prmbrown

I am walking the El Camino beginning at St Jean Pied de Port and leaving the US for Paris tomorrow. I just learned that the SNCF is on strike during the days that I needed to go to SJPP and was considering renting a car. The weather turns bad after May 28 so I really need to hustle and get to SJPP on May 26 to get ahead of the storms. I'm staying a couple of nights in the 6th in Paris and see that I can pick up a car near the center of the city and MapQuest shows the travel time to be about 6.5 hours.

Does anyone have an opinion as to where to drop the car (Biarritz or Bayonne) knowing that I need to catch the train to SJPP at Bayonne? Also, does anyone have a better idea as to how to get to SJPP?

Thanks a million for the feedback

StuDudley

Fly to Biarritz or Toulouse or maybe Pau (we've never flown to Pau) and rent a car there.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

Just because the SNCF is on strike does not mean that there won't be trains. What was your SNCF routing from Paris to SJPP?

prmbrown

St Cirq, It's Paris, Gare Montparnasse, to Biarritz by TGV then to Bayonne and SJPP by local train. Cost about 100 euros.

When I go to the SNCF site the schedule for May 26 does not load and I assume it is because of the announced strike which is May 24-27.

Stu, there is a cheap flight on Easy Jet at 7:00 am but any others are $300 plus. I can rent a car for less than $80 and it's a 6.5 hour drive so that may be my best choice. Driving that long after a long international flight is not my choice but I'll have a rest day beforehand. Jet lag going over usually zaps me for a few days for some reason.

My flight from the states is today so I'll have to move on a car soon.

Thanks for the help.

StCirq

The SNCF site is telling me that the 5 or 6 TGV trains from Paris Montparnasse to Biarritz are as of now expected to depart on time on May 26. It's also telling me that any perturbations on the 25th because of the strike will be announced this evening (France time, of course), and that any perturbations on the 26th will be announcd later (probably tomorrow evening, France time). I would wait. The TGVs are far less likely to be disrupted than TERs, but if you can at least get to Biarritz, which solves a lot of the problem. I would hold off until this information is forthcoming.

Plus, if you are unable to use the train (any one of them on your route) to get to your destination, SNCF is obligated to give you a full refund. And don't be fixated on getting a particular TGV - you can take any one that's running without penalty. That's always true of the TER trains, so that's irrelevant.

StCirq

The SNCF site is telling me that the 5 or 6 TGV trains from Paris Montparnasse to Biarritz are as of now expected to depart on time on May 26. It's also telling me that any perturbations on the 25th because of the strike will be announced this evening (France time, of course), and that any perturbations on the 26th will be announcd later (probably tomorrow evening, France time). I would wait. The TGVs are far less likely to be disrupted than TERs, but if you can at least get to Biarritz, which solves a lot of the problem. I would hold off until this information is forthcoming.

Plus, if you are unable to use the train (any one of them on your route) to get to your destination, SNCF is obligated to give you a full refund. And don't be fixated on getting a particular TGV - you can take any one that's running without penalty. That's always true of the TER trains, so that's irrelevant.

prmbrown

St Cirq,

Yes the train schedule is up now and I booked a seat since I leave in an hour or two and will not have access. I did not see the announcement about delays. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Good information that I hope I do not have to use!

I did notice that the Bayonne to SJPP schedule is not up but I agree that getting to Bayonne solves most of he problem.

Again, thanks for the help.

StCirq

BTW, in the future, steer clear of MapQuest for directions, times, etc. IMO it's the worst of the possible solutions for that. www.viamichelin.com is the best )though for driving you have to add about 15% more time to allow for deviations, rest stops, etc. Mappy.com is also good. Google and Rome2Rio IMO are also not worth looking at.

Also, I don't know if you need to book train tickets home from this trip, but booking, as you did today, for a train in two days, is asking for the absolutely most expensive prices possible. Book 3 months out from your dates of travel to get the cheapest prices. I don't know what you paid from Paris to Biarritz, but I normally pay 19 euros from Montparnasse to Bordeaux. It might be 25 euros to Biarritz. Keep in mind for the future.

If there's a strike and potential train problems on TER lines like Biarritz to Bayonne, the SNCF often substitutes autocars (buses) for the trains for the same tickets.

PalenQ

Great on-the-spot advice as usual from St-Cirq - a life saver in this case.

prmbrown

All good advice and yes I paid a multiple of the price you report. But the weather has forced some itinerary changes ang maybe more to come. Rain is forecast for days to come.
Thanks again

StCirq

Be wary of Météo France, if that's what you're using. We live in France and they are horibbly wrong a lot of the the time.

PalenQ

And here they say the European Model of weather forecasting is superior to that here!