Paris to Bordeaux TGV
 

I am checking TGV fares from Paris to Bordeaux, find a 77E PREM fare (3 weeks out) click it with dual face to face option and get this for seat assignment:

Lower deck - Separate seat

What does this mean?

Also, how do you know if you seats are forward facing or rear facing? Not a big deal for me, but my wife may have problem. That's why I pick dual face to face figuring we get one front and one rear facing seat this way?

Are there any seat maps and coach maps? Sometimes I see coach 13, but thought there were only 8 cars per train. What am I missing?

Is the Paris to Boardeaux TGV a duplex?

There are several different types of TGV. If your seat is on the "lower deck", that means it's a double-decker or "duplex". Single-decker TGVs have nine or ten coaches, and are often coupled together to give 18- or 20-coach trains. At busy times, trains can be duplicated: I once had a seat in coach 40 of a train from Paris to Rennes: it was actually two trains, leaving one after the other from adjacent platforms.
Second class seats are normally two each side of a central aisle; first class are split two and one, so I assume if you have "separate seats", that means they're first class on the side of the aisle with one seat.

I am not seeing any upper deck options come up, just lower deck. I've read the lower deck is not as scenic as it tends to be lower than the typical TGV. Does anyone know if Trains 8543 and 8143 (which seem to be attached to each other) are duplex trains and if so, how to get an upper deck seat without calling and paying full fare?

One reason PREM fares are discounted is that you are limited in your choices of seats. If no upper-deck seats are coming up, they don't want to sell you a seat on one.

I believe your options are to choose from the available seats or pay full fare and select from a wider range of options.

Looks like I get the same seat selection when using the full fare. :(

I am looking at TGV 8543 and 8143 which look to be tied together. Does anyone know if these are duplex? I assume they are since it comes back with lower deck.

We went on TGV 8505 Saturday afternoon leaving 12.30ish as that one had a bike compartment. It was not a duplex back in May 2015. If you look on Capitaine trains site and your train has a bike booking availability then it probably isn't a duplex from my experience. AFAIK duplex tgv don't have bike capability. Again only AFAIK.

Just because it says "lower deck" doesn't necessarily mean it is a duplex. The reason those trains to Bord. were coupled at one point may have been/be because there are no duplex units on that particular timing.

There are all kinds of TGV seat maps out there. Go here:

http://www.seat61.com/train-seat-plans.htm#France

OOps, I am sorry but that link I just posted for you does not seem to be working. Those units used to be and perhaps still are TGV Atlantique types

Have you checked the iDTGV site? http://www.idtgv.com/en
Not sure which date you're needing, but three weeks from today there are four trains with the lowest fare at €39,90.

Seat selection is much easier on the iDTGV site since it displays a seat map similar to an airline seat map.

Ummm, the scenery between Paris and Bordeaux is a lot like Kansas. You won't believe that there is that much corn being grown in France. The scenic parts are the villages, but the TGV goes so fast that it is hard to take them in.

My point? Don't worry about the best view.

1. TGVs from Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux are all TGV-Atlantique. It will not show 'lower deck' as they are single deck.

2. These TGV Atlantiques have the Christian Lacroix designer interior with the illuminated dual seat numbering system - the right set of seat numbers light up whichever way round the TGV unit enters service, so the reservations system can be told which seat numbers face forward. That means that if you book at www.capitainetrain.com (recommended) you can tick the 'forward facing seat' option (you're not offered this on sites such as Rail Europe or uk.voyages-sncf). Although for two people in 1st class the best option is face to face = a table for two, one facing the other, one forwards, one backwards.

3. If you buy a cheap PREMS fare you'll get the same choice of seats as anyone else.

4. If you're seeing 'lower deck' then it's a duplex. Which means you're probably not looking at Paris to Bordeaux. I'm guessing perhaps CDG to Bordeaux? On a Duplex there is no dual seat number system, the unit could be either way round, and the reservation system doesn't know which seat numbers will happen to face which direction.

I was looking to book a seat with my bike on the Paris to Bordeaux TGV for 26 April. Did this last year with no issues. However it looks like there is only Itgvs running with no bicycle option. Any ideas as to alternative trains (if any) that I could take? I've booked my accommodation in Bordeaux starting Sunday night after arriving in Paris from Australia around 6am on the 26th.
I'd rather not cancel and its always easier getting around Paris with the bike on weekends.

I have found a Paris CDG to Bordeaux TGV5200 that has a 4 bike section, leaving at 8.19am. I'm wondering whether that would give me enough time from arrival at CDG (ETA 6.40am), Terminal 1, get through arrivals, pick up the boxed bike, put it back together and get over to the TGV platform in time? Last year I departed from Gare Montparnasse but would I be right in presuming the TGV platform is near the CDG to Paris platforms?

I've taken that train, but from Montparnasse. They offer you a choice of which direction you want your seat to face, at least they do on many trains. I think sometimes I'v seen they don't offer that option for reasons I don't understand, but they usually do. I only use the site in French, so have no idea what "separate seat" means as it doesn't say that, and I haven't seen duo face to face, actually (but duo cote a cote on the train to Bordeaux). The directon is a box you can check under the choice of seat box (whether you want to voyager dans le sens de la marche).

Treadle, you'd have 1:40 hr to do all that. I gather checking baggage, at least the bike for sure. And of course Terminal 1 is a different terminal than where the train station is. I think you probably could make it, actually. But many flights arrive at that time so it may be busy at passport control. It may be tight, but I think doable, depending how long it takes to put your bike together. Perhaps I'm missing it, why do you have to put it back together?

Thanks for that advice Christina. I have used Capitaine to book trains in the past. Its in english and great for showing which trains carry bikes.
My bike is packed inside a cardboard bike box. I will need to put the pedals, front wheel and handlebars back again to wheel it to the train.
Seating isn't an issue with the tgv because once you book a 2nd class ticket with a bike ticket, you are automatically assigned to the carriage that has space for the four bikes allowed on board. Last year I had that compartment all to myself- It was good to be able to spread out after 36 hours of planes and airports.

www.seat61.com has lots of great info on discounted tickets.

As it turned out there was a 4 hour delay at Kuala Lumpur airport. I was able to cancel my ticket via Capitaine (lost 10 euros in admin fee) while at KL airport using their free wifi and rebooked for an afternoon tgv . Arrived in CDG airport at 11 am and had a couple of hours to put the bike together, catch the shuttle train over to the other Terminal, bought a ticket into Paris on the RER B train.

Got off at Denfert Rochereau Gare and changed to Ligne 6 to get to Montparnasse. The only obstacle was no bike sized turnstiles at Denfert Gare. I had to take my pannier bags off, shove them through the luggage exit and lift the bike over the turnstile. Printed out my ticket from one of the kiosks at Montparnasse Gare using the code Capitaine email you and was ready with plenty of time to spare.

I realized then that its much better to have time up your sleeve (even if its spent waiting in a train station) than to be getting anxious about meeting tight deadlines.

What caught me out initially was that not all the tgv departures were up on the Capitaine site 3months out from the date I was looking for. With only 4 bike spaces per train I felt constrained to book early. When I needed to rebook a train I noticed that there were many more options for the Sunday afternoon trip to Bordeaux than initially advertised.

So all ended well with me arriving in Bordeaux about 6pm and finding my accommodation pretty quickly and I was all settled in by 7pm.

I hope my experience can be of some help to other travellers.