Paris to Amboise in mid September

Old Aug 20th, 2013, 09:56 PM
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Paris to Amboise in mid September

Hello! My family is traveling from Paris to the Bordeaux area, with a 2 night stop in Amboise. I am deciding whether to rent a car in Paris and drive the Paris-Amboise portion, or take the train to Amboise and rent a car in that area on our departure Tuesday.

My children are both 11, and we leave Paris on a Sunday in mid-September (no choice, the apartment is only available until that day). I understand picking up a car on Sunday can be troublesome. Our accommodations in Amboise will not require a car while we are there.

We are stopping in Amboise as a side trip ,specifically to visit DaVinci's final home, Chateau du Clos Luce (my kids are very excited about this!). Seeing the Loire valley is some icing on our cake, as the brunt of our trip is in Bordeaux and the Sarlat/Castelnaud area (over 2 weeks total there).

Any advice on the Paris - Amboise leg? Or other suggestions? Go easy on me, this is my first trip overseas (and posting here). Thank you!
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 12:17 AM
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hi, Nutwithacamera,

welcome, and congrats on finding your way to fodors.

no need to go easy, yours is a perfectly sensible question. it's the "10 countries in 10 days" brigade that bring out the beasts!

I think that your instinct to get the train to Amboise is a good one, especially as you don't envisage using a car while you are there.

taking a punt at your departure day, I looked up the trains to Amboise on sunday 15th Sept and got the following:

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-t...ultat?hid=10UD

it shows an 11am train direct to Amboise taking about 1 hour 40 mins, so you should be there for lunchtime.

in case the link doesn't work, and so you can do some more research of your own, here's the link to the SNCF website:

http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/

your kids [and you!] should enjoy the Clos de Luce [ours did, a few years ago] and the chateau of Amboise, though it's not as picturesque as some. however, as you will be there on a monday, when a lot of things close in France, have you checked that the places you want to visit will be open?
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 02:53 AM
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If you have trouble finding a car to rent in Amboise, check out doing so in nearby Blois.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 03:07 AM
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just checked, and the clos de Luce IS open on Mondays. whew.

here's a link to the website [in english, though the link is in french] :

http://www.closluce.com/en/preparer-...fos-pratiques/
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 07:06 AM
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You are likely to have trouble getting a car in Amboise. As far as I know there is only 2 small agency unlikey to be open Sundays and the train station is inconveniently far from town.

Your best bet, especially on a Sunday when so much in France will be closed, is to take the train to St Pierre des Corps. This is the TGV station for Tours and only 20 some KM from Amboise. All the car rental agencies are there and are likely to be open on a Sunday. It's then less than half an hour to Amboise.

Contact http://www.AutoEurope.com on their toll free number and discuss your requirements... they specialize in European rentals and know their stuff.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 08:13 AM
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Thank you very much for the replies!

Any suggestions for leaving via train from Paris Austerlitz? I think I've read somewhere that it's tricky. Does the day of the week impact that very much? We're staying in the 7th Arrondissement, could take taxi, hired car, or metro.

ParisAmsterdam, your point is well taken-- we're leaving Amboise on Tuesday morning, not Sunday, in part for the same reason you point out. I was under the impression it was hard to rent a car just about anywhere on a Sunday (including Paris), but didn't know if that was still easier/cheaper than trying to rent a car in or near Amboise on a Tuesday! I've seen others recommend AutoEurope; I'll give them a call.

Annhig, I appreciate the link to the rail site. There are so many different rail providers in France, and even more websites that all claim to be THE go-to site! My french language skills are veeery limited (I'm working on it!); even so, I see the French version of the website is very different from the English one, the French verson showing a first-class ticket option that is only slightly more than the 2nd class one. Is this that situation I've read about where different rates are promoted for different travelers based on language preference? Just curious.

I appreciate your thoughts and insight very much!
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 08:40 AM
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What do you mean, is it "tricky" to take a train from Austerlitz? There just aren't that many so your possibilities will be limited, but I'm not sure what you are referring to on that point. There are a lot more trains going to St Pierre des Corps from Montparnasse, than from Austerlitz to Amboise, that's all. And then you could transfer at St Pierre to a train to Amboise, if you wanted. Weekdays, I think there are only direct trains from Austerlitz to Amboise at 7:38 and then 5:38 and maybe 6:38.

