Paris to Bayonne

[Alan Pearce]

I have been quoted 135 euro for a second class rail ticket from Paris to Bayonne on 28th September. This would be dear by Australian standards, so thought I would ask the forums opinion, in case my travel agent is having a lend of me.

Thanks

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[dean]

Hi Allen,

I am taking the TGV from Paris on the 26th of August and the second class ticket cost me approximately the same as you are paying (196.00 Canadian).About 125 euros.
Have a great camino

Dennis

 

[jeff001]

I just checked the SNCF website: http://www.tgv-europe.com and they have 2nd class tickets on that date from 19 euro.

 

[Canuck]

Alan,

135 Euros is way too much.

You can get a ticket for that date on the TGV direct Bayonne for around 50 Euros, depending on the hour you choose.

You can purchase directly on the SNCF site at: http://www.sncf.com/.

Once confirmed and paid by credit card, you will get an e-mail that you'll show at the ticket office in Paris and ''Bob's your uncle''.

Have a safe trip and buen camino.

Jean-Marc

 

[WolverineDG]

Check out Air France. You might be able to get a flight from Orly to Biarritz for $36 (US). Easy Jet also flies to Biarritz, but from CDG.

Kelly

 

[Bridget and Peter]

Check out Air France. You might be able to get a flight from Orly to Biarritz for $36 (US). Easy Jet also flies to Biarritz, but from CDG.

But you will have to hang around in stuffy airports,
not take any liquids with you,
take your shoes, jacket, bumbag/money belt off and put them on again,
depart and arrive at some distance from the town/city centre so have to find and pay for a bus or a taxi instead of arriving in the city centre,
have less leg-room or ability to get up and walk around,
not be able to look out of the window and consider why french back gardens look different to gardens at home, or why the cows change colour as you travel south
note that you are plassing through a place you've heard of - and yes, that must be the catherdral tower of .... etc etc

Also, please consider the following:-

CO2 emissions per passenger...
Journey: Out & back by plane.. Out & back by train...
London to Paris by Eurostar 3.5 hours, 244 Kg/CO2 2.75 hours, 22 Kg/CO2
London to Edinburgh 3.5 hours, 193 Kg/CO2 4.5 hours, 24 Kg/CO2
London to Nice 4 hours, 250 Kg/CO2 8 hours by Eurostar+TGV, 36 Kg/CO2
London to Barcelona 4.5 hours, 277 Kg/CO2 Eurostar then overnight sleeper, 40 Kg/CO2

Source is http://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm
Seat61 is also a brilliant site to look at BEFORE booking any train travel, anywhere!

We have single tickets from Paris to Limoges in Sept for 16 Euros, (and 9 Euros per bike).

We have found it's easy to find cheap train fares and book them on sites like http://www.raileurope.co.uk - no commission for online booking, although you can't book bikes on French trains online, so we have to pay a fee for telephone booking.


WE LOVE TRAINS!!!!

 

[WolverineDG]

I like trains too but for someone coming from Oz, they'll already have been traveling close to 24 hours. It would be much easier to stay at the airport waiting for the flight, than leaving it & trying to navigate Paris while jet-lagged.

Kelly

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The huge advantage of trains over planes in "carbon footprint" is because European trains are driven by electricity which is generated without CO2 emissions in nuclear power plants! I spent a decade working in the nuclear power generation industry, so I am not arguing against it, but it is fair and reasonable (which is not the same as Fox's fair and balanced!) to know the trade-off that is being made. Uranium comes from such bastions of democracy as Niger, and high level nuclear waste continues to build up in on-site storage at power plants as reprocessing and long term storage lags. No one in the industry will be surprised when the first nuclear terrorist event occurs using these materials.

I personally take the transportation that saves me time and money, and try to do so guilt-free (and I don't mind being reminded that I SHOULD be feeling guilty)! Maybe that Compostela is all I need for forgiveness on carbon dioxide...

 

[Bridget and Peter]

they'll already have been traveling close to 24 hours.

Well, he did ask about the train! Perhaps after that long flight he is planning to have a break in Paris, and have time to acclimatize a little before setting off again.

I am sometimes surprised by my non-european fellow pilgrims who have to travel so far, but don't seem to want to make the most of the journey as well as the 'pilgrimage'. I know that many have time limits, but others are able to devote months to the adventure.

