I need to get to Limoges from Paris on Saturday, two days from now. I bought a 1st class train ticket several weeks ago but I just got a message it was cancelled. They offered to sell me a second class ticket, which is fine with me, except they said I have to either print it or get it by mail. I don't have access to a printer here and I don't want to count on the mail to arrive at such short notice. I have been doing a lot of searching to try to figure out how to get bus tickets or train tickets from someplace else but I'm finding it very difficult to figure out --jet lag, limited French, feeling rather overwhelmed. I did contact the Euro railways support team but they haven't eturned my message. Help!
Posted by
South Florida
776 posts
I'm sorry you're having this problem but it's hard to help you when your location and situation are unknown. If you're in Paris, you could go to a SNCF boutique, a train station, an internet cafe. How did you get the message?
Posted by
Leeds, Yorks & Scranton, PA
72 posts
SNCF allow you to buy tickets online, and have them electronically on your phone (download the app) or you can print them off at the station.
https://www.sncf.com/sncv1/en/services/tickets-bookings
JUST THE TICKET
Choose the ticket that’s right for you.
Paperless ticket: an electronic ticket that you can print or download
to your mobile or tablet. The type of ticket you receive will depend
on your carrier.E-ticket: available at all points of sale, it’s issued in your name
and doesn’t need to be stamped. You can print your e-ticket
confirmation at home or at a self-service machine in an SNCF station.
Or download it to your mobile or tablet with the SNCF, TGV Pro or
voyages-sncf.com app.
So say yes to their offer, and confirm that the ticket will have a method (usually a six-character combination) that allows you to print it on a station's machine. My French is pretty basic too, so something like "le billet electronique, il-y-a six lettres dans le confirmation, oui?" should do it. Lots of words almost the same in English, which helps.
If they do, that's the way to go. Instructions of what to expect at: https://faq.trainline.eu/article/149-print-ticket-at-a-french-station
And you should have no problem finding one of these machines at the Gare d'Austerlitz.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
If you bought the ticket from EuroRailways, then you probably saw this strike info on their site. I don't intend that to supersede the direct response they already sent you. Their web site also mentions this service office in Paris: Contact France / Euro Railways, 27 Avenue de l'Opera, 75001 - Paris – FR.
Are you staying in an apartment? Really somewhere with no access to a printer? In hotels, for example, you can often forward an emailed document to the hotel's email address and staff will print it for you.
Internet cafes also still exist in Paris, including the brand name Cyber Café.
Posted by
Vacaville, Ca
1368 posts
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