rex

Specifically, from Biarritz to Paris, although I guess there are also similar trains from Barcelona or Perpignan ... perhaps also from Marseille or other points on the Cote d'Azur?

Did you regret the cramped experience of six people in such a small space? Where does all the luggage and "stuff" go? (I may be lugging a case - - or more? - - of wine bottles, crammed into my luggage, since we will be flying home from Paris the next day)

We board t 11 pm and arrive in Paris at 7:10 am - - how bad could it be? It's get on, go to sleep, sun up, you're there, right?

I know it will be "roughing it" to some extent, but I am thinking that it is time that I found out firsthand what it is like (but will my wife kill me?) - - I have been vocal here about how I would not like a bed that disappears when you arrive at the station (as opposed to "when I am good and ready to get up" in a regular terra firma room).

Time for me to find out? or fodder for major marital discord!?

Thanks for any last minute input (I think we need to buy today to get the PREM fare - - and it's quite a bargain! in either first OR second class)...

Best wishes,

Rex

suze

Since you put it that way, if I were your wife I'd kill ya... now if you can spring for a private cabin for two people only, then I think an overnight train ride is romantic.

Underhill

Couchettes are not very comfortable, Rex, and storage space can be very limited depending on how many other people are in the compartment. And you might very well end up waking up when the compartment's other occupants want to rather than when YOU want to. So get a compartment for two people and be comfortable.

What's this about the bed disappearing before you arrive at the station? I don't know what would occasion that problem.

rex

I didn't say BEFORE... it disepapears WHEN you arrive (i.e., you get off the train... the ride is over whether you are ready or not).

I don't think that the PREM fare is available for anything other than 4- or 6-couchettes. Anyhow, part of the point would be to see what it's really like (you know, kinda like beating your head against the wall?)

SuzieC

just keep the scenario in the "Oh come on Honey...its an adventure!"...and a smooch

That sort of challenge would work for me...

But yeah, the 2 person "room" would be romantic.

WillTravel

I've never tried a couchette, but it sounds exactly like a hostel dorm, only worse.

Kristinelaine

- how bad could it be? It's get on, go to sleep, sun up, you're there, right?

Well, if you are an incredibly sound sleeper and can pretty much sleep under any conditions, your statement might be true. I have done the 6-person couchette in France and was lucky -- there were just the two of us (my husband and I) in it. Even then, it was not a great experience. The "bed" is more like a very flat, lightly padded board and the different sounds and lights and motion from the train moving and stopping, etc., etc. did not make for much sleep.

SAnParis

We only had 4 persons in a 6 person couchette & it was still miserable. The bunks are too short (for anyone over about 5'6&quot & the constant starting, stopping, clanging of bells, etc. makes sleep next to impossible. Just about the time you'll get to sleep, you'll be pulling into the next station. Any other option would be well advised.

RaymondLuxuryYacht

I too would recommend against this. We traveled from Paris to Parma, and I thought I had bought a first class private cabin. But whether it was the language barrier or just a miscommunication, we ended up in a 4-person couchette (the two of us, plus two others). To say it was cramped and uncomfortable would be an understatement. The room for luggage was quite limited, and on top of that, one of our couchette-mates was a textile salesman traveling all the way south to Bari with multiple large boxes full of textiles. There was no room to move. We arrived in Parma at six in the morning thoroughly exhausted.

If you're a young backpacker type, or a regular traveler who lives in France and is traveling light, fine. But if you're traveling on vacation, find somewhere else to save the money, and spring for the private cabin.

Grasshopper

I would HATE it. I'd rather sleep sitting in my seat.

oberost

My wife and I and another couple and a single guy did the "couchette" from Berlin to Paris ... the "Night train to Paris"! It was an "adventure" which we all will remember but won't repeat! I'd rather sit and try to sleep or get that compartment for two! OR .. be adventuresome! By the way we are senior citizens!

cambe

Rex,

I have done this several times as a very much younger backpacker, from Paris to the south of France (pre TGV).

