TTT

Just saw your post and wanted to add something that you may not be aware of - several years ago my family took the train from Paris to Avignon. There were four of us and we never left our luggage alone. Somehow when we arrived at our rental house in Gordes my adult daughter didn't have her suitcase. New things for the trip as well as what she had purchased in Paris was gone. We went to Marseille to check for the luggage but it was gone. We don't know when or how it happened but just a tip to beware of. It certainly would not prevent me from taking the train again but certainly has changed the way I pack and how much luggage I travel with.

iDTGV cars are cars on regular TGVs that are set aside to be either quiet cars (designated "zen") or lively cars (designated "zap"). Booking on iDTGVs can be done up to four months in advance. For regular TGVs the limit is three months in advance.

I just checked the website devoted to iDTGV and thank you TimS for noting the advance booking details. Actually, the TGV website claims iDTGV can be booked SIX months in advance, but when I went to do that, it only allowed 4 1/2 months in advance, so you were closer to the real time than the TGV website.

Benitakaren -- could you explain the details a little more? If you took the train to Avignon and never left it alone, how come you didn't notice it was gone at Avignon? How did you get to Gordes from Avignon? And how does Marseille factor into it? Not grilling you, just trying to picture in my mind what happened to avoid the same problem in future. Thanks!

<<we never left our luggage alone. Somehow when we arrived at our rental house in Gordes my adult daughter didn't have her suitcase. New things for the trip as well as what she had purchased in Paris was gone. We went to Marseille to check for the luggage but it was gone. We don't know when or how it happened >>

If you never left your luggage alone, how did this happen? How did you leave the train and go to Gordes before you noticed? Why did you go to Marseilles? How do you even know you lost the suitcase on the train? Something's really peculiar about this story.

FWIW, I've taken hundreds of train rides in France and usually store my luggage unlocked at the end of the railcar I'm sitting in and never had a problem at all.

I will be going from Paris to Avignon in May and want to go by train. What am I doing wrong??--I checked the idtgv and the voyages sncf sites and am coming up with $123 a person and 88 euros per person. I saw one train with a low price but it leaves at night. Is there something I am supposed to click on to find the lower rates?

drkathej,

When the allotted number of discount fare tickets are sold for a specific departure date and time, all that will be left are full fare tickets. What's your travel date?

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Thursday May 17. Wondering if we should just get the car in Paris and drive to Avignon. What do you think?

You're not doing anything wrong. Paris-Avignon is a very popular route. You aren't finding low fares because the cheapest discount fare tickets are already gone for 17 May. For example, I found a fare of €25.00 for 27 May on voyages-sncf.com.

If you're going to spend a few days in Avignon and won't need a car until you leave there, then taking the train still might be cheaper than paying for rental days you won't need and for parking. If you're going to use Avignon as a base for day trips by car, then picking up the car in Paris might be the better choice. You'll have to do a cost analysis to determine what's best for you.

I am trying to book on the iDTGV site which seems awesome but i can't find the Paris CDG TGV station in the list. The only three paris options are Gard de Lyon, Est, and Montparnasse.

What am I doing wrong?

It seemed on another site it might be called Roissy ... I don't see that in the list either. Thanks for the help!

iDTGV fares are not available on all possible routes. There are iDTGV trains to/from Roissy but if when using www.idtgv.com you do not see Roissy/Charles de Gaulle TGV 2 as an option, then there are no iDTGV trains on the date selected or from the city you have selected.

Thanks. I booked tickets to Avignon $123 per person. When I checked and saw that it is a 6 hour drive, it made the decision much easier.

annie2011,

What is your destination and what is your travel date?

Just looked at this site from last year trying to remember how to book tickets from Paris to Avignon without being sent to the Rail Europe site, Just noticed that there were several comments about my daughter's lost luggage from Paris to Avignon. As I don't want StCirq and Surfergirl to think I am a nut case,

I will try to explain what happened. As I said before I carried too much luggage and am now in the process of looking at my clothes for our May trip with a very different prospective. Last trip, four years ago, arrived at Gare, by cab driver and immediately a man came up to help with luggage. Our driver seemed to give him the luggage so I thought he probably helped people with luggage and we just had to tip him. While we were waiting for our train we stood beside all our luggage. He stood away from us but within sight. When it was time to board he came over and helped us with our luggage. By the way, I am a neurotic baggage counter when I travel and counted our luggage many times at train station and when we were boarding. Had the correct count.

Now this is where the fun begins. After luggage on board we tipped the guy, he wanted more so we gave extra euros. My husband is convinced that the luggage was put in two places. And we inadvertantly left one of the pieces on the train. I am positive that when we were on the platform I recounted all the luggage and the count was correct. Another scenario is that we had all our luggage and while we were loading the car we left a piece of luggage. Didn't notice lost piece until we were settling in the house in Gordes. We called house agent and she called the train station for us to help. Now exactly why we went to the Marseille train station I don't know. Except there was alot of lost there that we saw, just not ours.

So there is what happened. I have read all the wonderful people on Fodor's that can take a 21 inch suitcase for several months. I am not one of you, but wish I could be. But my husband and I will take one bag each with a small carryon. We will each be responsible for our own luggage and we will not take any help from street train porters. Hope this answers your inquiries.