rncheryl

I can't help it, I am obsessed. I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic that there wouldn't be an English speaker to help us buy train tickets. So I compiled this little list of nagging questions. I know you can help.

1. Will there be ATMs in the airport to get Euros? We will need them for the taxi.

2. We will be on two early morning trains, to Vernon and to Bayeux. What is the best way to go about buying tickets. I have looked at the website and see the trains we want to take, but would like to wait till we are in France to purchase. Is there a ticket booth with an English speaker in Gare St. Lazare? Can I buy tickets well ahead of time?

3. We are planning Giverny on a Sunday. The plan was to see the estate, then walk back to the village, poke around and have some lunch. Are they open on Sunday? Any recommendations?

4. We are planning two Paris Walks excursions: Montmarte and Marais. Any suggestions for lunch in these areas?

5. We meet our Context guide at Cafe Palais Royal on the corner of Rue St. Honore and Rue de Valois. It would be convenient to lunch there prior to the tour. Tripadvisor has decidedly mixed reviews. Any personal experience?

I have really enjoyed all the research I have done in planning this trip. I know things can and will go wrong, but still .....

Dukey1

There are ATMs at the airport. There is also an SNCF "boutique" outlet for tickets with people who speak English in one of the terminals. In my experience I have never had trouble buying tickets at windows and being understood, especially in Paris.

Just go eat wherever because if the reviews on TA are mixed (and there are probably a LOT of them) then they are probably going to be mixed here as well. Why would the larger sample on TA be less accurate?

PalenQ

re: Train tickets - you try the SNCF boutique Dukey mentions at the airport or go to the airport TGV station and you will dependably get an English speaker IME there to sell you those open tickets - specify the date you will be using them - simply write out ahead of time:

Giverny - Aug 10th - 2 passengers - 2nd or 1st class - and one-way or retour (return - go and come back - two tickets to save yourself time and hassle buying them once in Giverny

Same for Bayeux - if you have a specific train then give the Train # to them - that is if you want to reserve a seat say on the train to Bayeux - optional on most trains but perhaps required on a few so come up with an exact time and train # (can get off www.voyages-sncf.com

Now you can also book tickets yourself at www.voyages-sncf.com though novice users often encounter obstacles but give it a shot then you will have everything in hand - either printing out your own tickets or retrieving them from machines in stations.

for lots of great info on French trains check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com (tro buy tickets and have themmailed to you in the U. S. contact Byron here - I use him all the time for passes and will explain it all - tickets will cost a bit more thru his agency (which works thru RailEurope, largely owned by the French Railways) than buying them in France but for some having tickets in hand is priceless.

but put angst to rest as in decades of dealing with buying tickets or making reservations at ticket windows in France most staff will speak enough train-station English for you to get by. Much ado about nothing IME and this is just to put you at rest.

then even if bloke behind window don't speak French they will have all the relevant train info.

And trains to Giverny are for the most part commuter trains that do not require reservations and no one makes them -

adrienne

1. Absolutely there will be ATMs at the airport.

2. You will most likely find someone who speaks English. I've bought tickets in foreign countries where no one spoke English and always got the tickets I wanted. Write down the destination and ticket time on a piece of paper and hand it to the clerk. Very easy.

3. << Are they open on Sunday? >> Not sure who they is but you can get detailed information from the Giverny web site. The house gardens are open daily until November 1.

http://giverny.org/

4. Ask the Paris Walks guides at the end of the tour. They expect questions like this and are prepared to recommend restaurants.

5. Why don't you email Context and ask what they recommend for lunch prior to the tour.

flpab

We arrived in Paris and a man at the info booth called our landlord at the apartment for us and she met us there in an hour. My husband had done google earth and knew every landmark to get us to the address. We took the train to Bayeux and the walk into the village was lovely. He had bought our tickets before we left. We did have an Andrews chip and pin card for tickets from machines. We each had a 22 inch suitcase so no problem. Best meal in France was in this village.

adrienne

<< We arrived in Paris and a man at the info booth called our landlord at the apartment for us and she met us there in an hour. >>

What a great idea. I always find someone hanging around the terminal and ask them to call for me; I've never been turned down. I didn't realize there was an info booth or someone who would phone the apartment people. This is why I love this forum - you learn something new every day.

