Bought high speed tickets online from home to travel from Nimes to Rennes. They booked us with only 55 minutes to make our connection which involved going from Gare Lyon to Gare Montparnasse (across town, yikes). The employee at the information booth told us to exit the station and take bus #91. This method got us missing our connection by three minutes. (We later realized the Metro was the quickest way to do this.) We went to the office at the station to tell them what happened, and they insisted we had to pay again for the next connecting train! We had pre-paid for first class, and they said we'd even have to pay extra for that too. (BTW, 2nd class is plenty comfortable.) So to continue our trip we had to give them another 97 euros for two 2nd class seat tickets. We have a friend in Paris who heard the story and said they are supposed to give a half hour grace period...This is the only time we felt ripped off; we were treated well for all other short train trips that we bought in person at ticket windows.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Thanks for sharing those details! It's disappointing that the connections can't be sold in a little more "fool-proof" manner. I'm not sure that a half-hour grace period applies if you originally purchased discounted fares; many don't allow refund or exchange. French rail's guarantees are described at http://www.sncf.com/en/services/garantie-voyage, for cases if a TGV arrives late.
When I use DB to get train schedules, it suggests that connection time between those stations takes 50 minutes by RER and Metro with connection, but the schedule actually allows longer, around 72 minutes. Although I can be pretty cheap, so can a taxi for two people with luggage. There are a few departure options for the Nimes-Rennes route that connect within one station, such as in the city of Lyon or at Marne La Vallee, which I hope will be the choice for anyone else booking this route.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
The RATP Journey Planner shows a 22-minute Metro ride with one connection. That would have been the way to go.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Thanks for sharing this, it helps others.
I've noticed a little bit of a tendency for people here to say, "don't worry about the tight connection time, it will be fine."
Yeah, if things go perfect and are optimal.
But sometimes connections get missed, through no fault of your own, it was just too tight and if things were perfect, yep, no sweat, but in the world of travel things aren't always optimal.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23573 posts
When I tell someone that a tight connection is OK it is when the connection is within the same station. Going across town is a completely different situation.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10556 posts
Good warning.p and I'm so sorry you had this experience. Note that time had to be spent asking an employee, finding the bus stop, and waiting for the bus. This is also a 97 euro learning experience that it's important to know your options ahead of time and be ready to go with the fastest. I agree with the others that anything can happen with only 50 minutes, such as your taxi getting stuck in a traffic jam or having an incident on your metro line that slows it down.
Posted by
Paris
10043 posts
Yes, unfortunately I can see that that would have been difficult to make, especially if you had to take the time to stop in the arrival station to ask how to get to the departure station. in any event, in addition to the travel time between the two stations, you have the orientation time in both stations -- arriving, finding your way out and then once you've arrived at the other station, finding your way to your platform. That can make it tough even if you have researched and have your plan -- but if you,re only finding out upon arrival how to get between the two stations, you wouldn't have much of a chance. i probably wouldn't attempt a 50-minute connection, and I live here and know my way around! Sorry that you had this experience, and I would have hope they would have been a little more flexible for you.