Gare Montparnasse

Old Jul 8th, 2007, 10:45 PM
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Gare Montparnasse

My husband & I are arriving in Paris separately. It's our first trip to France. We're planning to meet at Gare Montparnasse to take the TGV train to St. Pierre des Corps.
From what I've been able to tell, the train station is in 3 sections. Where will we find the TGV train?
Can anyone recommend a good place to meet each other, once we find the correct station? (Is there perhaps a large clock like in Grand Central Station?)
We do have reserved seats, so I guess we'll find each other on the train, if not before. Thanks for the help!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 03:18 AM
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Of all the places I would not want to try and meet someone, the Gare Montparnasse is high on the list. I must stress I am not an expert on the station let alone on Paris but in some ways my perspective is useful precisely because I have a tourist view.

The place is actually a huge complex consisting of two train stations (one is signed Vaugirard, if memory serves it handles local trains, the other would handle the TGV. ) Then there is the metro station which has a correspondance for four lines (4, 6, 12, 13).

Adjacent to the station signed 'Vaugirard' is a Novotel hotel with a small cafe-restaurant. Try meeting there, it is smaller; you head for the Vaugirard station (you will do so underground), go up... I think there was an escalator, in any case you are heading to the exit and the Rue de Cotentin (please at least print off a map of the area, you can get it from viamichelin.com), walk maybe 5 metres, and there you are.

I must warn you that my idea involves a long hike through the complex, but it is the most definitive, easy-to-describe (and ask directions for, if lost) point I can think of. It is also a place where one could comfortably sit for awhile.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 04:19 AM
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Actually it is just one train station and the numbers refer to various entrances.

When I give a rendezvous to somebody in a train station that I don't know very well, it is always very simple. "Meet at the front of platform 1."
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 06:23 AM
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It would be indeed a long hike to meet at Vaugirard ! (It's a former freight/car+sleeper station, today it's where mainline trains of the Granville line call. Local/suburban trains call on platforms 10 to 19, for what it's worth).

Added, there is no underground connection to Vaugirard. One has to wind up all of platform 24 (and it's loooooong) from the /main/ concourse, and afterwards hike up a flight of stairs, to reach Vaugirard smaller concourse.

Kerouac's suggestion is very good. There is a small café just facing the buffers of Platform 1 (like all mainline Paris stations, Montparnasse is a cul-de-sac).
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 06:24 AM
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>> Local/suburban trains call on platforms 10 to 19, for what it's worth <<

... platforms 10 to 19 are located on the main concourse.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 06:36 AM
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I'd either meet at a designated platform or underneath the HUGE board where the train numbers and times and platforms are posted. It's in the huge open space in the middle of the station right up against the quais where the departing trains leave.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 08:04 AM
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On the map I see "Gare Montparnasse 1 Hall Maine" and "Gare Montparnasse 2 Hall Pasteur", as well as "Vaugirard". Do the TGV trains come into "Maine"?
I like the ideas of meeting at platform 1 in the small cafe or under the huge board. Is platform 1 where the TGV trains will be? Is there only one Platform 1? Is there more than one of those huge boards at Montparnasse?
I really appreciate all the advice!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:13 AM
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>> On the map I see "Gare Montparnasse 1 Hall Maine" and "Gare Montparnasse 2 Hall Pasteur", as well as "Vaugirard". Do the TGV trains come into "Maine"?
I like the ideas of meeting at platform 1 in the small cafe or under the huge board. Is platform 1 where the TGV trains will be? Is there only one Platform 1? Is there more than one of those huge boards at Montparnasse? <<

Yes, TGV trains come into Maine.

I'll try to describe the station accurately in order to give you an exact picture (I've lived literally above this station for years, so I could navigate it in my dreams).

The train tracks lead, coming from the south, into a big U formed by three high-rised buildings (one of them being apartments). The "inner space" of the U is covered by a concrete slag over which a garden has been created.

Just north of the U dead-end, you will find the Montparnasse tower.

One storey above street level, at the U dead-end, you will find the main concourse, also known as "HALL MAINE" which houses platforms 1 to 24.

There is a smaller ticketing/waiting area concourse beyond the main concourse. There are Vasarely frescos on the walls and floor of this concourse (that's the trick you won't find in guide books!)

Track 1 is on the east side of the station (Rue du Commandant Mouchotte), track 24 on the west side.


The "HALL PASTEUR" is a smaller, quainter concourse above the 1-24 tracks near the "opening" of the U, further south.

The "HALL VAUGIRARD" is, as I said, a separate building, west of the main tracks and south of the U, connected through platform 24.

TGVs generally call at platforms 1-9, more rarely at platforms 20-24. In any case, the main concourse is no more than 250 m wide.