It sounds like you think it's tricky getting there, but I'm not sure why.

A lot of rental car stations are closed on Sunday, especially in smaller towns, that's all. It shouldn't be difficult to rent a car in Amboise, there just aren't going to be as many agencies or cars available, that's all. I know there is a Europcar but I don't know if anything else (Amboise is pretty small). And they can be closed from noon to 2 pm or so in smaller towns. I don't know where the car rental agencies are in Amboise, though, but I thikn they are across the river from the main part of the town.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 09:19 AM
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>

No, there is only one, the SNCF. And no, there aren't different prices for speakers of different languages. The website is www.voyages-sncf.com. Don't click on the English-language option or you'll be shunted to RailEurope, which generally has higher prices and doesn't show all the trains. If you don't read French, tell the site your home country is Antartica, and you'll stay on the SNCF site but in English. If you're still having problems you can also use www.capitainetrain.com, which has identical information and prices to SNCF. Starting 3 months out from your date(s) of travel, the cheapest tickets will be available. After that, the prices go up.

And instead of driving from Amboise to Bordeaux, I'd go back to Tours and grab a TGV. I think there is at least one a day from Paris to Bordeaux that stops in Tours. Pick up the rental car in Bordeaux - it's so much easier and more pleasant than driving.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 10:21 AM
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Any suggestions for leaving via train from Paris Austerlitz? I think I've read somewhere that it's tricky. Does the day of the week impact that very much?>

You mean getting there to the station or taking a train from the station?

Neither is complicated - metro and RER C run right into the station - taxis drive right up to the front door.

For trains taking an Inter-Loire TER train to Amboise is a snap as it is a flat fare pretty much (save for some few CorailTEOZ trrains that may give a discount of some kind for advance purchase - otherwise just show up at Austerliz or any French train station or SNCF Boutique and buy a flat-fare ticket that can be used on any Inter-Loire TER train (except not on CorailTEOZ) - and trains do roll all thru the day frequently to Amboise from Paris-Austerlitz - the Blois station is about a mile away from the town center, across the Loire - a sleepy station kind of - cabs will be waiting.

Not any car rentals I think or many so when ready to collect your car simply get on the train in Amboise and in 20 minutes your in St-Pierre-des-Corps - mentioned above with loads of car rentals and take off.

For lots of great stuff on French trains I always spotlight these IMO formidable sites - www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

Taking a train to St-Pierre-des-Corps though marginally quicker that way to Amboise (which to me and many is THE perfect base) is much more complex with a ByzAntine fare structure - deep discounts for buying months in advance to get the limited in number discounted tickets and a walk-up fare I think much higher than the flat fare ticketing on the Austerlitz route.

You may actually get a cheaper ticket all told Paris to Amboise via St-Pierre-des-Corps if you book way in advance (those tickets are also non-changeable non-refundable I believe) - but to do that entails using often bulky sites like www.voyages-sncf.com that many folk find hard to use - that's why Austleritz route is the easiest and often the cheapest (and no change of train required).
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 02:50 PM
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>

Tours may be better - it's a larger city.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 03:02 PM
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It's true the tickets to Amboise from Austerlitz are cheaper because that isn't a TGV train, just INtercites. And the total travel time is about the same as taking the TGV to Tours and transferring to a local train to Amboise, so if the departure hour suits you at Austerlitz, that would be the way to go, most likely. If you don't want to get a car at St Pierre.
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Old Aug 21st, 2013, 09:35 PM
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StCirq, you hit the nail on the head!! The "don't click on the English-language option" is exactly what I'm talking about. They must have figured out the "Antartica" loophole, because it's not on the drop-down menus any more (I checked a couple different ways and they didn't give that option, either). My french is not adequate enough to complete a transaction on that page unfortunately (it's one thing to cobble together what half the website probably means, another to commit money and get critically important reservation information!). The second choice you mentioned asked for credit card information to even access the site, which kinda put me off. Have you (or others) used that site before? If so I'd feel better about it.

