http://hotel-chalgrin.com/)). Take the Air France bus #2 from CDG to the Arc de Triomphe stop. (You don’t need to fly on Air France to use the Air France shuttle bus service and can buy your ticket from the driver). It’s a 2 min walk to the hotel from the bus stop. The hotel is in a great location, 60 seconds from the Argentine Metro stop, and offers nice victorian rooms. I have stayed there twice and will stay again the next time I visit Paris. </p>
<p>My D found her host family to be rather uninterested as did most of the other students in her program. So, in a way the fact that the family is not there when she arrives means you already know not to have high expectations. It’s a boarding room situation and probably nothing more to them.</p>
<p>Looking at the CC thread that I bookmarked -Graduation Trip to Paris… I see several suggestions about places to stay and information about cell phones.</p>
<p>My D bought a telephone to use while she was in Paris. She used Skype to communicate with us via her computer while she was in Paris. Kind of nice to actually see your child while they are in Europe! Skype also has instant messages and she would leave me messages so that when I woke up and accessed my computer her messages would pop up first thing!</p>
<p>We just came back from Paris this March. We took the metro every where and did not feel unsafe. Our D1 and her friend went out at night by themselves and took the metrol back to our hotel by themselves. Paris is just like any city, it is safe if you are careful. I just had a bad experience with the taxi. If OP’s daughter was traveling by herself to Paris for the first time, I wanted to bring it to her attention. </p>
<p>I have stayed at some Best Western hotels in Paris. They are much nicer than in the US. They are mostly B&B with BW name. I suggested an airport hotel because if she is jet legged she may be too tired to do any sight seeing. I usually sleep the first day. </p>
<p>Paris is a beautiful city, and very young people friendly. It will be a great experience for her.</p>
<p>Given the circumstances, I’d either call the hotel and have them arrange a car service (likely to be more expensive) or select a hotel based upon the proximity to the Air France bus stops. </p>
<p>Taxis have been problematic for me over the years in France - particularly longer runs like from the airport to a hotel - I travel extensively as part of my job and the two times I know I was ripped off were both in Paris with Taxi drivers. </p>
<p>Paris is an incredible city. My DD, wife and I went last summer for a week in Paris and a week in London and it was a great trip. DD heads back by her self next week for a month with the Oxbridge program. </p>
<p>Even though she is staying with a host family, I highly recommend your daughter make a list of the things she really wants to do in Paris. Perhaps 15-20 things. Then, over the course of her stay she has a plan to work from rather than wandering aimlessly. Wandering aimlessly, combined with a meal in a street cafe is a good thing by the way - it just shouldn’t be the only thing you do!!!</p>
<p>I tell everyone that the Eyewitness Top 10 Paris book is a great starting point. It gives you all kinds of things to do in a compact format. </p>
<p>The thread above “Help me plan a week in Paris” is awesome as well.</p>
<p>I took a metered taxi from CDG to central Paris several weeks ago - it was around 45 euros. I think this is a safe option - there are taxi stands as you exit the terminal and many people lined up for the taxis. On the way back to CDG, my hotel called a taxi for me, and that taxi cost around 55 euros. (The route the driver took seemed correct but I wonder if he didn’t clear the prior fare.)</p>
<p>How old is the student? 12 or 20?
From the West Coast to Paris should take 9 hours flight. If she leaves in the evening, she would not be arriving at the crack of dawn. I think too much is being made about grogginess. Chances are she’ll be raring to do some sight-seeing.
One’s pocket can be picked by cabby as well as by professional pickpockets, especially if one gives off the air of not knowing how to get to one’s destination. I remember trying to get back to my brother’s apartment after a meeting. The cabby cheerfully discussed Mitterand’s sins while driving around and around the block. When I objected that I could see the apartment building from where we were, he kept on saying that it was one-way street, et patati et patata, and the fare kept climbing. When I got to the building, I found I could not get in. This was before cell phones, and I was in hear hysterics. It turned out that the code had been changed during the day, but my brother had forgotten to let me know the new code.
To prevent pockets being picked, I suggest a belt purse; even better under a T-shirt.
55 euros equal US$77
The worst that’s happened to me taking the metro was having my bottom pinched while I was trying to wheel a suitcase (that was a long time ago :)). The patrons of the nearby bistro just laughed. So did my relatives when they heard about it. :(</p>
<p>Geez - After reading all of these posts, I will never complain about the taxis in New York again, especially the ones going to and from the airports.</p>
<p>Singersmom - That was my thread, and I did utilize many of the suggestons in it.</p>
<p>OP: We stayed in a great, reasonably priced hotel that we found on Trip Advisor. It was called Hotel Diana and is in the Latin Quarter, a safe area frequented by students. The hotel is run by a mother/daughter and they emailed back and forth with us (in English) answering questions. They were absolutely lovely.</p>
<p>My S stayed in the MIJE [hostel</a> in the heart of Paris](<a href=“http://www.mije.com/index_individuels_uk.asp]hostel”>Hostels in the center of Paris - MIJE Marais) while traveling to his study abroad program. It is reasonable, quiet, clean and safe. He took the train/metro from the airport and had no difficulty on his own. If she feels comfortable with the train, she should be fine taking it.</p>