The "main departure board" is hung perpendicularly above the main concourse.

Tracks 1 and 2 are slightly receded from the main concourse alignment, to make room for a metallic staircase and the small café I wrote about.

Anything else ?
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:20 AM
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kerouac :

>> When I give a rendezvous to somebody in a train station that I don't know very well, it is always very simple. "Meet at the front of platform 1." <<

Even at Gare de Lyon ? ;-)
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:23 AM
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You could meet across the street at the Le Meridien Montparnasse. If you are arriving at CDG, it would be easy to take the Air France bus to this hotel (it drops off in front of the Gare, across the street from the hotel), and just wait in the lobby. There is plenty of space.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:33 AM
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I agree with meeting at the hotel. It will be more pleasant than standing around, and it is a little confusing around there. Here's a link to a nice little map of the area (we stayed at a little hotel down the street)
http://www.central-hotel-paris.com/E.../Frameset.html
The air france bus drops you off on a side street. If you look around and see the Hertz office, that's Rue de Maine, for orientation sake. Of course Tour Montparnasse is kind of hard to miss as a landmark as well. Hope this is helpful.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:35 AM
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With that link... click on Location to see the map.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:36 AM
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Oy, sorry to confuse..Hertz is on the big Avenue de Maine (not Rue)
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 09:45 AM
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>> The air france bus drops you off on a side street. <<

That's Rue du Commandant Mouchotte.

>> Oy, sorry to confuse..Hertz is on the big Avenue de Maine (not Rue) <<

The Hertz office are at the angle of Avenue du Maine and Rue du Maine ... their parking being under the Méridien.


The Platform 1 café is quite as nice as the Méridien lobby in my opinion ... and easier to find.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 11:20 AM
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Thanks for all the help. I can begin to picture Montparnasse now - very comforting!
My husband is arriving via Air France shuttle bus from CDG.
I'm arriving via the Chunnel train at Gare du Nord. We're arriving on Bastille Day. Do you think the best way to get from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse is the Metro or taxi? I've read about crowds and possible limited schedules for the Metro on Bastille Day. I've also read that it's hard to get a taxi on that day, so I'm not sure which is best.
Where in Montparnasse does the Metro arrive?
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 11:40 AM
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Ha, the Métro in Montparnasse ...

I won't tell you the full story of the station, but it is sufficient to know that in the 1900s, the facade of the station was on the Montparnasse Boulevard, 300 m north of its current location. The Métro Line 4 station under Place du 18 Juin 1940 and the underground walk to the current main station is long (even if there is a moving sidewalk) and unpleasant with luggage (a big fly of stairs).

The Métro will run on a Sunday schedule, which is already quite ample (1 train every 4-5 minutes).

It might be worth to take a taxi. In this case, ask him to drop you off the Rue du Commandant Mouchotte entrance of the Montparnasse station (that is, if your mind is set on waiting at the Caf&eacute. There are escalators right nto the main concourse, a few steps away from the Café.
In your set of events, it might be worth
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 08:42 PM
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Metro lines 6 and 13 are close to the train station. Metro lines 4 and 12 require a long walk including the longest moving walkway in Paris.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 03:23 AM
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Well, 4dtravel, we arrived on May Day at CDG and traveled by RER/Metro (and through Montparnasse) and the crowds didn't seem worse than on a business day.

Our major problem was Montparnasse. Maybe it was jet lag, maybe we were still suffering from CDG-itis (that airport is not user-friendly), maybe it was because we didn't kidnap superheterodyne to lead us through the maze.....but while we normally navigate with ease, even in new places, this time we were more disoriented than drunken Martians. This is the memory I have given you, purposefully, just to let you know what the experience of a first-timer (to the station) can be like. (I've been only once through Grand Central, as well, but it didn't seem nearly as bad.)

You have gotten some great advice - even I finally now know where we were but I'm a bit concerned - 'tis a long way in from CDG, planes can be late, heck, even chunnel trains can be late, and you are trying to arrange a meeting at a new, large station and then trying to catch the TGV. Perhaps I am still traumatized by Montparnasse, but this looks like a pretty stressful schedule. Are those seats you bought on the TGV of a type that can be exchanged?
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 07:07 PM
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You're both flying into CDG or no?

Anyways, if either or both of you are flying into CDG that day, you should take the Air France Coach direct to Montparnasse, and not RER/subway.

The bus stops on the side of the station, directly in front of Le Meridien. So, I think the hotel lobby would be one of the best places to meet, if any of you are coming from CDG.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 11:59 PM
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I am posting this from France where we are staying with friends near Agen.

When we arrived in Paris last Friday the 6th we took the Air France bus from CDG to Montparnasse...due to the traffic going into Paris as well as the traffic in the city itself, the bus trip took a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes so be aware.
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