Your suggestion to take a train to Bordeaux instead of a car is intriguing, and has some definite upsides time and hassle-wise. I was thinking about a car for the post-Amboise leg so we could explore a little and take scenic routes as we worked our way down. We're not in a huge hurry, and can arrive at the gite near Bordeaux before 6 p.m. This may be a loaded question, but is the drive down from Amboise/Bloise/Tours to Bordeaux worth the time and hassle of driving? What do you think? Btw, now that I think about it, that may be my initiation into driving in France.

<What do you mean, is it "tricky" to take a train from Austerlitz?>
That's just it, I don't know . In reading up on things over the last few months I remember seeing some oblique references on a couple message boards about people avoiding Austerlitz. I don' know why, and it wasn't clear at all from the context if it was something with scheduling, access, cost, safety, chaoticness, whatever. I'm a 40-something widow traveling with 2 young girls: adventure is one thing, ignorance is another. Just wanted to check while I was at it.

PalenQ, Christina, Big Russ, Dukey1: I appreciate the information and suggestions to look into rentals in Blois, Tours, and other nearby cities. Options are good things.

Thank you all for your help!
p.s. Forgive my ignorance, but I have to ask: is Blois pronounced a whole lot like "blah"?
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 05:07 AM
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>>>About the car renter at Amboise, it is a Vokswagen dealer / Total station who have an agreement with Europcar.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 09:04 AM
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I can't imagine why someone would avoid Austerlitz as a train station unless it just didn't have the right schedule for them, that's all. All the major Paris train stations are pretty similar in other ways, you certainly wouldn't avoid one just because you thought it wasn't quite as "nice" as another or something. Usually you have no choice, anyway, as to which station you choose, but in this case you do.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 11:51 AM
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but I have to ask: is Blois pronounced a whole lot like "blah"?>>

this will probably set off a hornet's nest [how do YOU pronounce "blah"?] but IMO the answer is no.

the "oi" sound in french as in "foie gras", "Blois", "croissant" etc is a "woua" sort of sound - difficult to describe but easy once you've heard it.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 12:10 PM
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No hornet nests, please! The "oi" sound makes sense, but I couldn't figure out if the "l" gets annunciated and how. 'Just me putting my ignorance on display here. Thank you sticking your neck out and setting me straight!
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 12:55 PM
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but I couldn't figure out if the "l" gets annunciated and how.>>


just put the 'bl" sound in front of the "woua" sound and you'll be away.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 12:55 PM
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Oui je pense que Blois and foie are the same but you put that trickly litle tongue twisting 'l' sound into Bluh-wah - some French speaker will improve on that and what annhig gives I'm sure.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 02:11 PM
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NutWithACamera,

It's BLWAH, one syllable and definitely not Blah.

I haven't used www.capitainetrain.com, don't need to, but I know many people have and it works fine. And remember the longer you wait to buy tickets, the more expensive they get.

There is nothing tricky about Austerlitz, nothing that makes it any different from any other train station in Paris (and I've been in them all many times). I have no idea what you've heard to the contrary, but disregard it. The drill is the same in every train station in France: you walk in, there's a main hall with a huge board listing all the trains, with their numbers and their points of origin and destinations, and about 20 minutes before the train departs, the quai number goes up, and you head for that quai (and they're clearly marked). Very straightforward.

As for the drive from Amboise to Bordeaux, IMO it's a big yawn. What you might want to do, speaking of Austerlitx, is take the regional train from there to Limoges, rent a car there, and go visit Oradour-sur-Glane (google it), then make your way over to Bordeaux from there, through the Parc Périgord-Limousin and Nontron and Aubeterre-sur-Dronne. That would be far more interesting IMO than the drive from Amboise right to Bordeaux.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2013, 02:37 PM
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Thank you for the train station information! I've taken passenger trains along the SE Atlantic coast here in the states a few times, and was very familiar with Washington's Union Station as part of my daily work commute over the course of many years (from what seems like a previous life)! Nevertheless, I know walking into any station is different, much less in a different country! I want to avoid looking like a wide-eyed dufus as much as possible -- not so much for pride as to avoid advertising my naivety. Your description will help me along those lines, so I appreciate it greatly

"a big yawn" doesn't sound very interesting. I will definitely take that into consideration, and will check out the route you suggest. Never the less, Clos du Luce is a must-see for my kids. Thank you very much.
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