Car Rental Pickup in Paris

We are picking up a car rental in Paris to drive to Sarlat. We are staying in the Marais area. We can pick up a car either at 8 Avenue Foch or 145 Avenue Malakoff, both I believe are in the 16th District Which is the closest to our hotel? Is there a closer Kemwel or Auto Europe office to us? Or is it better to taxi to the outskirts of town and then rent so as not to drive in Paris too much? Thank you.

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%26lt;%26lt;Is there a closer Kemwel or Auto Europe office to us?%26gt;%26gt;

Kemwell or Auto Europe are consolidators or brokers, they have no public access offices in France. These companies find you the best price among a range of rental companies. With a map of Paris at hand, call them to ask for pickup options at an office near your hotel.

%26lt;%26lt;Or is it better to taxi to the outskirts of town%26gt;%26gt;

There are people who have sufficient discretionary income to pay for either train tickets or a taxi to some remote location, pick-up a rental at a train station and pay the 30 to 60 euro train station pickup surcharge.

I am not one of these people.

Pick up your car at an in-town rental car office (not the train station) and execute a well organized, well planned exit out of town at some time other than rush hour. If you need a map, you may print a free one here:

www.viamichelin.com

www.mappy.com

Driving out of Paris is not the same as driving around Paris, something I do not recommend.

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We are driving to Sarlat as well. We are in the Latin Quarter, picking our car up at Place D%26#39;Italie. From there it is fairly direct on Ave D%26#39;Italie to the Periph to the A6 and A10 then we are sailing.

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If you%26#39;re staying in a hotel, ie. with a front desk or concierge, ask them which is the better/closer pick up.

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I would go with Ave Malakoff. It%26#39;s an inch (well a bit further) from the peripherique, and you%26#39;ll be off and gone. Ave Foch is difficult, because it%26#39;s practically on top of the Etoile, which means that you%26#39;ll hop in the car and be confronted with that lovely roundabout as your introduction to driving in France.

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Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge. That has helped very much.

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I did the same thing as you are planning last year. After much research, I ended up renting a car from Kemwell to be picked up at the Orly airport. I chose this because it%26#39;s south of Paris and I was able to immediately get on the autoroute I needed to head to Sarlat. I took a cab from my hotel and was dropped off directly in front of the rental car company and had absolutely no problems....and I was traveling with 2 children by myself and driving in France for the first time! It was brilliant to miss the congestion of Paris.

Good luck!