day trips
 

Any suggestions from day trips from Paris? We'd like to see more than Paris while there for 5 days. How can I find out more about the TGV? Where would I purchase tickets to use it for traveling? Is it through eurorail? thanks!

I would get your tickets the day before you want to go for your trip at the train station. Since they will only be point to point tickets they don't have to been bought before you leave. <BR>I took the trip out to the place of Versailles from Paris, it was great. I have heard that euroDisney isn't worth it, but I've never been there.

Chartres is also a great day trip out of Paris. Try to get an express train - we were directed to a local one by the station guard, and it took ages to get there. The cathedral was, of course, the main point of our visit. However, the little town has charm as well.

With only five days in Paris, I'd recommend only one "day trip", if any. There is so much to see and do in Paris.... But, if you must, highly recommend Versailles or Giverny. Not through Eurorail. You can go on your own or take a Gray Line or Paris Vision excursion (both have websites). Pick up the brochures at your hotel. You may determine that other destinations are more appealing to you.

The TGV will get you to Bordeaux or Lyon for a 'day trip' out of Paris. For something a little closer to Paris, there's Versailles (RER, not the SNCF train) or Giverny. As mentioned by a previous poster, Chartres, cathedral is worth a visit (it's also a nice little town). Josephine Bonaparte's home, Chateau Malmaison, is a day trip away in Rueil-Malmaison. Train to the city, then there's a bus, or you can walk, to the house. I was there several years ago, it was all in French, but it wasn't too hard to figure out what was what. <BR>For Versailles, Giverny, Malmaison or Chartres, you can buy the tickets just before you leave on the train. If you're planning to do the Lyon or Bordeaux thing, buy the tickets ahead, but you can do it in Paris. There are reservations required on the TGV, and there's a fee for them. Don't spend extra money to buy them from eurorail. <BR>If you've not been to Paris before, you'll find 5 days is barely scratching the surface. There are neighborhoods in Paris that are off the tourist path (like the 20th, the 16th and the 13th arrondissements) and give you a different view of Paris than the arrondissements 1-9. Heck, I could spend five days just sitting at a cafe, watching the world go by (as long as I had a view of the Seine, that is).