We bought a rail pass good for three days of travel. Not sure what we'll do yet on "day number two", but the first trip takes us from Paris to Nice on a Saturday, and the last trip takes us from Nice back to Paris the following Saturday. The four of us have confirmed 1st Class reservations, with the physical tickets already in our possession. Unfortunately we goofed and it turns out we need to get off in Cannes to get to our lodgings in Mougin. We figure we'll just get off the train early on our arrival, since Cannes seems to come up first on the route. We aren't sure how many stops are between Nice and Cannes (28 miles between the two cities), but we wondered if anyone had experience with late boarding. Of course we will check with the "proper authorities" upon our arrival, but do you suppose we'd just be able to board the train back to Paris 28 miles late and still expect our 1st Class seats to be there, or does it look like we'll need to get ourselves to Nice that morning? I suppose they'd likely change our departure point for a price that might cost less than a taxi from Mougin to Nice, but none of us speaks French and I wonder how difficult it will be to describe our dilema to station personnel and then understand what advice is given to us.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1255 posts
Faith, you will probably be fine IF you are sure the train stops in Cannes. Unlike airplanes, nobody checks your ticket when you board. Your ticket will be checked sometime during the journey. Since you have reserved the seats, the rail system computer will have them reserved for you all the way from Nice to Paris and will not allow anyone else to reserve them. (Other posters - if I am missing something, chime in.)
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Like Bob, I think you'll be fine. However, for your peace of mind, when you first get to Paris you could go to a mainline train station and talk to an English-speaking agent. All trains, whether TGVs or regional ones, stop in Cannes and Antibes (between Cannes and Nice).
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I've done just that on other rail lines (not the TGV). It was no problem since my seat was already reserved for me whether I was sitting in it or not.
Posted by
OP
San Pedro, CA, USA
186 posts
Now we're remembering that on our last trip, I think between Amsterdam and Paris (not recalling what sort of train we were on) they had us check our luggage. We were quite surprised to find checked baggage on a train. So we have the added worry that we may not be able to disembark early if our bags have been taken from us and we haven't made specific arrangements to correct our problem ahead of time.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Hi Faith, I don't ever recall having to check my suitcase on a TGV in France. I would arrive a little earlier at the train station and check, but I don't foresee any problems at all for you.