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France 2017 guidebook Inconsistencies in Paris

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My wife and I just got back from France and had a wonderful time. Great country and a great time with the help of Rick's 2017 Guidebook. However, we did experience a bit of frustration on a few parts. And I get that keeping guidebooks current is an extremely difficult task, which is why I am writing this post to help any others going to Paris this year using the "France 2017" guidebook.

The items we found not to be true in the guide book:
1) When taking the RER "C" train from any stops (or the stops Rick recommends) to the Palace of Versailles. Not ALL RER "C" trains final destination is the Palace of Versailles. While ALL of the C trains stop at Versailles, some continue to the last station which is Saint-Quentin, which means you'll need to hope back on another train and get off at the previous stop. Unlike what is mentioned in the book, NOT ALL "C" RER trains final destination is Versailles. So just pay attention to the stops and get off when appropriate.

2) And perhaps the biggest frustration is, as mentioned in the France 2017 book, when preparing to visit museums and sites in Paris (or surrounding) the Museum pass is the way to go. But do to some scheduling conflicts, we did not get the 4-day pass and only opted for the 2-day pass. Assuming we could get Palace of Versailles tickets at any Paris Tourist Information offices, as mentioned in the guidebook, that's what we tried to do. This was definitely a bad idea, as three of the Paris TI offices we visited, no longer sell Palace of Versailles tickets. They will sell Versailles packages, which includes transportation and a bunch of other stuff that (in my opinion) is not needed if you have Ricks books. And is quite a bit more expensive than just the tickets to the Palace/Gardens. So this was very, very frustrating as we spent a good part of an afternoon rushing around trying to find a Paris TI that sold the tickets, to no avail. The TI in Versailles however does, but the word is definitely out and it is being used more and more, as the place was pretty full.

Overall excellent experience and wonderful country! Get out and experience life through the eyes of our European neighbors!

Posted by
4535 posts

Regarding item 1, I'm surprised the RS guidebook isn't more clear as it's always been that way. There are multiple trains/destinations on RER C and only one terminates at Versailles Rive Gauche station. That is the one you want. Another line does stop at Versailles Chantiers, but that is a longer walk. Usually here in the forums someone points that out when the subject comes up.

Posted by
21157 posts

And there are TV monitor screens on the RER "C" platforms showing where the trains are going. Versailles Chateau-Rive Gauche. My 2012 guide book says:

From the RER station, catch any train listed as "Versailles R.G.," and ride to the last stop.

Don't know why the 2017 book would have anything different.

Posted by
2688 posts

A very helpful employee at the train station made sure I not only understood which train to take to Versailles, waving me onto the right one when it arrived 15 minutes later (must have been my feeble attempts at French that endeared me to him, ha!), but also which station to exit. The process had seemed confusing to me before arriving in Paris--and then it was magically all so simple--so I had researched online to get more detailed instructions.

Although I love Rick's books and rely on them for my trips, I still do independent research online to ensure there are no hiccups--I hate wasting precious vacation time.

Posted by
1005 posts

I checked my copy of France 2017. In the Versailles section in the first paragraph under "Getting There" it says, "At the RER station, catch any train listed as 'Versailles Château Rive Gauche.' " So I think that's pretty clear. It's a hassle about Paris tourist offices no longer selling Versailles tickets, but it's likely they changed their policy after the book came out.

Posted by
8889 posts

Versailles-Rive-Gauche was renamed "Versailles-Château" some time ago, supposedly to make it easier for tourists. Most of the RER lines split into branches when they leave the city centre, and you have to make sure you choose the correct branch.
On line C, one branch goes to Versailles-Château, another goes via Versailles-Chantiers and terminates at Rambouillet, and a third goes in a totally different direction
The same issue applies to line B trains to Charles de Gaulle airport, only one branch goes to the airport.

BTW, the "RER" branding is being dropped. RER (Lines A to E) are in future to use the "Transilien" name, the brand name already used for other commuter rail in the Paris area (lines H, K etc.)

Posted by
8556 posts

There are several end points for RER C trains -- you can take any train that goes to Versailles Rive Gauche- Chateau and what could be clearer than the name of the stop? The electric board over the tracks shows the stops of the next train and so you can double check to make sure this stop is on that route. A quick look at the RER map makes it clear that many lines split into many destinations. This is true of the RER B as well; not all B trains go to CDG.

We have never tried to buy tickets at tourist offices; if you haven't gotten them on line ahead then the large FNAC stores have ticket desks where you can buy tickets to pretty much any museum or chateau etc including Monet's gardens at Giverny.

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