Pawleys

I am still working on my family of nine‘s trip to the Lotte Valley this July. I’m hoping to use frequent flyer seats and they are non-available to Bordeaux or Toulouse. So I’m thinking that we might fly from the states to CDG and then take the TGV. Do I need to make a reservation on the TGV? With flying so chaotic these days I am afraid we would miss our train reservation. We could come a day or two early and stay in Paris, then train to Bordeaux. We would have the same problem on the return I believe. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

FTOttawa

So, if points flights are not available to Bordeaux or Toulouse, does that mean you can’t book two flights, US - Paris, Paris - Bordeaux/Toulouse, on a single ticket?

Flying onward might be most convenient. But if they are split tickets you’d need to leave generous connection time for getting through immigration and rechecking your bags, and there would be no recourse if your first flight were delayed. The same “no recourse” and need for generous connection time holds true for the TGV, as you observed. Yes, you do need to prebook that as well.

Some TGVs from CDG appear to get to Bordeaux sooner than to Toulouse, with a change in Massy. Many of the other results on SNCF-connect seemed to make for a very long day.

StuDudley

We are returning to Paris from Espalion on the Lot this Sept. We plan on driving 2 1/2 hrs to Montpellier, and taking the TGV to Paris Gare de Lyon.

Depart at 1:57 or 3:49 for the 3 1/2 hr trip.

Stay at the Novotel there, dine at Train Bleu https://www.le-train-bleu.com/en/ and taxi to CDG in the AM. We like one-nighter's in Paris.

We could have taken the TGV from Montpellier to CDG & stayed overnight there at the Sheraton.

Depart 2:51 for the 4 1/4 hr trip

Bordeaux is 5 hrs from Espalion, has frequent trains to Paris, but the only CDG train departs at 1PM.

Depends on where you are staying on the Lot (Lotte is a fish - I think they have it on the menu at Train Bleu).

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

We are starting our Sept trip with 2 weeks near le Puy en Velay. We plan on arriving at CDG, taxi to Gare de Lyon, and take the TGV to Valence the next day. You could take the TGV to Montpellier.

Stu Dudley

FTOttawa

It was the part about herding a group of nine that made me go weak at the knees. Chapeau!

kerouac

Reservations are obligatory on the TGV.

bilboburgler

In the old days, I'd fly into CDG, with a big gap for the trains, if early I'd grab a shower and chill out in the basement but I'm told its got a bit grotty since then. Others might now of other things to do around the airport after a pond crossing

Pawleys

Since we will arrive at CDG in the morning, I hope to take a TGV on to Bordeaux that day. (How much time should we allow to get through passport control etc.?) Does the train leave from CDG 2. Or Gare Monparnasse? I found the website confusing.
I am considering spending at least one night in Bordeaux before renting the car and driving the two hours to our rental house. That way we would do Paris on the back end of the trip since we would absolutely need to be there the night before our flight.

FTOttawa

Which web site are you using?

I plugged a random Friday in May into SNCF-connect.com and found many trains from Paris Aeroport Roissy Charles de Gaulle to Bordeaux St Jean. You can just start typing “Charles de Gaulle” and the airport will pop up as one of your options.

There were a couple of direct trains and a few with changes, but not a long wait, either at Massy or Lille.

Dates later than July 7 showed the times of trains but indicated that they were “non réservable.” Others may be able to advise when SNCF might release tickets for later July.dates. They may also advise on time needed to collect your bags and clear immigration.

StuDudley

Direct trains depart from CDG 2 at 7:56am & 4:04pm
Trains with 1 reasonable (45 mins) train change depart at 11:05 and 12:02
I would budget 3 1/2 hrs between departure & arrival for a first-timer.

Trains depart hourly from Montparnasse. Budget 4-4 1/2 hrs to take a taxi from CDG to Montparnasse.

Check schedules here
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Stu Dudley