Charles de Gaulle was the airport everyone loved to hate. Three terminals, a bus system that made no sense, signage in French only. Terminal 1 looked like a brutalist spaceship and functioned like a maze.
Then CDG got good. Terminal 2E was renovated into a soaring glass hall. The RER B was updated. The Air France lounges were redesigned with aesthetic precision. The food went from inedible to excellent. CDG is now the best-rated airport in Europe.
If your image of CDG is from 2015, delete it. The airport you remember no longer exists.
Other airports improve.
Paris transformed.
Terminal 2E is the centrepiece — a glass and concrete hall that channels natural light through a curved roof. The Air France lounge in Hall L is a design statement: curved wood, soft lighting, and a wine bar that takes terroir seriously.
Terminal 1, the original UFO, has been renovated just enough to function while preserving Paul Andreu original brutalist vision. The circular design — departures on top, arrivals below, connected by tube escalators — is architecture as sculpture. Love it or hate it, you remember it.
CDG has finally solved its food problem. Laduree serves macarons past security in Terminal 2E. Eric Kayser boulangerie does a croissant that is flaky, buttery, and warm — the benchmark airport pastry.
For something more, I Love Paris by Guy Martin in Terminal 2E serves a prix fixe lunch that would cost twice as much on the Champs-Elysees. The wine list is French, obviously. The cheese plate is correct.
First: the Air France lounge in Terminal 2E Hall L. Even if you are not flying Air France, a day pass is worth it. Wine, cheese, and silence.
Second: the RER B runs from CDG to Gare du Nord in thirty-five minutes. From there, all of Paris is accessible by Metro.
Third: the free inter-terminal shuttle CDGVAL runs every four minutes. Use it — walking between terminals is not advisable.
Fourth: the Yotel in Terminal 2E rents cabins by the hour. Clean, dark, quiet.
The Yotel and Minute Suites offer hourly room rentals inside the terminal. The Air France and Star Alliance lounges provide the best layover experience. The Sheraton at CDG is connected by walkway for overnight stays.
You have two hours. Or four. Or eight. Or thirteen. Here is what to do.
Stay airside. Croissant at Eric Kayser. Macarons at Laduree. Wine at the Air France lounge. French airport done right.
RER B to Gare du Nord — thirty-five minutes. Walk to Montmartre. Sacre-Coeur. Coffee. RER back.
RER B to Chatelet. Walk to Notre-Dame (exterior). Ile Saint-Louis. Latin Quarter lunch. Luxembourg Gardens. RER back.
RER B to city. Louvre (pre-book). Walk the Tuileries to Concorde. Champs-Elysees. Eiffel Tower at sunset. Dinner in Le Marais. RER back.
The RER B runs from both CDG terminals to central Paris in thirty-five minutes for twelve euros. Taxis cost fifty-five euros flat rate to central Paris. The RER is faster during rush hour. The taxi is better with luggage.
Stand in Terminal 2E departures hall. Look up at the curved glass and steel roof. Switch to 0.5x wide angle. Frame the roof structure with the light streaming through and the Air France blue tails visible through the windows.
This is the photograph that captures the new CDG. Glass, light, and the quiet confidence of a country that decided its airport should finally match its reputation.
