Yes, it's doable. Even fun, with two tricks.
Picked up a Peugeot 208 at Charles de Gaulle and jumped straight on the Périphérique. Secret: drive very early or after 8pm. Paris breathes, taxis widen, you flow.
I parked at a P+R at Nation and took the metro into the centre. In the suburbs the car pays off — Versailles, Fontainebleau, the Rungis market: places that cost you a whole day by train.
Yuppi gave me a clear Crit'Air zone map at pick-up. In the info leaflet. Nobody else does that.
