Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

This post brought to you from the train from Paris to Bordeaux! It’s much too early in the day to be napping and I would really like to expedite this circadian rhythm adjustment if possible. Since I accidentally left my book on the plane, I figured it was a good time to start catching up on my blogging.

I’m starting to get pretty good at this international travel thing. The most cost- and time-effective way that I have found to get from the US to Bordeaux is to take just about every mode of transportation you can. On my way home for the holidays, I took a tram to a train to a bus to a plane. It seems complicated but it’s really not that bad. The transfer in Paris was a bit tricky so here are some tips to help you navigate the city if you’re also connecting in Paris.

Paris has two airports (Charles de Gaulle Roissy and Orly) and six train stations (Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, Montparnasse, Austerlitz, Gare de Lyon and St-Lazare). It is extremely important that you know the difference between them, as you will end up somewhere completely different than where you want to be if you don’t pay attention. CDG is a good hour outside the city of Paris, which is also something to consider in your planning.

I managed to get on a train from the airport directly to Bordeaux when I first arrived, but the trains that travel from Bordeaux to CDG are scarce and more expensive. My outbound train got me to Montparnasse and I had to take a bus to CDG. You can also take the local RER train but the bus is really easy and they stow your bags for you! Look for Les Cars AirFrance, large motor coaches that shuttle you between the train stations and the airports. From Montparnasse, take the Rue de Commandante exit and go out to the right. You can’t miss the giant buses parked at the stands. I needed Ligne 4 to get me to CDG. You do not need a reservation for these buses and a round trip ticket will cost you 27€. If you’re going to CDG, look right in the traffic circle just as you leave the train station. You’ll get a quick view of the Eiffel Tower! It’s just as easy in reverse: Depending on what terminal you land in at CDG, look for signs directing you to the buses or ask someone “Ou est l’arret pour les Cars AirFrance?” and they will help you.

Train travel is definitely the best way to see France, and since most airports are waaaayyy outside of the city they claim to be in, it’s a lot easier to take the train if you don’t want to worry about making a million transfers. The French countryside is really quite charming: Rolling hills, vast expanses of land for farms and wineries, quaint villages scattered about. There are some factories and warehouses, too, but I just choose to pretend I don’t see them.

Here are some important tricks for taking the train in France.

1.     You don’t have to book your train ticket ahead of time but you probably should. If you have a specific time you need to be somewhere, you don’t want to risk your train being sold out. So far, I haven’t been on super full trains but it’s possible. You can get train tickets all over the place: There are SNCF ticket kiosks in the mall, you can go to the train station or get them online. Most trains that you’d take between major cities will be via TGV. The TGV is the high-speed rail system in France and it’s pretty stellar.

2.     If you get anything other than an e-ticket that you printed yourself, you must validate it in the little yellow boxes around the train station before you get on the train. I guess it puts some sort of time/location stamp on your ticket and this is somehow useful information to the train people. (Their systems confuse and amaze me. I know not what they do!)

3.     If you decide to change your ticket, it’s pretty easy to do, and probably won’t cost you an arm and a leg like changing a flight does. I got to the train station way earlier than I had planned and it only cost me 10€ to change my ticket to an earlier train, unlike the $262 that it cost me to cancel the Baltimore to Philly leg of my flight yesterday. (That’s another story for another day…) Go to any of the SNCF kiosks and it has a simple series of menus to guide you through the process of changing your ticket. You can pick whatever language you want, too, so don’t worry about not speaking French in this case.

4.     There is limited space for baggage storage on the train so if you’re traveling with a lot of stuff, you might have to stash it in an empty seat. I have found other travelers to be particularly sympathetic to people lugging a bunch of bags and have always had plenty of help getting my things on and off the train.

5.     There are assigned seats but once you’ve gotten your ticket checked, you can usually pick any empty seat if you don’t like where you are. Someone may come and try to claim it later but then you just move again.

France is really good at public transportation so once you’re in a city, it’s fairly easy to get around. Speaking just for Bordeaux, there is an extensive network of trams and buses to get you to every corner of the city. A one-trip ticket is 1,40€ and is valid for unlimited transfers on both tram and bus for one hour. If you’ll be around for at least a year, I recommend going to the TBC office in Quinconces and getting your own pass. If you’re under 28, it’s 17€/month for the year and you get unlimited access to all the trams and buses. It jumps up to 33€/month if you’re older than 28 but if you don’t have a car, it’s totally worth it.

I know it’s not the case in every city in France, but in Bordeaux, it’s really important that you always have a ticket for the tram and that you validate it when you get on. The contoleurs patrol often and will fine you 45€ if you don’t have a ticket. I have never seen them on the buses but they are on the trams often.

So there you have it. Getting between Bordeaux and Paris is pretty simple if you know a few key pieces of information. Don’t suffer through crazy layovers and expensive flights!