During my trip to Morocco, our flights on Delta/Air France included layovers at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris both directions. Our trip included a four hour (plus) layover going over and a two hour layover on the way back. The Charles de Gaulle Airport has plenty of positive attributes along with a few negatives.
After arriving in Paris, we walked towards baggage claim. For some reason, the airport has dual access control doors as you exit the "sterile" area. One indicates baggage claim, the other for connecting flights. They lead to the exact same corridor and are not segregated. Some airports divide up connecting passengers so that they do not have to go back through security, since they are not entering the country. For some reason, Paris requires you to pass through security even for a connecting flight. With a four hour layover, that was not a problem. Security moved quickly anyway. For a tight international connection, this might be a problem.
When we exited the secure area, there were monitors listing the gates for departing flights. Most airports I have visited list flight departures alphabetically by city. De Gaulle is different, although I have seen it done this way elsewhere. De Gaulle lists the flight departures based on time. I am guessing this is based on the scheduled time of departure as it would get infinitely confusing if they based it one actual time of departure for delayed flights. As our flight wasn't departing for more than four hours, it didn't even appear on the board. This was a bit confusing and disconcerting. Which terminal should one go to? Should I trust what I am seeing as the gate on my app (luckily, airport wifi was free and I was able to access it). We trusted the app and headed to the terminal listed. Luckily, it was correct.
After security, the Duty Free shop fingered out in a sprawling complex of shops going either direction. There were a couple of places to grab a cup of coffee, to include a Starbucks. The restrooms were not easy to find. One set were tucked away in a corner near the Duty Free shops. The others were located down a set of stairs at either end of the terminal concourse. Luckily, I was able to get directions as the signage was less than helpful.
We were exhausted from our International flight and opted to relax near our gate. The terminal was very interesting, but a tad bit annoying. The terminal has interesting architecture, which reminded me of a hamster habitrail. There were plenty of play areas in the terminal offering free entertainment for children. Were we traveling with children, this would likely have provided some relief. These areas include video games for older children (or adults) and play areas for smaller children as well. There was a family with several children who played the piano who were on the same flight as us. They arrived shortly after we did. So the children spent most of the morning practicing the piano. It was pleasant initially but got old rather quickly. The terminals also had lounge chairs at either end of the terminal, halfway down to the restroom area, where visitors could stretch out and watch operations on the runway. Or just nap. Unfortunately, all of these chairs, far from the cacophony of the piano, were all occupied.
Boarding Air France was a bit odd, but not bad. They have two separate queues. One for premiere and one for economy class. People start lining up fairly early. We didn't bother with it, getting in line as they announced boarding. We were near the end of boarding, but we were able to find room in the overhead for our carry on luggage without a problem. On the return trip, we sat closer to the queue for economy class and were near the front of that line. Not that it made much of a difference either way. Other than allowing us a few extra minutes to settle in for the flight.
On the return trip, we were departing from a different terminal. It was a tighter connection, but we had no issues getting through security and down to our gate with ample time before departure. The waiting area was somewhat comfortable in both terminals, either direction. The seats at the terminal on our outbound trip were a bit harder than the return trip. That was nice. The second terminal, however, didn't have any place to purchase a much needed cup of coffee. They had machines that required Euro or "tap" credit cards. I had neither. I finally ventured out beyond our terminal area (but still within the security area) and found a restaurant that charged 4.5 Euro for a small cup. A bit excessive even for an airport. But a small price to pay when you are jonesing for java. There were a few duty free shops, some sandwich kiosks and some spots for purchasing overpriced macaroons (two Euro each).
Charles de Gaulle Airport has a decent system for navigating through security. It was quick during both of our trips through. However, it would be better if International flights did not require a second trip through security for passengers merely connecting to another flight. There were plenty of Duty Free shops in both terminals we visited, decent options for food or drink, although limited for coffee on our return trip. The waiting areas were comfortable. There were areas that had charging stations, there were plenty of self-service snack and drink machines, entertainment for adults and children and gift shops for last minute presents. The restrooms were not easy to locate in our first terminal, but were readily visible in the second. The airport has some modern amenities to ease the stress of travel, which is nice for travelers who need that kind of diversion. And the piano annoying at seven in the morning.
