Advice please - trains in France

[Mike I]

A combination of industrial strife and volcanoes mean that I have decided to let the train take the strain and get me to Avignon ahead of the Ventoux sportive.

So, a couple of questions to those who know about these things:

First, should I get a taxi from Paris Nord to Gare de Lyon or try and schlepp my [bagged] bike across Paris by metro? This will be in the middle of the day during the week, and I have an hour between trains.

Second, can I just put my bike on a TGV and call it luggage or should I book it in? Mr Eurostar was a bit vague about this, despite working for an organisation which routinely takes passengers and their baggage to various bits of France.

Thanks

[kieran]

from seat61:

Here is a summary of how long to allow to make connections across Paris.Recommended time to allow to change trains in Paris...
The minimum connection times shown here are the minimum amount of time you should allow between the scheduled arrival of your train in Paris and the scheduled departure time of your connecting train from Paris.
Travelling FROM London If your onwards train departs from the Gare de l'Est (only a 10 minute walk from the Gare du Nord, where Eurostar arrives): 45 minutes, if missing it simply means catching the next one.
1 hour 15 minutes minimum if catching the last train of the day or a long-distance sleeper train which you cannot afford to miss.

If your onwards train departs from any other Paris station (usually a 30-40 minute RER or métro ride from the Gare du Nord): 1 hour if missing it simply means catching the next one
1 hour 40 minutes minimum, preferably 2 hours, if catching the last train of the day or a long-distance sleeper train which you cannot afford to miss.

Travelling TO London Arriving on a train at the Gare de l'Est (only a 10-minute walk to Paris Nord from where Eurostar departs) 60 minutes minimum, which includes the compulsory 30-minute Eurostar check-in time. if you miss the Eurostar because your train is significantly late, the Eurostar staff should let you catch the next one, as long as seats are available.
Arriving on a train at any other Paris station (usually a 30-40 minute métro or RER ride to Paris Nord) 1 hour 30 minutes minimum, which includes the compulsory 30-minute Eurostar check-in time. if you miss the Eurostar because your train is significantly late, the Eurostar staff should let you catch the next one, as long as seats are available.

[kieran]

taxi:
A taxi is a painless way to cross Paris, especially if you have large amounts of luggage. A taxi from the Gare du Nord to (for example) the Gare de Lyon or Gare d'Austerlitz costs around 17-19 euro and takes about 25 minutes. However, be aware that there's often a long queue for taxis at the Gare du Nord and other main stations, so always allow at least an hour or preferably more between trains, see above. Don't accept taxis from touts, use the official taxi rank at the side entrance to the Gare du Nord (the same side of the station as the Eurostar platforms). Make sure the driver turns the meter on when you drive off.

Pre-booking a taxi...
As there's often a long queue for taxis at the Gare du Nord and other Paris stations, it's a good idea to pre-book one. Several companies offer pre-bookable taxis in Paris, including www.taxis-g7.com. To book a taxi from G7:

Call the G7 Taxis English-speaking line on +33 1 41 27 66 99. Lines open 24 hours.

Bookings can be made from 7 days until 1 hour before you need the taxi.

A credit card guarantee may be required at certain peak times.

Book the taxi for at least 10-15 minutes after the scheduled arrival of your Eurostar. They'll give you a booking reference. The taxi will wait up to 5 minutes if you don't turn up on time (you may be charged for the waiting time!).

For some reason, their taxis can't or won't use the official station taxi ranks, so at the Gare du Nord they will normally tell you that the taxi will wait at 12, Boulevard du Denain, across the road directly opposite the front of the station. Similarly, if you're being picked up at the Gare de Lyon, ask to be picked up at number 2, Place Louis Arnand, which is outside the Hotel Mercure, just walk outside the station onto the forecourt and turn left. The taxis have a 'G7' sticker inside the rear window (see the photo to the right).

