Direct Train from St. Lazarre to Bayeux

Don't get in a tizzy. Here's the basics: It takes less than twenty minutes to get from Nord to Lazare. Wander over and buy a ticket for the next train heading to Bayeux -- there's no need to get one ahead of time. There's one around ten that only takes a couple of hours, then there's a slow one a bit later that takes seven evers, and one around noon that takes a couple of hours again. Either rush like crazy or take your time - - the middle one goes through Rouen with a change, I think. Not going through Caen is going to be a problem since that's the way the tracks run. If you have a morbid aversion to Caen for some reason, it could be done, but you'd have to go way out west, then circle up the west side of the Contentin Peninsula. I have no idea how long that would take - - all day? Tim will come along and clean up the mess, but this will get you started.

Looks like both the 10:10 am and 12:10 pm direct trains (no changes of train required) from St. Lazare to Bayeux are 2 hours and 5 minutes (and each currently 17 euros one-way on SNCF's website). I took the 12:10 pm to Bayeux myself in June 2009, back when the fare was 15 euros :) Montmartre and Sacre Couer are close to St. Lazare, so I landed at Charles de Gaulle, took the RER to Nord, metro to Anvers, enjoyed a little time in Montmartre in the morning before there were too many tourists, had lunch at the McDonald's across from St. Lazare, and was on my way at 12:10 pm. It was easy and fun!

The Deutsche Bahn site is easy to use for checking train schedules. It will show the trains, number of connections, intermediate stops, etc. I assume by direct, you mean that you want a route that does not require you to change trains in Caen. As Ed mentioned, the direct route does go through Caen. When I took this route in 2009, I took a route that required me to change trains in Caen on the way to Bayeux as otherwise I would have spent a couple more hours waiting in Gare St Lazare. The Caen station is not large; so if you have to transfer it is really not a problem. On the way back, I took a train that did not require any changes. To get from Gare du Nord to Gare St Lazare, I walked over to the Magenta station and took the RER one stop. Have some Euro coins handy so you can buy your RER ticket from the machine instead of waiting in the queue at the ticket window. I just bought my ticket to Bayeux on the day of travel as I was not sure whether I would make the train I wanted. I made a train that departed about 45 minutes after my Eurostar train arrived, but I had very little time to spare.

Follow Laura's advice to get from Gare du Nord to Gare Saint-Lazare. Take the RER E one stop from Magenta to HaussmannSaint-Lazare. The fare is €1.70. It will take you three minutes to walk from Gare du Nord to Magenta, four minutes for the ride on the RER E, and seven minutes to walk from HaussmannSaint-Lazare to Gare Saint-Lazare. As others have said, you WILL go through Caen even if you don't have to change trains there. Take the 12:10 train. The standard 2nd class fare is €36.10. To get the €17.00 Prem's fare mentioned by Kyla book NOW at www.tgv-europe.com. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Print your own tickets.