{"id":2510,"date":"2022-06-26T11:52:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T09:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/?p=2510"},"modified":"2022-06-26T16:46:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T14:46:46","slug":"tourist-transit-travel-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/tourist-transit-travel-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourist Transit Travel in France"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Spain may be a sightseer&#8217;s Shangri-La, but is still <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/World_Tourism_rankings\">ranked<\/a> only in second place as a global travel destination, justly or unjustly. The top spot belongs to France, and France is now my next-door neighbor. A Madrid-Paris flight takes about as long and costs about as much as a San Francisco-Phoenix flight I might have booked before moving to Europe.<\/p>\n<p>I had spurred myself through the darkest pandemic months with promises of future travel, didn&#8217;t want to renege on those promises now that many Covid travel restrictions have lifted. And I didn&#8217;t want to travel behind a steering wheel. My nearly six years in a real transit city have spoiled me. I associate driving with worry, stress, inconvenience. France was reputed to host an excellent transit grid. Why not see for myself?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2491\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2491\" style=\"width: 432px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_from_Rue_Merciere.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2491\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_from_Rue_Merciere.jpg\" alt=\"Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame Strasbourg France from Rue Merci\u00e8re\" width=\"432\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_from_Rue_Merciere.jpg 432w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_from_Rue_Merciere-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame of Strasbourg, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So: I have chalked up five short tourist trips to <em>L\u2019Hexagone<\/em> in 2022, all without car keys. Sites like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seat61.com\/train-travel-in-france.htm\">Seat61<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikivoyage.org\/wiki\/Rail_travel_in_France\">Wikivoyage<\/a> introduce the basics of France transit travel, but I think I have something to share, too.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>FRANCE INTERCITY RAIL TRAVEL: THE GOOD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>France hosts a dense national rail <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sncf-reseau.com\/sites\/default\/files\/2020-06\/CARTE%20RFN%202020_WEB_0.pdf\">network<\/a>, with excellent transit connectivity between tourist meccas. My car-free trips to <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/visiting-chambord-castle-by-public-transit\/\">Chambord<\/a> castle and <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/jardin-exotique-of-eze-village-france\/\">\u00c8ze Village<\/a> were as tough as some transit trips in California, but the national and local network got me handily everywhere else: to Nice, Antibes, and Grasse in Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d&#8217;Azur; to Lyon in Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes; to Tours, Blois and Orl\u00e9ans in the Centre-Val de Loire; to Bayonne and Biarritz in Nouvelle-Aquitaine; and to Strasbourg, Colmar and Nancy in Grand Est.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2495\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2495\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Quai_du_Woerthel_from_Ponts_Couverts_Strasbourg_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2495\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Quai_du_Woerthel_from_Ponts_Couverts_Strasbourg_France.jpg\" alt=\"Quai du Woerthel from Ponts Couverts Strasbourg France\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Quai_du_Woerthel_from_Ponts_Couverts_Strasbourg_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Quai_du_Woerthel_from_Ponts_Couverts_Strasbourg_France-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2495\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Quai du Woerthel in Strasbourg, France as seen from Ponts Couverts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Handily, promptly, and comfortably. I remember window views, clean cars, comfortable seats and only one ten minute delay. And the one TGV I rode was as zippy as Spain&#8217;s 300 km\/h AVE trains. Bravo, France!<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">FRANCE INTERCITY RAIL TRAVEL: THE BAD<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For this traveler, unquestionably:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The ticket vending machines.<\/li>\n<li>The ticket vending machines.<\/li>\n<li>The ticket vending machines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(Please note that this gripe applies only to intercity rail. I had no trouble paying for local, in-town transit in Nice, Lyon, Tours, Bayonne and Strasbourg.