I'm using the tgv-europe website for the first time. I want to book round trip tickets from Paris to Reims and I have a couple of questions. Is there only one train station in Paris for trains to Reims? My second question is - I want to purchase tickets that I can print from my computer. Is this automatic - or do I need to request it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Note that here is also a regular SNCF train out of Gare de l'Est

If you are buying non-refundable tickets (PREMs), you can print them out at home.

Do a search above on PREM.

Here is a website that will walk you through the process of booking and printing TGV tickets at home:

http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchTrain.htm

Yes, all trains to Reims leave from the Gare de l'Est.

Thank you everyone - all very helpful information - and exactly what I need to book my train tickets!

The website specifically asks you how you want to receive your tickets, you can't miss it (hopefully, you must choose).

Just for info, I checked the "cheapest fare of the month" function on www.voyages-sncf.com and the lowest fare for the coming month is 15€. The highest fare is 26€. After all, it is only a 45 minute ride.

kerouac - Thank you for the information. I haven't booked my ticket yet - but I will look at this site to take advantage of the lowest possible fare!

We are planning to print tickets at home, also. Does anyone know what you do if you lose the tickets between home and the train?

<<Does anyone know what you do if you lose the tickets between home and the train?>>

Just keep your tickets with your passport.

Self-print is usually offered for cheap no-refund, no-changes 'prems' fares but not necessarily for more flexible tickets, because of the extra fraud risk. So it depends on route and ticket type.

Assuming you get slef-print I always print extra copies, and put some in my main luggage as well as my daypack, then I'm covered if I lose one set!

<<Does anyone know what you do if you lose the tickets between home and the train?>>

Just save the email with the tix info so you can reprint if necessary.

Bab, sorry for hijacking your thread a bit but could not resist.
Thanks djk, #61 and sab for each of your good suggestions.
One less worst case scenario to mull over.

The tickets are in pdf file format. You can save them and print them over and over if you lose them every day.

I've been struggling on another thread with trying to select in which direction the seat faces. One of the posters insists that it is a choice but I can't find it.

I didn't see it on that web site.

Anybody able to find it?

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Seat choice is a function of a tab on the SNCF website which you click if you want to make a seat choice. It is pretty obvious, it is right underneath the time information on a route to the left of the big burgundy box that says "choose this outward journey). It is in gray and says "choose my place". It won't appear unless you click on a round circle to the left of a route that you are choosing. But you can't buy a ticket without it appearing because you can't buy without filling in that circle. That gives you a choice of type of seat (window, aisle, single, due, etc.).

Now that is just for seat choice (I gave tgv-europe.com as an example, although I never use it, because I presumed you don't French, as there isn't any reason to use that website if you know French, just use www.voyages-sncf.com, that's what I do).

But that doesn't give you a choice of direction. To be honest, sometimes I've seen that on the website when buying tickets and sometimes not. I don't think you can affect whether it shows up as a choice, it's probably when SNCF can figure how what kind of train will be doing a route or something. And the ability to choose any type of seat varies by train, also. But if sense of the direction is a seating choice, it will show up when you click that button to choose your place. It will be an option underneath the box to choose the type of seat -- it is the phrase "voyager dans la sense de la march" and you must click the box if you want that choice. I don't know what it is in English, I never use the website in English.

But I know sometimes it shows up as an option underneath the seat choice box and sometimes it does not (even on the same type of train, say TGV). I don't know why.