buying train tickets in paris for chartes
 

My partner and I plan to take a day trip to Chartres from Paris in December. I see there is an SNCF office at 54 Blvd. St. Michel. I assume I can buy ticket at this office? Is there a standard day return fare or will I save money by buying it early? Can I use the ticket on any train? Thanks.

check fares at www.oui.sncf - these are regional trains with no real discount so just buy at station or SNCF office and ask questions there. No seat reservations possible so can't sell out.With full-fare ticket yes you should be able to use any train -buy an 'aller et retour' ticket - round trip. For lots on French trains check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. The cathedral is a short walk from Chartres train station. Try to catch legendary Chartres tour leader Malcolm Miller for tours of church inside and out.

I just bought my tickets at the stations.

Go to the station - go to the window or machine - buy ticket - board train.

Yup, go to station, buy tickets, find your train, get on it, get off at the right station, walk to the cathedral, etc. It's not tricky.

and I think they have to cancel their own tickets by sticking them in a date cancelling machine coming and going. Failure to do this could result in a fine for not having a valid tickets - conductors do not always go thru trains and this is a way of making sure everyone cancels their tickets

You don't punch tickets to show they are "valid", it's to show they are used. The ticket says right on it whether you have to do that or not. If it's a paper ticket bought in person, I would think you would have to. There is also no such thing as a roundtrip ticket. If you buy aller-retour, you are just buying two tickets. and no, you don't get any special fare for buying a ticket each way at the same time.

Yes, you can buy tickets at a SNCF boutique office and that can be a good idea as lines may be a lot shorter. You can buy any SNCF ticket at on e of their offices. That office is closed Sunday, though.

You could just buy it from a machine at the train station, though. That's what I do for short TER tickets like that.

Another thread said you could buy them online and load to phone and then they would not need to be validated yourself but then you are restricted I think to a certain train. I would avoid that to maintain your flexibility on which train to take. Trains are 2nd class only as far as I can tell - TER trains - Trains Express Regionales I believe - or regional trains. Starting from Paris in morning means you'll be going against the flow of commuters going and returning.

This process is called validating the ticket.

You don't punch tickets to show they are "valid", it's to show they are used.>

Well SNCF sites say 'to validate your ticket you stick it in a machine which cancels it'. Which means no one else can use that ticket so that ticket is used when you complete your journey.

Pictures of French Ticket Cancelling/Validating machines - like Christina says it will say on your ticket if you have to cancel your ticket - as in images of tickets shown at this site:

: https://www.google.com/search?q=sncf+ticket+validation+machines+images&tb m=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp-5-dvoLfAhVs9IMKHTLQBUMQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1269&bih=614# imgrc=AGHDQbvSOVtAqM:

Note on the top of the tickets it says 'BILLET a compostez avant l'access au train' - "meaning to validate your ticket before boarding the train" by sticking it in a composteur - a validating machine that date stamps it.

Pictures of French station ticket cancelling machines: https://www.google.com/search?q=sncf+ticket+validation+machines+images&tb m=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp-5-dvoLfAhVs9IMKHTLQBUMQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1269&bih=614

May be much ado about nothing but this is one thing that can flummox novice train travellers perhaps.

When I feel used I don’t feel validated. Why can’t this be simpler?

@ xcountry: :)

Thankfully, I’ve never been punched, so it isn’t an issue.

@ Nikki: :)

In French 'to punch' is said 'composter' which is also the word to recycle your garden waste. But don't try it wth a SNCF ticket, it doesn't work.

SNCF tickets are not compostable?

LOL, xcountry and Nikki.

Will someone agree that the Montparnasse station is where the train for Chartres leaves??? Also, does one need to keep that ticket to actually exit the station upon return??

Yup Montparnasse it tis - not sure about tickets need be kept - but I would.

Yes, you leave from Montparnasse.

Always wise to keep the ticket until you're actually out on the street again.

Chartres is the official end of the suburban network, so you can get your ticket out of both the commuter machines and also the main line ticket machines -- if you have a payment card that works in France.

The Chartres train line also goes thru Versailles in case you want to if not go inside palace walk around the grounds and parks (free) or make an appointment to go inside the palace. Versailles-Chantiers - mainline station in Chartres is about a mile or so south of the palace. Could be good for folks who just want to see cathedral in Chartres and get an early start.

But, Chartres has things other than the world-famous Gothic cathedral - nice pedestrian shopping area = restaurants of all types - other ancient churches and a Little Venise with a river lined with ancient facades and mills. And Picassiette's House is a world-famous example of naive art or art brut. A local street cleaner picked up shards of ceramic and other stuff off streets and fashioned his garden and interior of house with them into many things - including a mini Chartres cathedral. A really stunning place:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mais...ih=625&dpr=1.5

Picassiette's House is about a mile or so from the cathedral in an ordinary neighborhood. BTW Picassiette was a nickname give to this guy by children who said it in a mocking way - the feminized form of Picasso.