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2497\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2497\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/TER_trains_at_Gare_Nice-Ville_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2497\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/TER_trains_at_Gare_Nice-Ville_France.jpg\" alt=\"TER trains at Gare Nice-Ville France\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/TER_trains_at_Gare_Nice-Ville_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/TER_trains_at_Gare_Nice-Ville_France-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2497\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TER trains at Gare Nice-Ville in Nice, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The visitor to a France rail station may find separate vending machines hawking <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transport_express_r%C3%A9gional\">TER<\/a>\u00a0(Transport express r\u00e9gional) tickets for regional trains, and &#8216;Billets Grandes Lignes&#8217; for TGV and other rides long-distance. The TER machines are dark blue obelisks. Me thinks that the &#8216;Billets Grandes Lignes&#8217; machines are usually white. Both brought misery.<\/p>\n<p>In Nice in April, I did successfully buy (coax? cajole? wheedle?) tickets out of a station TER machine without muttering incantations or flogging the machine with my camera bag. I now wonder if I might better have failed, as that one success induced false confidence. I never succeeded again.<\/p>\n<p>In late May, I arrived at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gare_Montparnasse\">Gare Montparnasse<\/a> in Paris forty minutes before my 14:23 train to Le Mans, where I would transfer to another train to the Loire Valley. Gare Montparnasse is huge and potentially intimidating, but I quickly saw screens that matched departing trains to platform numbers, and spotted several &#8216;Billets Grandes Lignes&#8217; vending machines. Easy! A cakewalk! I&#8217;d buy my ticket, have time for <del>a slug of gin<\/del> a healthful green tea in the adjacent mall.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2493\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2493\" style=\"width: 433px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/interior_Basilica_of_Notre_Dame_de_Fourviere_Lyon_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2493\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/interior_Basilica_of_Notre_Dame_de_Fourviere_Lyon_France.jpg\" alt=\"interior Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvi\u00e8re Lyon France\" width=\"433\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/interior_Basilica_of_Notre_Dame_de_Fourviere_Lyon_France.jpg 433w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/interior_Basilica_of_Notre_Dame_de_Fourviere_Lyon_France-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2493\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">interior of Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvi\u00e8re in Lyon, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t get my tea, and didn&#8217;t make the 14:23 either. The first vending machine was a brick, completely out of commission. The second hung after two screens. The third hung after asking for my credit card. I surveyed the station, found a staffed, talk-to-a-real-human SNCF ticket office &#8230; and noted that the line to enter this office was fifteen to twenty-five deep. Others must also have struggled with the machines; why else would so many join such an intimidating queue?<\/p>\n<p>The line moved briskly (although not briskly enough to put me on the 14:23). I spoke to a polite, English-fluent staffer, who tapped my request into an inside-the-office machine resembling the dysfunctional trio that had just let me down in the main hall. <em><strong>And she couldn&#8217;t get the furshlugginer thing to work, either!<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 It printed my my Paris-to-Le-Mans ticket, but choked before issuing the return ticket. She had to enter an employee code in a separate machine to convince it to print the other <em>billet<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2494\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2494\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Maison_Kammerzell_and_Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2494\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Maison_Kammerzell_and_Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France.jpg\" alt=\"Maison Kammerzell and Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame Strasbourg France\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Maison_Kammerzell_and_Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Maison_Kammerzell_and_Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2494\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maison Kammerzell and Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Off to Le Mans on a TGV went I, an hour later than expected. At Le Mans I bustled off the platform, as I knew I now had only a half hour to buy the regional TER ticket I&#8217;d need to continue to Tours in the Loire Valley. If I missed this train as well, I&#8217;d wait a full two hours for the next one.<\/p>\n<p>I found a TER machine!<\/p>\n<p>The control to change languages didn&#8217;t work. French only.<\/p>\n<p>I got to watch the Le Mans drizzle for much of the next two hours from the not-yet-listed-in-Michelin <a href=\"https:\/\/fr-fr.facebook.com\/CroustyLandGare72\/\">Crousty Land<\/a> diner next to the station. I also had time &#8212; plenty of time &#8212; to confer with a gentlemanly agent in the station&#8217;s SNCF office, who sold me the tickets I&#8217;d need for the rest of my Loire Valley trip.