Joel in Chicago wrote this: The lines to buy a ticket (# 7,75) from an agent at the CDG RER station were very long, at least 30 minutes or more. There are, however, automated self-service machines which are very easy to use, and which in theory take both credit cards and Euro coins, but NO bills. Not one of the machines would take a credit card that day, and I was # 3 short.

Joel, it seems these machines either frequently don't work, which I don't think is the case, or they are not equipped to accept credit cards from the US and other countries that do not have the more contemporary embedded ID chip, a feature on all French credit cards.

We could not use our credit card at the machines you wrote of, and I have read about the chip-embedded cards, and various French credit card machines that don't work with non-chip cards. So, putting two and two together, I think this is the case.

However, I am often wrong, and would love to have this information verified (I like nothing more than being right ;-)). If anyone knows for sure if this is the case, please do reply.

In the meantime, if you need to buy RER tickets at the CDG station, I highly recommend traveling with the proper Euro coins to save time and trouble.

Best regards, Debbie in Pittsburgh