Taking the TGV

We are leaving for our month-long trip to France in a few weeks! One leg of our trip is taking the TGV from Paris - Bordeaux and then a few days later from Bordeaux-St Jean de Luz. Having never taken the TGV before, I was wondering if there is some sort of %26quot;check in%26quot; process before you get on the train.

I have pre-purchased tickets through RailEurope. Do we just get on the train and the conductor takes the tickets, or do we have to check in someplace first?

Thanks for any help - my french is poor and I want to kind of know what will happen before we get there.

Q

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We took the TGV (or equivalent) from Paris to Bordeaux, Bordeaux to Avignon (and then to various destinations in Italy).

We had a 10 trip in 2 month pass and needed to pre-book seats for certain services. Otherwise, you just rock up and get on the train.

We found the French system to be very efficient (unlike the Italian system, which was chaotic).

However, do give yourselves heaps of time because Gare Montparnasse is big.

Also, the TGV to Bordeaux is a long train and there’s probably only about 15 mins from the time it gets in to the time it departs. We ended up having to do a mad dash the length of the platform to find our carriage – because the carriage numbering system isn’t necessarily sequential.

We later found that there are signs on the platform which show you where your carriage will be. This is a useful tip from railteam.co.uk/Railteam-services/…

Look for the train composition board on the platform, these are very useful as they show you where exactly you will have to stand on the platform to get on your carriage. Look on the board for the number or letter corresponding to your carriage number and then follow the signs on the platform.

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There is no check-in process. While you%26#39;re waiting for your train to be shown on the huge departure board, familiarise yourself with the numbers / letters of the platforms so you know which way to go when your departure is displayed. When I took the TGV in June there was only about 15 mins from the display going up to the train departing. It can take a good few minutes to walk along the platform if you are at the front of the train.

The %26quot;conductor%26quot; will come through the train to check your tickets after departure.

Enjoy your trip.

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Thanks for the info - both posts were extremely helpful. I have one last question, however -

What about the yellow validation machines I have heard about? Do I need to do anything with those for my ticket?

Thanks again

Q

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