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2499\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2499\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_on_Pont_Raymond_Barre_in_Lyon_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2499\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_on_Pont_Raymond_Barre_in_Lyon_France.jpg\" alt=\"Tram on Pont Raymond Barre in Lyon France\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_on_Pont_Raymond_Barre_in_Lyon_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_on_Pont_Raymond_Barre_in_Lyon_France-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tram on Pont Raymond Barre in Lyon, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The SNCF vending machines can&#8217;t be as consistently awful as my experiences suggest. (Although I talked to another tourist who had been wronged by them.) While waiting for my Strasbourg train at Gare Nancy, I watched enviously as two travelers successfully bought tickets out of a TER obelisk. But I&#8217;ll never again draft an itinerary that depends on one. As something to lean against, maybe, or to rest a suitcase on, or as a makeshift tray for some tasty Crousty Land fries. To buy tickets from? No.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">IS THERE A BETTER WAY?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, yes. You can buy France intercity rail tickets online in advance at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sncf-connect.com\/en-en\/\">sncf-connect.com<\/a> (SNCF&#8217;s official site), print out the tickets or carry them on your smartphone on trip day.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But then I have to know exactly which regional TER train I&#8217;m going to board on every day of my France vacation!&#8221; you protest. &#8220;If I want to travel earlier or later, I&#8217;m stuck!&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2496\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2496\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Rue_des_Marchands_at_Grand_Rue_Colmar_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2496\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Rue_des_Marchands_at_Grand_Rue_Colmar_France.jpg\" alt=\"Rue des Marchands at Grand Rue Colmar France\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Rue_des_Marchands_at_Grand_Rue_Colmar_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Rue_des_Marchands_at_Grand_Rue_Colmar_France-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2496\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rue des Marchands at Grand Rue in Colmar, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For TER trains, not so!<\/p>\n<p>A TER ticket can be used for any TER train on the selected route and designated day of travel. Let&#8217;s say you want to ride from Nantes to Angers on August 10. TERs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sncf.com\/en\/booking-itinerary\/itinerary\/results-list?uic1=44109&amp;coordX1=-1.55&amp;coordY1=47.2167&amp;uic2=49007&amp;coordX2=-0.55&amp;coordY2=47.4667&amp;date=1660111209&amp;when=leave-at&amp;label1=Nantes%20(All%20stations)&amp;label2=Angers%20(All%20stations)&amp;typeDepart=COMMUNE&amp;typeArrivee=COMMUNE&amp;listeCodesMode=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9&amp;origineCP=44000&amp;destinationCP=49000\">depart<\/a> at 8:21, 9:13, 9:44, 11:13, 11:48, 12:15, earlier, later. You&#8217;re not sure when you&#8217;ll have breakfast that day or when you&#8217;ll get to the station.<\/p>\n<p>Doesn&#8217;t matter: the TER ticket you buy for August 10 can be used on any Nantes-to-Angers TER train on that date.<\/p>\n<p>With two gotchas:<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) It&#8217;s gotta be a TER. TGVs also zip from Nantes to Angers on August 10. You can ride one, but will need an assigned seat on a specific train.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) When buying online, recognize the catch in buying a lower cost TER <em>Petits Prix<\/em> ticket. These are offered in off-peak hours, and are good only for the designated time slot.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2492\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2492\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_interior.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2492\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_interior.jpg\" alt=\"Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame Strasbourg France interior\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_interior.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cathedrale_Notre_Dame_Strasbourg_France_interior-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2492\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of Cath\u00e9drale Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Seat61 notes potential problems when buying from sncf-connect, and suggests a few user-friendlier alternatives with add-on booking fees. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.raileurope.com\/\">Raileurope.com<\/a>, for instance, and <a href=\"http:\/\/thetrainline.com\">thetrainline.com<\/a>) I wasn&#8217;t nuts about the sncf-connect interface, but had no problem getting tickets through it with a U.S. credit card.<\/p>\n<p>SNCF wants purchased-at-the-station TER tickets to be validated in little yellow <a href=\"https:\/\/duckduckgo.com\/?q=TER+validation+machine+SNCF+France&amp;t=ffsb&amp;iax=images&amp;ia=images\">thingamajigs<\/a> on or near the platforms. Don&#8217;t worry about trying to validate the tickets you buy through sncf-connect.com They can&#8217;t be validated this way, and don&#8217;t have to be. On-the-train fare agents smiled unreservedly while scanning my ticket QR codes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">A FRANCE INTERCITY TRANSIT RIDER&#8217;S STRATEGY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) Research intercity France trains and potential itineraries at the excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sncf.com\/en\">sncf.com\/en<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) When you know what tickets you want, buy &#8217;em at sncf-connect.com. You may have to fiddle with search parameters to persuade sncf-connect.com to sell the desired tickets, but should be successful. I always was.