Christina

I don't think you can buy some of those train tickets in advance online, and if you do, you cannot print them so you'll have to pick them up at a train station, anyway. For example, to Vernon. I know you can buy the ones to Bayeux in advance if you wanted (but you don't), but you can't print them as I just did that a couple months ago. I had to pick them up in Paris. I used a SNCF boutique rather than the train station, not sure if it saved time or not but at least in the boutiques, there are a few chairs so you can sit. At least if they are empty, there were about 6 people in the line at the SNCF boutique I went to, partly because they only had one person working there outside busy hours (which are not first thing in the morning, to my surprised, they up the staff in mid-day).

I speak French so don't know if the clerk working there spoke English or not, clerks in train stations and boutiques are not always polyglots, of course, that isn't a very high level job. But if you buy in advance online, at least you could print out your order and say you came to pick it up, they should be able to understand that. Write down want you want to do, tickets to Vernon, for example, and return.

A lot of those tickets can be used at any time, I know the ones I bought for the return from Bayeux could. If it is a regular fare, you can use it any time, and I bet the ones from Vernon are for sure.

I just viewed the SNCF website for Vernon and it appears Sunday morning is periode bleue, which means a busy period, I think. It is only 14 euro full fare and says a seat reservation is "recommended" which surprised me (the direct one at 10:36 am). But there is no special rate and you can use that type on any similar train. But there aren't that many on that route, times are limited. That is the only direct one I see on Sunday (on the date I picked), the others require changes in Rouen and cost a lot more. Interestingly, the direct returns later afternoon are also the same price and say reservation recommended, but you cannot do that if you try (it won't give you a seat), and it says "periode blanche." So not sure why the rates are the same if they are different periods. It does give you a seat reservation on the morning part. It does say you can get an e-ticket though, if your card works (good luck). When I booked Bayeux, it wouldn't allow me to print them at home. Or you can say you will pick them up.

well, if you don't want to buy in advance, no, you don't have to, and for those fares, the price probably isn't going to vary that much. There are tons of SNCF boutiques around, there are lists on the website, I think the ambience can be a little bit better than a train station, but you probably will get by in either place re language, as others said. But do put in writing what you want, it is easier for others to understand stuff in writing than spoken if you aren't fluent in a language. And even then, it can be clearer.

bdsbeautyblog

You don't have to buy in advance. Just buy from a ticket machine at the airport train station. The machines will do the entire transaction in English.

Not so familiar with the other areas, but for the Marais, I'd recommend Pitzmans falafel joint on the rue Pavée. You can eat it either just wandering around the Marais, or go and sit on one of the benches outside the St-Paul metro station (literally over the road just opposite). They're not open Fridays and Saturdays though

kerouac

1. The ATMs at the airport are operated by HSBC (monopoly). They are completely reliable.

2. You can buy your train tickets ahead of time. Since they are just regional trains, there are no reservations for worry about and you would not have saved a ton of money by booking early.

3. Tourist things are open on Sunday.

4. Nobody goes hungry anywhere in Paris. Since absolutely all prices must be posted outside, do try to pay close attention to details before you walk in anywhere.

5. Check out other places nearby. Maybe it's the best place, maybe it isn't. Not just the price but also the look of the place should be taken into consideration.

denisea

Giverny has a website...giverny.org

ATMs are everywhere so don't worry! The seat61.com is super helpful. You don't need an English speaker to get you on a train. I know it seems like it will be difficult, but it isn't. I speak very little French and no Italian and have made it just fine. Review Rick Steves or seat61 for how it works and you will feel more comfortable. Learn a few words in French and you will be OK.

Consider Cafe Marly for your lunch near the Louvre..

StCirq

Yes, there are ATMs at the airport and everywhere else in Paris and France.

