Departing flight scheduled for 11:00 AM. Left the hotel at around 7:00 to the local metro station. Just a few stops to get to a RER B station. I used the ‘Moovit’ app to know the RER schedule. Once at the RER the first train to CDG was a direct train (no stops between Gare du Nord and CDG). The direct train is much quicker, plus less chance of pickpockets because they have less chances to escape, especially after Gare du Nord. After the train left Gare du Nord a flurry of transit officials started checking tickets. This is something I’ve gotten accustomed to in Paris.
Once at the airport (about an hour of travel time) I dropped my bag (they will harass you about the weight of your hand luggage if you are flying economy – at least Air France will… however when they knew I was flying business class they didn’t care how heavy it was), went through immigration and proceeded to the security check point associated with the gate printed on my boarding pass. This required taking a train… After waiting in the queue they scanned my barcode and the gate changed, so off to the train again. Luckily they changed the gate before I made it through security, otherwise I might still be waiting at an empty gate (and I don’t think even David Copperfield can make a A380 disappear).
Currently waiting in the Air France lounge, which if you haven’t been in a lounge before, this one isn’t special.