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2500\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2500\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_under_Ukraine_flags_in_Orleans_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2500\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_under_Ukraine_flags_in_Orleans_France.jpg\" alt=\"Tram under Ukraine flags in Orl\u00e9ans France\" width=\"650\" height=\"469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_under_Ukraine_flags_in_Orleans_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tram_under_Ukraine_flags_in_Orleans_France-300x216.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tram under Ukraine flags in Orl\u00e9ans, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) Print out the tickets, or keep them on your smartphone, or both.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) If there&#8217;s a ticket or route in your itinerary that you&#8217;re unsure of, allow extra time to consult with a flesh-and-blood SNCF staffer at a station SNCF office.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>HOW ABOUT LOCAL TRANSIT?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) Lyon has an impressive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcl.fr\/en\">transit grid<\/a> for a city of a half-million, with metro, funicular, tram and <em>ligne de bus majeure<\/em> bus transit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcl.fr\/sites\/default\/files\/2020-08\/Plan_Lignes_Fortes_grand_format_092020.pdf\">arteries<\/a>, a la Los Angeles&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Metro_Rapid\">Rapid Bus<\/a> and the unfondly-remembered 14 in San Francisco. I didn&#8217;t regret choosing a hotel served only by a <em>bus majeure<\/em> route.<\/p>\n<p>As for Lyon&#8217;s two <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Funiculars_of_Lyon\">funiculars<\/a>: they are the oldest such lines on Planet Earth, and emphatically <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not<\/span> tourist toys; I wouldn&#8217;t enjoy climbing the Fourvi\u00e8re hill without them.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) Bayonne\/Biarritz in the French Basque Country has a snazzy all-electric <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sustainable-bus.com\/news\/chronoplus-e-brt-keolis-bayonne-tarnos\/\">articulated bus<\/a> unlike any seen in previous travels. While waiting to board at the Biarritz terminus, I watched as a sturdy metal lever rose from the bus roof to connect to a charger for a quick battery top-up. Keen-o!<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) The kindest praise I can offer to the jammed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parisaeroport.fr\/en\/passengers\/access\/paris-orly\/public-transport\/orlybus\">OrlyBus<\/a> shuttle from Paris-Orly Airport is that it offers privileged Parisians a glimpse of life in less fortunate countries. Eager for a taste of the day-to-day in Kyiv or Bucharest? Ride OrlyBus. Further, one of two airport vending machines was out-of-order, and the line to buy OrlyBus tickets from the single remaining machine was so long that many passengers had to wait for the next ride.<\/p>\n<p>(I was much more favorably impressed while riding <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R%C3%A9seau_Express_R%C3%A9gional\">RER<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orlyval\">Orlyval<\/a> to this airport in 2014.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2501\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2501\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Traverse_de_la_gare_Grasse_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2501\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Traverse_de_la_gare_Grasse_France.jpg\" alt=\"Traverse de la Gare Grasse France\" width=\"650\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Traverse_de_la_gare_Grasse_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Traverse_de_la_gare_Grasse_France-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2501\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traverse de la Gare in Grasse, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) I liked the trams I rode in Nice, Tours and Strasbourg, and have posted separate accounts of my bus trips to <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/jardin-exotique-of-eze-village-france\/\">\u00c8ze Village<\/a> and Ch\u00e2teau de <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/visiting-chambord-castle-by-public-transit\/\">Chambord<\/a>. And though I stretch to relate it to transit, I was smitten by the hidden pedestrian path (<a href=\"https:\/\/grassemat.info\/culture\/2021-08-27\/clementdixneuf-embellit-la-traverse-de-la-gare\"><em>Traverse de la Gare<\/em><\/a>) that snakes through the hills to connect Grasse with its train station.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>AND THE DESTINATIONS?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>)\u00a0New Orleans&#8217; <em>Big Easy<\/em> nickname has unrelated <a href=\"https:\/\/theculturetrip.com\/north-america\/usa\/louisiana\/new-orleans\/articles\/why-is-new-orleans-known-as-the-big-easy\/\">roots<\/a>, but I couldn&#8217;t help thinking of this moniker while strolling the beautiful Nice waterfront. Much of the city is postcard-pretty, and temperatures are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeanddate.com\/weather\/france\/nice\/climate\">agreeable<\/a> year-round. If you can&#8217;t make life work in Nice, well &#8230;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2502\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2502\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Waterfront_of_Nice_France.