A party of 4 adults will be traveling in December and arriving at CDG at 9 am on a Sunday morning. I see that would have to change trains or take a car to get to Lazarre train station to get to Caen/Bayeux area of Normandy. It seems like alot of down time due to times of train departures as well as getting in through customs and then going by taxi to Lazarre. I am not sure what the weather would be like or if Sunday mornings are quiet enough to get us through Paris in a seemingly easy way. Never rented a car in Europe before so a little nervous. Any suggestions. I am thinking if we rent one, we would drive to Caen and drop it off and then taxi to Bayeux and then just take the train back to Paris since it will be a weekday and I don't want to drive back into the city.
Posted by
Chicago
8166 posts
You could take taxi to Gare St Lazare and buy your train tickets to Bayeux when you get there
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Thank you!
Posted by
Paris
10206 posts
The taxi for you will be a fixed rate of 50€ (since your party is four people).
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7889 posts
I am not trying to affect your travel plans, but we found having a car very helpful in Normandy. That does not mean that it is a good idea to rent one at CDG. (We didn't use the car in or through Paris at all.) It depends on your plans in and after Bayeux.
We had light enough luggage that we took the Metro between the two Paris rail stations (took the RER in from CDG.) But that group taxi fare is great, if your luggage will all fit in the trunk. Just like the US, you should expect locals to be using their cars on a summer Sunday, as well. Not to be the voice of doom, another time in Paris with a station change, there was a three-hour (?) Metro strike - so we hailed a cab.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Thank you for the info. We are traveling in December and have a private guide in Normandy region so we won’t need a car. We will train back to Paris from Bayeux. Is it easy to buy first class seats at Lazare station to Bayeux. Because we arrive at 9 am on a Saturday I’m not sure how much time to allow between getting from CDG to the station and want to leave from there as soon as possible.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7889 posts
It's not possible to send a link to a ticket search on en.oui.sncf . But using your (new) day of Saturday, I searched for July 13, 2019 starting a 11:00AM. This shows trains at 11:10 (1 change), 12:39 (direct), 14:06 (1 change), and 15:35 (direct) to Bayeux from Gare Saint Lazare. All of them show both 1st and 2nd class service. Because the two prices are 80 Euros and 121 Euros, I would not, myself, buy 1st class for a short trip like this. But that's a personal decision. These prices would be less for a farther-out departure, but then they might not be "changeable, and as you noted, you don't know how long it will take to get there. (There might be a few Euros extra for "seat reservations", but I haven't done this recently.)
Gare St. Lazare is a big station and you should have no problem buying either level of service. There are often slow-moving lines for the ticket windows in train stations, so if you have a chip and PIN credit card, it might be worth trying the ticket machines. But maybe not so bad in December, which is not a high season for the outdoor sites in Normandy. When I buy rail tickets in a foreign language, I write on a piece of paper what I want to do, in as clear a way as possible, in case I get someone who is uncomfortable in one of the languages I, sort of, speak!
Have you ever bought a European train ticket? I only ask because our host, Rick, has great free pages of travel advice, blue menu top left. The "Travel Tips" include a lot of train information.
Edit: This is not on your specific need, but it discusses last-minute ticketing at St. Lazare:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/transfer-from-rer-e-to-platform-27-at-gare-st-lazare
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I typically stay a couple nights in Paris to get acclimated before moving on.
When I went, I started by taking a train from Paris to Rouen then renting a car and driving to Etretat and Fecamp. After that I went down to Bayeux. Trains from Gare Saint-Lazare to Bayeux leave regularly. Check out multiple options, some don't require a change so the duration is much shorter.
I was able to buy tickets at the kiosks in the train station with my regular (chip and signature) credit card. If you buy online you can use the ticket kiosks to print your ticket (like printing a boarding pass at an airport kiosk) to avoid the ticket window line.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
Advance train tickets:
Pro -- Much much cheaper when bought as far ahead as possible. Normally, that's 90 days.
Con -- Not so flexible. Can't be sure about landing, unloading and border entry times.
However, some routes offer tickets that can be rearranged. They cost more, and when a seat assignment is involved, it will will have to be re-booked. The SNCF site shows the ticket grids.
Instead of buying at St-Lazare, you could book at the airport SNCF station under Terminal 2. Then you would have a better idea of when your taxi will reach St-Lazare. Still more costly than 90 days in advance.
Advice: www.parisbytrain.com
https://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/
At the second site you can register to receive notice of possible advance deals.
Posted by
4 posts
With four people, I'd recommend taking a Taxi from CDG to Paris-Gare St. Lazare. For roughly the same price as four RER B train tickets into Paris you'd get door to door service to St. Lazare train station.
Car traffic is likely quiet on Sunday mornings in / around Paris.
Saint Lazare to Bayeux is a bit quicker by train than car, around 2h20m (vs. 2h40) and about 20€ per person.