We have purchased tix from Par-CDG to Bayeux. The ticket mentions St. Lazare. DO we have to go through St. Lazare? WIll we change trains? Merci!

Your RER ticket will take you from CDG Terminal 2 to Gare St-Lazare (which is a station in Paris) with a change of lines at Gare du Nord, then you will take the SNCF train from St-Lazare to Bayeux. Two train changes total.

I'll take the liberty of adding a few details to the previous post. Take the RER B to Gare du Nord. Take the connecting walkway to the Magenta RER station. Take the RER E to Haussmann St-Lazare. Go to street level and you'll be at Gare St-Lazare.

Visit www.ratp.fr to download and print a Metro/RER map for central Paris and a RER map that shows service to outlying zones, including CDG. Metro stations, RER stations, and mainline SNCF rail stations will all be on the central Paris map.

Tim, thanks for a very helpful and detailed reply. I am pretty shocked that it is so involved...the schedule just shows CDG-Bayeux. I am starting to wonder if I should just grab a taxi from CDG to St. Lazare...

Yes, it is very involved. Impossible to comprehend. Take the taxi.

great idea!

Where did you buy your tickets? What tickets have you received? What "schedule" do you have that just says CDG-Bayeux?

All, thanks agian for the help!

Bought the tix online at raileurope.com. Here is the itenerary they provided:

Product Description
Departure Datect 23, 2006
Description: From Paris Cdg Airport to Bayeux USD 22.00 1st class; 2 adults
[02:57 PM-05:00 PM] 10/23/2006, train 3311 Paris St Lazare to Bayeux, Seat

Return:

Description: From Bayeux to Paris USD 22.00 1st class; 2 adults
[09:04 AM-11:11 AM] 10/25/2006, train 3302 Bayeux to Paris St Lazare, Seat

I hope you realize 14:57-17:00 is for the St. Lazare - Bayeux trip only. You need to depart CDG at least 1.5 hours earlier, in order to catch that train.

I still don't understand what tickets they sold you. The best 1st class fare St. Lazare to Bayeux is about 32€ on www.voyages-sncf.com. If you did receive 1st class tickets for $22, then that's a good deal by itself, even if it doesn't include the RER fares from CDG, which alone is 8.1€.

Okay, I tried buying 2 1st class CDG-Bayeux tickets on raileurope.com for the exact trains you're taking on 10/23 and 10/25.

Even though I put the origin as CDG, it only sells me the St. Lazare - Bayeux tickets.

2 tickets in restricted fare Comfort (1st) Class is $126 for the outbound on train 3311, and $134 for inbound 3302. Total US$260, plus $15 shipping for total of US$275.

On www.voyages-sncf.com, the same tickets cost 64€ outbound, 78€ inbound, for total of 152€. (~$191) Print your own ticket.

I wonder how you get those for $22.

Sorry, should have mentioned that I have a Rail Pass...hence the price.

I think the railpass makes the whole trip (including the RER) free. The $22 sounds like the right amount for two first-class seat reservations.

I read a post on another board by a person who lives in Paris and works in the travel industry in which he said that the RER B north of Gare du Nord and the entire RER E are run by SNCF. (So is the RER C, I believe.) At any rate, I believe your railpass is good on RER lines run by SNCF.

However, since it sounds like you don't want to change trains and schlepp luggage, here's another CDG to Gare St-Lazare option that would be cheaper than taking a taxi all the way. The Roissy bus runs every 15 minutes from CDG to the Opera Garnier which is close to the Opera metro station. The price is E8.50. It's 0.9km from there to Gare St-Lazare. A taxi for that short a distance will cost no more than E5.10 (plus a supplement of E0.9 for each piece of luggage over 5kg).

Now, now ... you're in danger of getting too confusing again. If the RER B to RER E is more than this poster can handle, how will s/he possibly cope with getting on and off a bus in addition to a taxi?

Taxi all the way. $50 - but who's counting?