If you tell them you're arriving by train, some G7 staff will refuse to book a taxi for you and tell you to call back on the day of travel. In fact, I suspect these staff are following their company policy, whereas other staff happily conspire with you to pre-book one, using an address that doesn't look like a station pick-up (which may explain the point above!). So it's probably better to avoid mentioning that you're arriving by train, use the '12, Boulevard du Denain' address above instead of mentioning the Gare du Nord, and if the staff member refuses to book a taxi because they suspect you're arriving by train, either (a) politely insist on pre-booking a pick up from one of the above addresses instead of the 'Gare du Nord' or 'Gare de Lyon', as it may be the reluctance to pick up from stations that's the problem, or (b) put the phone down, re-dial and get a more helpful member of staff who will pre-book it for you. Yes, you really can pre-book one of their taxis, but some G7 staff are more helpful than others in getting around their company's rather self-defeating and hazy rules about train-related taxi bookings...

Of course, you could call G7 Taxis on the day of travel using your mobile once your Eurostar exits the Channel Tunnel, and then you'll be sure you've reached France running on time. That might a good option!

You just pay the taxi driver at the end of the journey in the normal way, based on what the meter says, around 17-19 euros from Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon, Gare de Bercy or Gare d'Austerlitz, plus the 5 euro booking fee. The drivers accept both cash (euro) and credit cards. A recent Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord trip cost 25 euro including the booking fee and a five minute wait as we were a bit late.

If you use this service, feedback would be very welcome. It's reported that they may not accept taxi bookings during the Paris rush-hour.

Alternatively, go to www.taxi-paris.net (+33 6 07 60 49 14, tim@taxi-paris.net) and book a hassle-free private transfer specifically designed to meet trains and take you across Paris to board another train. This service gets good reports, with an English-speaking driver meeting you at the Eurostar arrival gate with his car parked right outside the station. The only downside is the cost, around 58 euro per car plus 1 euro per luggage item, 4th & 5th passengers a few euro extra. They may ask for a 50% deposit. If you use this service, feedback would be very welcome.

[Sylv]

Mike - get a trip with changeover in Lille rather than Paris, it's much easier - all you have to do is change platform, and it's usually 45min between correspondances. They are not as frequent but you can find out when searching for fares on the eurostar site.

For bikes I was in the same situation recently as the info seemed to have changed since the previous time I'd done it. We had bikes in a bag and it was fine both on Eurostar (will probably need to fit it in the special "guard's van" in coach 16 I think so ask someone on platform) and TGV (fits in normal racks with a bit of persuasion - best to have both wheels, bars, pedals, rear mech off). Not sure what it would be like on TGV for a bare bike, but i think on Eurostar you'd have to pay something like £35 and book it in.

If you were to go via Paris, an hour is fine on the RER (think it's line B) couple stops the travel itself takes 10min on the train, but make sure you know the route beforehand as it's a bit hard to find out in a rush.

[Sylv]

Oh and did I mention the strikes

[Andrew G]

If your bike is packed properly in a bike bag then you might be able to play the innocent but co-operative fool card on the trains and just take it with you as a big bag.
On Eurostar I've just taken it on as a big bag, been attentive when people are getting on so that I can move it aside so they can put their bags in the racks at the end of the carriage and then placed the bike bag at the front.

[Paul H]

Sylv, Matt, Rich & myself went to South of France via Lille without any problems.

If you have a soft bag, it will fit on the standard carriage racks on Eurostar and TGV. Matt had a bike box and it was slightly too big so had to put it in the guards van. There was a problem in that they went on strike on the day we were meant to be coming back so we had to leave a day earlier. Luckily Sylv was there as it would have been very hard to get our tickets changed otherwise.

[Mike I]

Thanks everyone (especially Sean ).

Eurostar's website defaulted me to Paris, so Lille isn't an option. The bike will be bagged, so it sounds as if I should be ok. I used a box once, and it was like travelling with a rather unwieldy piece of furniture.

Sylv, I always assume there will be strikes in France.

[Sylv]

[quote="Mike I"]Eurostar's website defaulted me to Paris, so Lille isn't an option.