After all, we are so often reminded that the pilgrimage starts from the moment we decide to make it. The Way can have its way with us where ever we are, not just between SJPDP and Santiago, or Finesterre!

For example, we arrived at the Eurostar London terminal a few days after half the Channel tunnel had been closed by a fire, with all the bookings thrown up in the air, last September, and had to trust that All would be Well. And it was.

I personally take the transportation that saves me time and money, and try to do so guilt-free (and I don't mind being reminded that I SHOULD be feeling guilty)! Maybe that Compostela is all I need for forgiveness on carbon dioxide..

Falcon, you disappoint me! You so often make just the point I want to make that I was almost at the point of asking to have your babies. (No, not really, I've got enough already.) Still, I have to remember you ARE american, and I must make allowances. (That is a joke, too- well, mostly)

It's not just the CO2 emissions - although they are important, - and I am willing to be obnoxious about uranium too and promote wind, hydro and other renewable sources of power - but also the whole contradiction of Speed, speed, speed on the way to the Camino, v the walking and smelling the flowers and opening your eyes to new insights which IS the Camino.

 

[WolverineDG]

Bridget, if I lived in Europe, I'd also take my time. But I don't & since it takes at least 2 days to get from my home to any starting point on the Camino & 2 days to get home, I'll take the quickest option that will also give me the least hassle so I can spend more time on the Camino.

Kelly

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Speed, speed, speed on the way to the Camino, v the walking and smelling the flowers and opening your eyes to new insights

Get there fast, and there is more time to smell the flowers (which prosper on carbon dioxide)!

 

[Alan Pearce]

Now I know what a political football feels like!

Falcon and Wolverine have it right. Time on the canmino is precious, and time spent elsewhere is time taken away from the joys of life on the Road to Santiago.

Thanks to all.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Janeh]

Alan, i flew from Adelaide to Paris last September. I then took the bus to Montparnasse railway station and caught the train down to Bayonne. Yes, you feel jet lagged but you will be so pumped up with excitement you will cope well. I bought the ticket off the SNCF website for 22euros so your travel agent is taking a lend of you. You can print your ticket at home and just validate it when you get there. If you need further help, PM me and we can talk over the phone. cheers, jane

 

[Alan Pearce]

I have just bought my ticket online for 68 euro [including free postage to Australia] which is half of what the travel agent quoted. When I approached her about it, she explained that as part of a chain she must buy such tickets through a specific wholesaler, and was not allowed to source cheaper tickets elsewhere. There is a lesson there.

Buen camino to Janet [jl] who flies out of Adelaide tomorrow for 98 days walking. She will have the delightful experience of walking some of the way with her son. When I am in Spain in September my son will be walking to Machu Pichu. I hope he survives it and makes it to Spain one day with me.

And buen camino to Andrew who flies out of Sydney tomorrow, and who I hope to see on the del Norte in September.

Alan.

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Alan Pearce]

My train ticket from Paris to Bayonne arrived in the mail today! Apparantly I have to validate it at Montparnasse railway station, but I'll work out how to do that when I get there. I hope they won't mind me taking my walking staff in the coach.

Alan Pearce

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Janeh]

How exciting Alan! You won't have any trouble taking your walking staff with you on the train. And you won't have trouble validating your ticket once you're at the train station, just go to the window marked 'billet'. I actually forgot to do mine - the conductor on the train was very nice and validated it when he came round to check people's tickets. Good luck, and buen camino. Jane.

 

[Artemis]

Wish I could use the UK site but I guess you need a UK address for them to send it to. I found a couchette T4 on a night train from Geneva to Biarritz for 48 pounds and the same couchette T4 on the same train, same day, same time is $278 booked on the US site.

 

[bill schmidt]

Hi:

I am flying from Paris to Bayonne this weekend as a matter of fact for 56 Euro on Easy Jet. With as much advance time as you have you should be able to get a similar ticket and also arrive more quickly if that is your preference. Hope you can save yourself some money and get there when you want to.

Best wishes,

Bill

 

[Bridget and Peter]

Wish I could use the UK site but I guess you need a UK address for them to send it to.