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2502\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Waterfront_of_Nice_France.jpg\" alt=\"Waterfront of Nice France\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Waterfront_of_Nice_France.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Waterfront_of_Nice_France-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2502\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beach in Nice, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like Florence in Italy, Nice is also jammed with American tourists.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) Before this year&#8217;s trips, I had judged Prague to be the most beautiful city I&#8217;d seen in Europe. Now it&#8217;s a toss-up between Prague and Strasbourg. And a DNA test says that my maternal grandfather&#8217;s relatives came from this part of the world, so I wondered while roaming the rues and quays if a great-great-great someone-or-other had trod the same stones way-back-when.<\/p>\n<p>(<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#x2666;<\/span>) I had time and was curious, so wound up walking (!) across the France\/Spain border from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hendaye_station\">Hendaye<\/a> train station to San Sebasti\u00e1n EAS <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/San_Sebasti%C3%A1n_Airport\">airport<\/a> to catch my shuttle flight back to Madrid. This mis-named airport is actually in Irun, on the shore of the Txingudi bay dividing the countries.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2521\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2521\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/street_scene_at_dusk_in_Strasbourg_France-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2521\" src=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/street_scene_at_dusk_in_Strasbourg_France-1.jpg\" alt=\"Street scene at dusk in Strasbourg, France\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/street_scene_at_dusk_in_Strasbourg_France-1.jpg 650w, https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/street_scene_at_dusk_in_Strasbourg_France-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2521\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Street scene at dusk in Strasbourg, France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openstreetmap.org\/\/#map=15\/43.3611\/-1.7822\">distance<\/a> between Gare Hendaye and the airport, as the crow flies: maybe ten soccer fields. (Although the walk took a full hour, and was not entirely pedestrian safe, despite misleading route counsel from Google.) And yet all the chat I overheard at Gare Hendaye was in French, and all the yak I overheard while hiking through Irun was in Spanish. A relatively firm language border, unlike impressions formed while visiting <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/riga-latvia-tourist\/\">Riga<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/kyiv-tourist-impressions\/\">Kyiv<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>(A digression: why doesn&#8217;t Spain&#8217;s famously powerful construction lobby advocate for a short pedestrian tunnel connecting EAS and Gare Hendaye under Txingudi? Wouldn&#8217;t that make for a sensible collaboration between the world&#8217;s top two tourist destination countries? Ride a shuttle plane to EAS, jump on a TGV train direct to Paris. Or ride the TGV to Hendaye, board a shuttle flight to Madrid.)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>A CONSOLATION FOR AMERICANS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Spaniards I know are likelier to think of your current U.S. of A. home base as &#8216;exotic&#8217; than any of the places I visited in France.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a matter of proximity. If I can get to Paris in two hours, then so can any other adult in Madrid with plane fare. I regularly overhear French on Madrid streets, know Spaniards who worked long-term in Paris, another who spent childhood summers in France. Spain and France are neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>For a really <em><strong>exotic<\/strong><\/em> destination, by European norms: the Grand Canyon! Or Carlsbad Caverns, or Palm Springs, or the Golden Gate bridge, or another American landmark that&#8217;s relatively easy for a Yankee to visit, but fantastically far away to a tourist in the Old World. &#8220;Exotic&#8221; depends on the narrator&#8217;s geographic coordinates.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>For full-size versions of most of the images above, and other shots, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/files\/france\/\">photo directory<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spain may be a sightseer&#8217;s Shangri-La, but is still ranked only in second place as a global travel destination, justly or unjustly. The top spot belongs to France, and France is now my next-door neighbor. A Madrid-Paris flight takes about as long and costs about as much as a San Francisco-Phoenix flight I might have&hellip; <\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/tourist-transit-travel-in-france\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[173],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-visiting-france-by-rail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tourist Transit Travel in France - Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tourist tips for navigating France&#039;s regional TER and high-speed TGV rail transit network.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/tourist-transit-travel-in-france\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tourist Transit Travel in France - 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