I was replying to the above comment's reference to connections. It is fairly easy to fly into Paris and take a train to Lyon, for example, without having to go into Paris proper first.
It is pretty bad. CDG and Orly, the two Paris airports are atrocious in pretty much all aspects besides maybe transit options -CDG has regular commuter trains and high speed rail linking it to Paris and other cities.
That's why I was shocked that last time I was there, struggling to understand where i could find food at the late hour of 21h, a bathroom or an electrical socket that worked, that it has apparently been voted as best European airport by Skytrax for 2022.
As a French citizen, I'd like to object vigorously to the notion that Paris (if you mean Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris' main airport) is one of the "better" airports.
If I believe wikipedia, Heathrow is actually Europe's busiest airport (CDG is next).
Your statement really confuses me. You say Gare Du Nord because presumably you've been taking the Eurostar. Do you then take a rental car either way? (from GdN or from the airport). Seems like a nitpick to excuse your behaviour: that the traffic is bad in one specific area of Paris (as if it's bad only around there), so it means you'd have to take the plane...
But I suppose the majority of overseas travelers coming into France by air with the intention of connecting to a smaller city do so via Paris or Lyon. As European travelers seem to enter by car or go directly to their destination. At least that’s my impression from reading a few articles about tourism in France.
Some of the places where it got worse are far away from Paris… so who cares about the poor people who live in a far-away suburb near the freeway. It's not like they vote for Paris' mayor.
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