The saga continues.....
Now, we are thinking of flying to Paris from Toronto and taking the TGV to Lyon return
Lyon would be our start and end point so we rent a car and do the circle to Macon, Loire, possibly Reims and back down via Burgundy
There seems to be a lot of time choice for the TGV and the cost and time compares with flying
The website suggests the TGV can be boarded at Charles DeGaulle, is this correct ?
Yes, there is a TGV station at Charles De Gaule airport. It serves trains which travel from North to South France bypassing Paris. There is roughly one train every 2 hours, and it takes approx 2 hours to "Lyon Port Dieu" station.
The TGV trains from Charles De Gaule to Lyon are not the same ones that start at Paris Gare de Lyon, it is 'either-or', and there are fewer trains from Charles De Gaule than from Gare de Lyon.
I don't know what you mean by "The website", but www.voyages-sncf.com is the official site. You can look up times and prices there.
P.S. you save a lot of money by booking in advance. But, if you do so, make sure you allow enough time to gte through immigration (passport control), pick up your bags and get to the station, plus contingency for the plane arriving late. If you book an cut-price advance ticket and you miss the train by 1 minute, hard luck, no refund!
These are fast trains.
Kent,
TGV = Train à Grande Vitesse = High Speed Train.
As the poster was asking about TGV's, I assumed he knew that.
Perhaps you or Jim can answer me a question. Jim wrote "the TGV", and I have noticed other posters do the same. I would have written "taking a TGV" or "travelling by TGV". To me "the TGV" implies there is only one train, like "The Orient Express", whereas TGV's run on over a dozen different routes with hourly (or more frequent) trains.
Is this a British English / American English difference, or just lack of appreciation of what the service is?
The TGV is my error
I do realize it is a fleet
We need to be careful and plan our return time accurately so as not to miss our flight home, as I fear the last night in Lyon will be amply lubricated with pig fat and red wine !
Jim, we took the TGV from CDG to Avignon (a little further down the line) and it worked well for us. Just make sure you leave enough time. It is really nice not going to Paris to get the train.
Chris, I can't say that I know a lot about grammar and I certainly don't want to speak for all Americans, but I think Jim's choice of "the" sounds right. I'm not sure I can explain why. He is talking about modes of transportation. He could take "the" train or "the" bus or "the" boat or "a" plane (not all of these will work for Paris-Lyon, of course). I have no idea why I would say a plane. "The" plane sounds weird! I could also say "I am going to take a train." When I say "I am going to take the train" it implies that I am choosing the train over another form of transport.
Chris, I would use the same terminolgoy as you, taking a TGV.
I think many people here don't realize these trains can go at 150 to 200 mph.
