sam

I will be in Paris by this weekend and will be leaving the next Wednesday for Italy by train. I will be staying in the 6th. My train leaves around 7:30 for Florence and I need to get from my Hotel to Gare de Lyon. Since it will be rush hour, I do not think the Metro is a possibility. I will have one rolling bag and a backpack and traveling alone. I guess I should get a taxi. How easy will it be to get a taxi at this time? Are there many taxi que in this area (I sure there has to be). Can the Hotel or I palan ahead for a taxi? How much time should I leave ahead for a 7:30 train? Never had to leave Paris at rush hour for I'm always out early in the morning? Appreciate the help!!!

Bob Brown

Hi Sam. I have gotten to Gare de Lyon twice by taxi from hotels in the 6th. <BR>In 1999, our hotel was on Rue des Rennes; last year it was on Boulevard Raspail near Boulevard Montparnasse. <BR> <BR>I would ask the hotel to order the taxi at least 12 hours in advance, more if you can do it. It is much more reliable than trying to find one at a taxi stand at that time of the morning. <BR> <BR>If your train leaves at 7:30, I would allow at least 45 - 60 minutes, mainly so that you will have time to find your train. (I had rather get there early and find my train and relax in my seat. If you are taking the TGV, a seat reservation is required.) Rush hour traffic will not be that bad if your leave hotel about 6:30; at least it was not for us. Gare de Lyon is large and, to me, somewhat confusing. Both of the times we left from there we were going to Lausanne. The taxi drivers put us out at two different places. This year, we tried to figure just where we were last year, but could not really be sure. <BR> <BR>The route to Gare de Lyon from the 6th is relatively straight forward. The route our taxi took was down Montparnasse to Blvd du Pont Royal, then along St. Marcel to Blvd l'Hopital, past Gare d'Austeritz, over Pont d'Austerlitz to Gare d'Lyon. <BR>If you want to chance the bus, #91 goes along Boulevard Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon, but Paris buses are not all that luggage friendly. It can be done if you don't have too much to carry, but a taxi certainly is easier and more convenient, although it is more expensive. I guess it depends on how you are fixed for money. <BR>Taking the Metro is not easy because it involves at least one change of trains. <BR>If you have heavy luggage, those Metro stations seem like they have nothing but steps and tunnels. The bus route is much more direct, and probably quicker. <BR> <BR>Let me warn you now that there are all kinds of begging going on around the station. Last September, a homeless man came up pushing a baggage cart as we got out of the taxi. He wanted 10 francs to take our luggage in. He looked like he could use the money, so we gave it to him. He loaded our suitcases on the cart and started pushing the it toward the station. As we approached, the regular baggage crew angrily ran him off. I thought he was going to be physically assaulted. We continued on into the station to hunt for our platform. Then, later just after I had bought something to eat, a woman, probably 23 - 26, came up and asked me for 10 francs. I guess that was not a scam, just a straight out request for money. It was just a blunt question: <BR>"Do you have 10 francs?" I guess I am an easy mark. <BR>

sam

Thanks Bob. This is very helpful. I guess I should be clear on one point. The train is 7:30 PM so it would be fighting after-work traffic. Thanks again

Bob Brown

OOPS. 7:30 over there is AM! <BR>Your train leaves at 19:30 Paris time!! <BR>If you order a taxi, be sure to tell them 19:30 or the vehicle might show up in the morning!! <BR>There will be a problem of checking out of your hotel room. Because we left early the last two times we were there, checkout time was not a factor. <BR>In Austria, the hotel manager was happy to store our luggage for the afternoon while we were taking a tour before departing in the evening for Vienna. <BR> <BR>Traffic is thick between 5:30 and 7 PM. <BR>But the boulevards leading from the <BR>Montparnasse area are wide and traffic flows along. I have not taken a taxi in the evening, so I don't really know what to expect time wise. <BR>We took the bus to a performance at the Opera Bastille, #91, which goes past Gare d'Lyon. We had no trouble getting there. No major tie ups. <BR>We got there early so we had a little time to eat before the performance started. <BR>

sam

Thanks and please keep the responses coming

Christina

You are lucky if you can get on a bus during rush hour, let alone with a backpack and pilots case, I don't think you will ever be able to do that. Luckily, it's not that far so even though there will be delays due to traffic, I don't think it can take hours, but your hotel desk clerk/concierge can probably recommend when to call. Just have the hotel call one, sometimes they have special arrangements with good cab drivers, in any case, there will be a small fee over going out and finding one yourself at a cab stand (I think a charge of about 13F may be on the meter when they pick you up at your hotel if you call); if by any chance you are right next to a cab stand, go ahead and walk to it if you wish, it's hard to say as the 6th is a large quartier. In any case, better to be safe than miss your train, you can always have a drink or something at the train station, I know it's not that exotic; I would try to be there by 7 pm, so would probably call for a cab to come at 6:15 pm, just to be safe (it really depends where you are; if you are near bds St-Michel and St-Germain, that's a lot closer than near Gare Montparnasse, for example). Once I took a cab from Gare du Nord to the 6th during nonpeak, slight rush hour and it took 30-45 minutes, but Gare du Lyon is closer than that. There is another possible option that you could ask your hotel desk clerk (hoping that know); I think there are automatic lockers or a left luggage office in the Gare du Lyon train station and you could go there by metro/RER during midday, not rush hour, to leave your bags there and then just come back by metro right about 7 pm to catch your train. I myself would not feel real comfortable doing that, it costs about 30F per piece, so you'd spend maybe 60F doing that; you might want to just apply that amt to the cab fare for security. Anyway, ask your hotel advice when you get there, I will bet they can call and make an appt to make sure you get a cab when you need one, that will be no problem, and they will have some advice on the timing.