Would I do it now (into middle age)? I'm not sure.

What I can tell you is, everyone gets onto the train, stores their baggage, unwraps their sleeping sheet and goes to sleep (that was certainly my experience many years ago).

You get up in the morning and leave the train.

It's an adventure and if you have never done it before why not try it!!. You can always tell us the horrors or indeed the adventure you had when you return

It's no worst than trying to sleep on a trans-atlantic crossing by plane in tourist class.

Helen

rex

You would think that this is more than enough information to make a decision. I think we are going to go for it (the second class couchette). My wife says that whatever I am willing to try once, she is game to go along with. If I need to "make (it) up to her", well then all the more erason to look into how we can make another trip before the year is over!

There are no 2 person sleepers on this particular train that I can tell.

As for...

<<Just about the time you'll get to sleep, you'll be pulling into the next station.>>

This train oriignates in Hendaye at 22:37, and makes one stop before pulling into Biarritz at 23:02, and departing at 23:04. From there, three more stops at 23:15 (Bayonne), 23:51 (Dax) and 00:40 (Morcenx).

And then it appears to travel without stops for another six and a half hours, arriving at Paris Austerlitz 7:10 am.

Just curious, since we head onward to CDG later that afternoon... are there any showers or a sink bigger than two liters on board? And if not, does anyone know about the best place to freshen up at Gare Austerlitz, or Gare de Lyon (where we will catch the Air France bus, say at 10:30 or 11 am) or at CDG?

I promise to share a report.

WillTravel

An overnight couchette train ride immediately followed by a flight back to Paris (presumably a two-leg itinerary) sounds exhausting! But it will be interesting to hear how you fare, and I'd be hard-pressed to turn down the cost savings myself.

WillTravel

Make that "a flight back home from Paris".

rex

Well, drat! I am getting the message "The connection to your bank is temporarily unavailable."

I wonder if I will still be able to get this fare if I cannot make the online purchase work tonight? (i.e., tonmorrow is less than 21 days) - - I cannot find confirmation - - is it 21 days advance required? or until they decide that they have sold &quot;enough&quot; PREM fares? Trying a purchase of May <b>30</b>, I see a higher fare (50 e per person, instead of 40 e - - not the end of the world, but frustrating). Or is there any other recourse besides keep trying?

rex

Okay. False alarm. I over-reacted. Sale went through on the third attempt.

Interesting.

rex

For all you respondents.. and anyone else simply interested in the process (or the drama of my nail-biting indecision paralysis!)...

... the same fare IS available this morning, even though it is clearly less than 21 days now - - BUT... a request for <u>lower</u> berth can not be fulfilled this morning - - implying that we got the last two available (or simply the last two available at the PREM fare?)

As was the case last night, the fare for Monday, 30 May (now 19 days away) is 50 e per person, just as it was last night.

so, I am really not sure what is the basis for what fares are offered, how many days in advance...

jules4je7

My husband and I took an overnight train ride 2nd class (the couchette that sleeps 6) from Paris to Venice. It left at 8:30 p.m. and arrived at 8 or 9 a.m. in Venice.

I think out of most of our travels, that train trip was the most fun. We met a teacher (he and his wife shared our cabin) who was taking a class of 12 boys to Genoa for a school trip. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much, but we did meet a fabulous group of kids who were absolutely fascinated with us, as they were from a smaller town and hadn't met Americans. They tried out their English on us, and just oohed and ahhed when we responded. The teacher had just come back to France from living in Brazil, and I spoke Portuguese too (I was born there myself to American parents), so the kids really cracked up when we broke into Portuguese as a shared language.

The 2nd class coach is great for meeting locals (something I plan on doing a better job of next time I go in September), but it's not great on sleep. They weren't uncomfortable and we had room to store things since only 4 people slept in our cabin when there was room for 6.

If your wife is higher maintenance at all, a nicer private cabin might be in order, but if she has a sense of adventure left after the end of her trip, I say go for the couchette class and have some fun!

Good luck,

Jules

SAnParis

Best of luck..