I caught the train back from Saint Etienne To Lyon last night. Despite strikes cancelling about 2 out of 3 trains going to St. Etienne, there were actually three trains back, at 00:00, 00:45 & 01:20. Tickets were checked going into the station, but times on tickets didn't matter. There was just a long snaking queue to get on the trains
I did, although as I've found, the times on your ticket don't really matter. Buying a ticket from the machines is easy enough. Just buy a return ticket. They could have had better signage (i.e. some) on the station-stadium walking route though. I went up on the tram as I went to the centre first, and therefore had little idea where I was going on the walk back. The centre of the city is surprisingly decent, although the council must use some weird fertilizer as the flowerbeds etc smelled of overripe cheese.
Anyone taken the train to/from Paris Marne-Le-Vallée-Chessy (Disneyland) station? Ouigo has cheap trains to Marseille from there...40 euros (they advertise "from 10 euro"). Ouigo or ?
i've been to or through that station plenty of times. it takes 30' to get there from Vincennes (the limit of Paris proper on RER A) and costs 6-7€. RER A goes through lots of big métro stations, it's easy to use. but make sure to take direction A4. there is a kind of advantage, especially for tourists: when you get to Marne-la-Vallée, you see a train, it's your train. you get to the Gare de Lyon and if you don't know the station you can be in for 20 minutes of whiskey tango foxtrot. it's yuge.
I'm trying to do both Match 40 Lyon and 43 at Stade De France...and then down to Marseille for 45.. When I look at Google it says: Marne-la-Vallée --- Chatelet ---RER A --- 40 min Chatelet --- Gare de la Plaine Stade de France --- RER B 10 min Sounds ok to you?
Hi, Anybody that was in Lens for the previous match can tell me the experience of going back to Lille by train afterwards? I will be watching the 21:00 match on the 25th and there is only one train at 01:08 later that night coming back to Lille. I imagine that if it's the only train it will be super full, so I just wanted to know how was the organization around it, if it was big enough for all fans, etc. Thanks.
both the RER B and D take you to the stadium, on different sides. worth looking into which one is best for your seats. if line B is best you're perfect, and the change at chatelet is easy, you just walk across the platform. the change to line D works better at Gare de Lyon, it's the same thing, just walk across the platform. the times you have look right to me.
My friends and I decided to buy return tickets to St-Etienne the day before the match (Portugal - Iceland) there, only to be told all the return trains after the match had been cancelled due to strike action, we decided to get a single and hope for the best. On arriving at St-Etienne we decided to check at the ticket office and the trains were back on, but earlier trains had been cancelled instead. The return journey was quite entertaining, mainly due to a bunch of Canadians who had for some reason all gone to the match in Hockey Uniforms. When we went back to St-Etienne for the C. Republic - Croatia match we were sold the Euro 16 group saver ticket, which was half price and apparently available on all days matches were/are played there.
I saw the Canadian guys both going and coming back. A strange choice of costume, but looked a cheerful bunch.
I've no idea how many trains there were overall, but I caught the 23:36 (unscheduled) train back to Lille. Surprisingly it didn't even look half full. Far more of a pain was getting from Lille airport to the city. Transport was a total shambles. The bus wasn't big enough to take everyone, so I opted for a taxi. Lille, sadly, only seems to have about seven taxis, and most don't want to go to the airport. It took nearly an hour to get to the front of a queue that wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes at a half-decent airport.
My worst transport woe out here hasn't been about football. My train back from Carcassonne to Toulouse got stuck at some barnacle of a town called Bram, for two and a half hours. I think there was some issue at the level crossing ahead, with not one train on the Toulouse / Narbonne route in either direction in all that time.
And I met them outside Tur-Cro game in Paris..... @guignol or someone else, Do you know if it's possible to travel on another persons train ticket (e-ticket for TGV)? Do they really check for Id's..? I have a Lyon-Marseille 1st class ticket for tuesday 28/6 11.36 from Lyon, arrive Marseille 13.22 (Train number 5313, 1st class- Seat Solo Window Alone Top ) If anyone can use it, give me 10 euros....(Internet price now is 45 euro). Pick up before/after France-Ireland...
Gents, from Paris Gare du Nord to Lille, should I arrive at Lille Europe or Lille Flandres to get to the stadium? Which station is the closest? Thanks!
They're really the same although Lille Flandres you hop on the yellow line and head in one direction, Lille Europe you take the red line for one stop to Lille Flandres to get on the yellow line.
i've had to transfer at lille before and in fact the two stations are close enough to each other that i just walk.
Going to game in Lille, I would suggest taking the red metro route to Les Pres station and taking the shuttle bus. It was certainly far quicker and emptier going back than taking the yellow line route out to the stadium was. Actually, it was a bit of a shambles going out. All metro tickets must be bought from machines, which seem to have a great habit of breaking just when a lot of people are queuing up. At the station I was at, 2 of the 4 broke down. There was a ticket staff guy helping out, buy he was buying everybody two 24 hours passes (one for going and one for going back) rather than just buying two normal tickets, which cost more. What I absolutely wouldn't recommend if queues are long, bearing in mind that the Lille metro has no barriers on its metro system, is just walking on the trains without paying, and taking advantage of the crowds and the fact that nobody is going to check. If it's warm & humid in Lille on the day of the game, make sure you go early and buy water once you are there. I was there for the Ireland v Italy game and it was so hot and sweaty in there that it was horrible with the roof shut. If you need a post match drink (if it's a late game and the police have shut nearly all of the bars) then the Cafe du Nord on Avenue Charles Saint-Venant, on a turning just south of Lille Flandres station, stays open until 1 am. There are a few others open, but it won't be completely rammed like other places (but will be full). Beer is also only €5, which you won't find anywhere near the Grand Place.
@RichardL Excellent information. Thanks! I'll be at Lens & Lille over the weekend. Based on your experience, does the security allow sling bags like this? http://demandware.edgesuite.net/aaq...efault/dwfceb2c49/zoom/AZ8545_01_standard.jpg
As a I'm going to be in Lens, Lille and Paris for the next three days to see a match in each city, does anybody knows if there are any pubs or places nearby to watch the other matches scheduled those days? For example, I'd like to watch the Wales - N. Ireland match tomorrow before entering the Lens stadium, and the following games in Lille and Paris after the 18:00 PM ones. Thanks.
+1! absolutely do not consider this no one in France ever does it, not even in towns which have barriers you can slip through behind someone else or simply jump over. I don't even think the thought would even occur to anyone here.
I think that should be fine. Many people had small bags that got searched, but were allowed in after a search. The fanzones are an obvious place, but absolutely every single actual pub will be showing the game, and most of the bar/restaurant/brasserie type places will have a TV showing the games as well. French cities have a very large number of such places, especially near the centre. The Brasserie I mentioned in post #196 had a big screen, but really, finding somewhere showing the game won't be a problem. One place you probably won't be able to watch games is in your hotel. I'm not sure how it works out from now on, but games in France's group were the only ones on normal TV. The rest are on BeIN Sports, and most hotels (4 of the five I stayed in) don't have that channel.