Muzza

In September this year, we 4 mid 60 yr olds are (Bus)touring France then doing a seven day self drive canal trip from Joigny-Joigny
What is the train service like Paris Joigny-
Joigny-Paris, and Joigny to the Canal. Has anyone done this? anything to look out for?.
Muzza NZ

Faux

There seem to be a fair few trains to Joigny to Paris - at least one each 2 hours and more at peak times - and they take about 2 hours. See this site to get an idea of times http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ Just key in Paris and Joigny and the likely times you want to travel to and from. Unfortunately, at this point you can only get an idea because the date cannot be more than 3 months away but the timetable will be better in September than now and April timetables for the same day of the week should give you a fair idea of the September times. Sorry I cannot help with the trip from the Joigny station to the canal but I suspect the best method is taxi and that it would not be a huge distance.

AGM_Cape_Cod

For the trip from the station to the Canal, ask the booking agent who set up the self drives to also set up transportation. You might ask them about the train schedules too since they must have a fair amount of experience with them. I hope you have a great time on the self drives-my family did.

klondike

We drove from Sens, so I can't help with specific train logistics. The Joigny canal base and the town itself are very picturesque. It had a wonderful feel to it and the personnel at the marina was very helpful; I'm pretty sure they spoke some English (we had just stopped in to take a look-see and talk to them for a future canal trip). They might be willing to meet your tain upon arrival and transport you. If not, a taxi wouldn't cost much as I don't think it's far from the marina at all. Email me at [email protected] if you'd like a few pix that I took of Joigny from the marina. Just before you arrive at the base building there is a very moving and beautiful War Memorial, too.

Be careful about train travel on Sundays...there's always fewer trains and they start later usually. And if you're heading back towards Paris on a Sunday be sure to have a reserved seat as the students are heading back to school and it may be crowded.

Depending on how your luggage situation is...we found it very frustrating to have to buy new "everything" i.e. sugar, mustard, salt/pepper, jelly, cream and then throw the unused away at the end of the trip (we actually left it in a box on the picinic table next to our pénichette hoping somebody might use it. Start saving your fast-food sugar packets/salt/peppers/jelly packets etc now, put them in plastic baggie(s) for storage in your suitcase and then use the freed up space in your luggage after your trip for bringing back souvenir/gifts. Don't foreget the dishsoap etc. if you aren't going to have time for shopping before departure.

Don't forget a pair of leather gloves for handling the ropes and some Bengay or sample packets of Biofreeze in case you have sore muscles at the end of the day (depending on how many manual locks you do that day--we were lucky in Alsace and had all electric!

Which itinerary are you following, passing through which towns?

Have fun!

adeben

I assume as you are boating from Joigny that you are with Locaboat. The Locaboat depot is on the same side of the Yonne as the railway station. It is not a long walk, perhaps half a kilometre. I've never needed leather gloves for the ropes, nor have I needed any nighttime rub-down because of exertion at locks. It's all easy enough, and I'm probably older than you!
Trains run regularly from Paris to Joigny and vice versa.
If you are keen on an extremely fine, albeit expensive, lunch, consider La Cote St-Jacques on the far side of the Yonne from the Locaboat depot. It has 3 Michelin stars, so ranks with the best in France. And it could be! You could lunch there before you pick up the barge, but you would need to book well in advance.

klondike

Muzza, There is also a hotel right next to the Locaboat marina, Hotel Rive Gauche which gets good reviews in the Guide Michelin and looked nice from the exterior.

Depending on which days you can/can't pick up your boat, it might be easier to stay the night before your departure at this hotel. Since you usually can't pick up your boat until something like 3:00pm, they could keep your luggage for you while you visited Joigny, did your preparatory shopping and then recuperated by having that fancy lunch Adeben recommends. You'd be exiting the restaurant about the time you could pick up your pénichette. And guarenteed you wouldn't be too worried about fixing dinner that night!

After two weeks with an organized tour, this canal trip will be well deserved Heaven, and a wonderfully different perspective of France.