I have worked and lived both Paris and Grenoble in France. This means when I am in one place, the chances are I want to visit people in the other. Well, I was working in Paris and made a last-minute decision to go to Grenoble for the weekend so I thought be clever and plan ahead Thursday I went to the travel agent to book a ticket for the TGV.
The nice young lady behind the desk informed me the fair would be 800 Francs. At the time it was, thanks to Norman Lamont?s fiscal acumen, nearly a hundred quid! I decided to save money by flying to St. Geoirs, Grenoble?s airport. This only cost 560 Francs. The nice lady added if I had booked over 30 days in advance the fare for the TGV would be almost halved to 460 Francs. Well, I immediately booked two round-trip tickets for a month hence and for the week after that for a ten quid more than the single with no reservation would have cost. For the next few weeks I used the plane.
Every two weeks later I booked another two round trip tickets for the same deal. Now I had a cheap ticket for the TGV for each weekend. All I would do then was book a ticket for a month hence at the Paris Gare de Lyon station each time I travelled out to Grenoble. They have automated ticket machines, which even speak English and take your English credit cards. They are useful for checking the timetables and checking the fares, but I would rather trust my Carte de Credit with a Frenchman rather than a machine. This way you can avoid misunderstandings and other cock-ups as you can simply confirm or change your mind easier than with the machine.
The reservation system allows you to choose the carriage and seat type/number. When you get on the TGV you have the wagon or carriage and seat number on your ticket. The TGV are bright orange and can have up to twenty carriages. They have very comfortable seats, rather like those on an airplane, and they recline as well as the rear of the seat in front has a pocket for your Walkman. Th ere is also a drink holder and table for you cans of beer. Well you?re not driving! Listen to four short albums and you are there!
The route from Paris to Grenoble takes only 3 hours 11 minutes, guaranteed. The train uses the Paris-Lyon, which was the first ever, TGV route. You leave Paris at exactly, and I mean exactly, 14:30. You arrive in Grenoble bang on 17:39 after a couple of stops for Lyon and Lyon Airport after about two hours. When you arrive, it?s just a 6-minute tram ride and you are in Grenoble?s premier Irish pub ?The Shannon? with a full hour and a quarter remaining of the happy hour. You can even phone from the TGV to order you first round of drinks ? well Guinness does take a while to pour.
If you are planning a twin centre visit to France, you can even use the SNCF website to order and pay for TGV tickets which will be posted to your home in the UK. You will need to pay using a credit card. Alternatively, you can pay sterling in cash but you must pick up the tickets in person from their offices in London.
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Jul 27th, 2000
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