I don't think so. I think you can download tickets. You certainly can with Eurostar because that's what we have done. With Raileurope we had them sent but we had to do that bit by telephone because you can't do bikes online *. Anyway, why would they not send them?

(*for some reason. And don't get me started about booking bicycles on cross channel ferries. Except to say Hooray!! for Brittany ferries from Santander and Boo! to P and O from Bilbao)

Time on the camino is precious, and time spent elsewhere is time taken away from the joys of life on the Road to Santiago.

Alan, I'm sure you'll find the time on the train is precious too, because it (and even your trip to the airport in Australia) WILL be time spent on your Camino too.

When I am in Spain in September my son will be walking to Machu Pichu. I hope he survives it and makes it to Spain one day with me.

I hope he survives too. To quote (from memory but it was memorable) our daughter; 'we went up and up and up.... I was so tired I hoped that I would break my legs so that it would stop..... even the girl with typhoid was managing better than I was ... when we woke up at dawn at Macchu Pichu the rain was blowing into our faces horizontally.' Really makes you want to go, don't it?

Still that was better than the months she spent in a coastal town in Ecuador helping build a school where they had to have an armed guard outside their house to protect them!

PS she's fine now and came with us on the Camino Ingles in March, where she strode ahead of us through the rain quite uncomplainingly. And her Spanish was invaluable.

 

[Artemis]

The Raileurope site says they can't send tickets outside the UK. A UK address is required. This is getting so frustrating.

 

[spursfan]

It just confirms that national railways still set different fares for passengers from different countries - and all things like asking for your country of residence before entering a website such as Eurostar or insisting that you have a local address or can only pay with a local credit card are just attempts to rig the market and allow agents and the like to make money as well

By comparison, airline websites and their fares are relatively open to all nationalities

 

[Artemis]

Just purchased my train ticket from Geneva to Bayonne. I bought it through the swiss website but have to pick up my ticket at Rail Europe Boutique in Geneva. Assuming that Rail Europe Boutique was at the train station I thought it would be no problem. Wrong... not at the train station at all but nearby so all is well. Now I just have to manage to make it from the airport to the boutique to the train station while staggering around from lack of sleep and jet lag. It is all part of the adventure though. I have promised myself that I will not look at the airfare site or train site in case the fares go down.

Melinda

 

[Thornley]

Hi Alan ,

Its a bit late but if any other aussies read this it might help.
Most flights from Australia will land in Paris around 6--6.30am
We avoid Qantas because it flies to London and then backtracks .

We have flown to Bayonne/Biarritz after catching the train at CDG to Orly.The blue line direct.A flight is at 10.15 or 1pm and in one hour you are there
The cost is $100 if early
We did the same when walking from Le Puy. Air France flew from CDG to Lyon early morning .
Again at a very minor amount.Again one hour, stay a day and enjoy Lyon and the next day train to Le Puy.

Get to the starting point , relax, take in the new culture , sleep and a short first day.
The rest is your way..
Keep well,
David

 

[Seven]

I have nothing to contribute re: trains, planes, etc., but, rushing to start the Camino? Doesn't the journey start from home?

I'm not leaving until May but with all of the great Pilgrims I've met I feel like my Camino has already started!

 

[jl]

Believe me, just getting there to the start is not rushing. When one has travelled on a flight well over 24 hours and sat around in airports for hours on end I have found the best way is to get to where I intend to begin and then I am able to relax. Then there are several days to absorb what one is about to do, admire the beauty around one and most importantly of all recover in order to have a successful pilgrimage. I speak as a nervous traveller and I am one who finds that I am able to relax once I am where I am supposed to be - whereas taking a leisurely trip to where I was beginning, for me would not be the way to start in a relaxed manner! Janet

 

[Canuck]

Believe me, just getting there to the start is not rushing. When one has travelled on a flight well over 24 hours and sat around in airports for hours on end I have found the best way is to get to where I intend to begin and then I am able to relax. Then there are several days to absorb what one is about to do, admire the beauty around one and most importantly of all recover in order to have a successful pilgrimage. I speak as a nervous traveller and I am one who finds that I am able to relax once I am where I am supposed to be - whereas taking a leisurely trip to where I was beginning, for me would not be the way to start in a relaxed manner! Janet

+1

Well said.

Jean-Marc