Waiting for the train at Tours-SPdC and watching the boards to see which track it's coming in on
To get to the U.S., I normally take the train directly to Paris or the airport, and I spend the night in a hotel room. Since the flights to the States usually leave before noon, I don't want to risk missing my plane because of a late train on the morning of departure. And it costs less to take the train than to drive to Paris.
This isn't a TGV but it looks like one. I was waiting on the platform for my TGV to pull in.
Two weeks ago, I took the high-speed train from the St-Pierre-des-Corps TGV station just outside the city of Tours directly to Paris CDG airport. (TGV stands for Train à Grande Vitesse, and the main Paris airport is named after the former French president Charles de Gaulle). The train ride takes about 2 hours.
This train is headed for Lyon, if I remember correctly. That's a 6-hour ride on a slow train like this one.
Then last Friday morning, for my return, I caught the TGV again. I had arrived in the airport terminal where the train station is located, so that made it easy. It's a short walk from baggage claim to the CDG TGV station. It was pretty crowded, with a lot of people carrying big suitcases waiting on the platform for the train to come into the station. It was 10 minutes late.
Riding around the south side of the Paris area on the return trip to Tours
I had a reserved seat — reservations are required on TGVs — so I wasn't worried about finding a place to sit for the ride, but I was worried about my big, heavy suitcase. My reserved seat was on the upper deck of the train, and I didn't want to have to haul my suitcase up a flight of stairs. Luckily, I found a slot for it in the downstairs baggage rack. The ride was easy and pleasant.
The beautiful sky and land and the subtle reflections on the photo of the south side of Paris make it look like a very interesting painting.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty ride.
DeleteLong distance train travel in France is vastly superior to what we have here and the US has. The slow train to Lyon looks like it could travel very fast with its shovel nose.
ReplyDeleteIt costs a lot less to take the train to the airport from Tours than it would cost to drive. The autoroute toll from Tours to Paris, round trip, is at least 40 euros. And since it takes from 7 to 9 to drive it (again round trip), depending on traffic and weather, it's easy to burn a full tank of fuel on the way there and back. That costs 50 to 60 euros at least. Walt would have to drive the round trip twice to take me to the airport and then come and pick me up when I return. The train ticket price varies from 35 to 65 euros, one way, depending on how early you buy it.
Delete"7 t0 9 hours" is what I meant to type.
DeleteI totally totally !! agree with you, Andrew ! better in all ways.
DeleteThanks, the extra info really gives me a good grasp.
DeleteYes, the point about tolls is interesting. We are travelling in a couple of months by train from Lisbon to Porto for a cheaper price than the tolls, let alone car hire.
DeleteOooh, I love train station views :)
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to ask you about toll roads, as we expect to be on some several times. I had no idea what kind of price they would be--- that's more than I thought, but there you go :) What I'm wondering about, is how you can pay? Does it have to be cash, or can you use a credit card? Thanks!
Tólls on the French autoroutes are very high by American standards. You can look them up on the internet. We seldom drive on the toll roads, but that means our trips take a lot longer. The tolls are expensive, and when you drive at autoroute speeds (80 mph, 130 kph) your car uses a lot more fuel than it would use driving at non-toll highway speeds (usually 90 kph, 55mph).
DeleteJudith...I would plan on having cash....I remember being in France & some places only taking a credit card with a chip AND a pin.....even tho my card actually had that, they wouldnt take my american card!
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot that U.S. credit card issue. Yes, cash money is the best option when it comes to péages on the autoroutes. Unless you have a French carte bancaire..,
DeleteRiding on a train is more relaxing than being in a car. How did you like renting the car in Raleigh? You must have gotten a little sleepy en route to Morehead City.
ReplyDeleteMy plane landed at 1:30 p.m., which is only 7:30 p.m. French time. I was in Morehead by 6:00 p.m. or midnight in France. I stopped at Food Lion in Morehead to pick up a couple of things, and there was my cousin Cliff coming out of the store. We talked in the parking lot for a few minutes before he went on his way and I went in to do my shopping
DeleteOh, that's neat seeing your cousin like that.
DeleteMy biggest train ride was from London to Paris and back for a weekend with my husband.. that was the trip that enabled Paris to get into my heart in just a matter of hours.
ReplyDeleteI still didn't like the idea of being in a train under water :) But we did it a few times anyway ... chunnel or no .