It's not the job of SNCF staff to speak English, but it's really hard to imagine someone not being able to purchase train tickets. Surely you can learn to say "Bonjour madame/monsieur. Deux billets, aller-retour, pour Vernon, s'il vous plaît..." or for Bayeux or whatever, between now and the day you need them.

No need to pick out places to eat now...there's food everywhere you look in Paris. When you're hungry start looking at menus, pick a place, and go in.

Andrew

I visited Giverny in May by taking the train from Paris Saint Lazare Station to Vernon. I took the train on from Vernon to Rouen and then Rouen back to Paris. All of these trains (2nd class) were unreserved. I was able to buy a ticket to use on any of the daily trains.

I had hoped to buy tickets with the machines at Saint Lazare station, but I couldn't get them to work (before even asking for a credit card). For some reason, it wouldn't sell me a ticket from Paris to Rouen even though it let me choose Rouen as a destination. Anyway, I wound up buying all my train tickets in France from ticket windows from human beings. There was a long line at Saint Lazare Station to buy tickets (maybe due to machines not working), but you should be able to buy them at any train station. I'm not so sure you'd save much or any money buying in advance with unreserved trains.

No need to speak French to buy train tickets from agents in Paris. (But a "Bon Jour" or "Merci" and a smile would be nice.) Simply WRITE the trains you want and hand the slip to the agent. Write the date and approximate time. Check the schedules ahead of time if you want specific trains. I buy tickets like this all the time in Europe without knowing the local languages.

So if I wanted to buy a ticket from Paris to Vernon for August 4, here's what I'd write:

Paris -> Vernon
4/8/2013 (Note written as DAY/MONTH/YEAR, European style)
2nd Class
8:20
One Way (or if round trip write "Return")
1 person

The agent will almost certainly respond in English.

Southam

Study these websites to feel more confident:

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...assagers/Home/

http://www.ratp.fr/en/

www.parisbytrain.com

PalenQ

Well in Paris it is for some of them - look at clerks lapels - the ones who speak English will have a British flag on their lapels IME - so look for one with a British flag.

TPAYT

Not only did the man in the information booth at CDG call our apartment rep to meet us, he also sold us RER tickets into Paris so we didn't have to face the long lines to buy tickets.
Now that's what I call service!

DebitNM

Just an FYI - we rented bikes to ride from train station in Vernon to Giverny. It was a pretty long ride; I'd imagine an equally long walk in what could be quite warm temps. Consider a taxi or the bus.

As far as places to eat, with almost few exceptions; we almost always picked a place to eat by simply look at the menu posted outside and the price for the plats du jour and of course...what the plat was. We did this on all 3 of our recent trips to Paris/Provence. It worked out quite well 98% of the time. Too much unneeded stress to have to find a particular place that I had read about online.

michele_d

I also suggest what Andrew says...write it down. Less chance for confusion and/or mistakes.

That said: Sometimes there will not be a live person, or the line is extremely long, or you are feeling adventurous and want to purchase from the machine.

We have purchased train/metro tickets in 10 different countries from machines and have never once had any issues. It's not because we can speak all the different languages or have been to these countries before, but because we were not rushed when we did it and we took the time to understand the wording and schedules, and always had the basic translations of words/phrases we would need.

The prompts are, for the most part, easy to understand. Just be sure you know the words for one-way, return etc and you should have no problem. It is all part of the experience of traveling.

PalenQ

I think there is a problem using American cards in French train station machines - or most cards due to a lack of a security thread in French and European cards? Or maybe the machines takes large bills and coins?

Andrew

I had a chip-and-pin credit card in France, but as I said above, I could not even get to the payment part when trying to buy a train ticket from the machines at Paris Saint Lazare Station. (I got the chip-and-pin card partly to be able to use the machines in the first place.) Don't count on the ticket machines working. My credit card did work fine at a RER station and a Metro station to buy Paris transit tickets from machines, however.

michele_d

We used cash widely on our trip so maybe it was easier.