There are two different train systems in France:
1) the nationally run SNCF trains including the suburban lines (Banlieue) and the Grandes Lignes for longer trips.
2) the large city local systems composed mostly of underground Metro trains, plus - in Paris, the faster and further reaching RER.
The SNCF Lines:
The Grandes Lignes will take you all over the country in either ordinary trains of the high speed TGV. The TGV has rapidly extended its service in recent years and now connects most of the major cities with each other.. You can set your watch by the TGV - it is remarkably efficient.
Don't forget that 1) you must purchase a reservation as well as a regular ticket for any TGV train. The ticket gets you on the train, but the reservation gives you a specific seat on that train, and 2) you need to compost your ticket before getting on a train. You will see orange metal boxes shaped something like small mail boxes at the entrance to train platforms. Place your ticket in the slot in the box until you hear it stamp the ticket. If you don't hear it stamp your ticket, which is what often happens, keep turning the ticket around until you do hear it stamp or 'compost' the ticket. You can be fined if you forget to compost the ticket as then it can be used over and over again. The train company frowns on that! However, most train conductors know that foreigners often don't compost their tickets so they'll go easy on you.
The main difference between first and second class seating on the TGV is that in first class you have two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other side. In second class you have two seats on each side of the aisle. Both classes are comfortable and the trains are so remarkably quiet that even second class is a great joy for those of your new to the French rail system. But.... first class is really cool! and if you're a senior citizen you get 1/2 fare on the trains and planes so you would wind up paying regular fare for example on a TGV for traveling on first class. I believe that the age is around 60 for senior citizen status - maybe even less. But they often don't even check ID when you claim you're a senior. They're very trusting!
The Banlieue (suburban) lines tie the distant suburbs of Paris together. You can pick up both the SNCF Banlieue and Grandes Lignes trains at one of the six above ground trains stations like Gare St Lazare, Gare du Nord (Paris Nord), Gare de Lyon, etc.
the Local Lines:
Most large cities like Paris, Marseilles and Lyon have their own Metro systems. They are all well maintained, rather clean and safe and very easy to use compared to some of the subway systems in the United States (like my own beloved New York which must be a nightmare for foreign visitors). In Paris, the RATP runs the Metro, the RER (don't ever try to pronounce this in French) and the city buses.
The Metro lines are numbered i.e.: M3, M11, etc. Each line is noted by its beginning station and ending station. There are also correspondence points on each line that connect with all the other lines so you can be on one line and transfer to any other line at certain points. The Metro serves Paris and the near suburbs.
The RER connects the near suburbs and are designated by letters like RER B, C and D, etc. and go to places like Chateau Versailles, the Paris airports, Vernon (where you can take a connecting bus to Monet's Gardens in Giverny) and Auvers-sur-Oise, the town where Van Gogh spent the last years of his life. You can pick them up in Paris at some of the regular Metro stations. Whereas you can ride the RER within Paris using a regular Metro ticket you do have to get a different ticket to take the train beyond the city limits. Speaking of tickets, you can purchase one Metro ticket for around $1 and a quarter and 10 or them - called a carnet, for around $8 or 8 Euros. You can also look into the variety of passes offered.
To make things easier for you (yes. sometimes the French actually do that) the SNCF and RATP have an arrangement for Paris and its suburbs that allows you to purchase combined tickets from either company. This enables you to purchase only one ticket if you're coming in from a suburb on a SNCF train and planning to hop on a local RATP train.'
Car Rental and Driving:
This is what I wrote back in 2002:
You can rent a car in France cheaper if you do it from the US. There are plenty of American companies that provide you with the better rates. There are all the usual suspects like Hertz, etc. But there are ones that specialize in overseas rentals like Europe By Car, Europecar, etc. If you need the car longer than 17 days you can actually arrange a lease and save even more money. If you rent and pay with a Gold credit card of some kind you can often avoid paying the exorbitant extra insurance rates. You must call your credit card company before renting to find out if your particular card allows for this. If you rent a car and request a diesel - which is infinitely cheaper to operate - you may not get it. You will get a diesel however, if you lease your car. The difference in the cost of operating a deisel is significant.
If you pay for your rental by check then you will most likely need to pay for the extra insurance unless you want to risk incredible hassles if you have an accident.
I added this in July of 2005 and stating it again now in 2017: after experiencing some insurance issues while in France: I'm changing my tune. If you rent a car from the US to use in France, or perhaps other countries as well, you will be presented with some contract options when you get to pick up your car. These are options that ask you to accept or decline various kinds of insurance. Which ones you accept or decline will depend in part on: how you paid for the car: whether or not your car insurance policy at home will cover you for rentals overseas; whether you are paying by a gold or platinum credit card and whether or not you just want to pay for your peace of mind.
If you pay by a credit card that insures your rentals overseas you need to talk to that card company and ask them exactly what they cover. I've used my Gold Mastercard for rentals (meaning I paid the US company Europe by Car with my credit card). But they only cover theft, collision, vandalism and fire. They do not cover liability - which I believe is the general coverage offered by all France car companies. Nor do they cover personal accident and injury (PAI). Just understand that if something happens that is covered by your credit card company the overseas car company will bill your card anyway and you'll have to file a claim - as I did and then waited 6 months for the $3000 that they charge my Mastercard to be reimbursed.
If you have your own car in the states and that insurance is covering some overseas rental insurance then that policy will likely take precedence over the coverage your credit card company provides. But here again you had better call your US car insurance company and ask them.
I mention two car companies: the one in the US and the overseas one. A little confusing but here's how it works: sometimes they're one and the same, as when you go to Avis or Hertz here in the states to rent your overseas car. When you get there you go to Avis or Hertz to pick it up. But if you rent here with a company like Europe by Car then they contract with various overseas companies like National-Citer to provide you with your car.
OK... so now you're ready to pick up your car. They'll have you sign a contract that includes the option to accept or decline various insurance products. PAI - personal accident and injury; CDW - collision damage waiver; super PAI and super CDW and perhaps a few others. It's not so easy to understand what they are - even if you speak the language it's difficult to fully understand. I believe the word 'super' means that there will be no deductible.
If you need to make a claim with your card company often they'll require: credit card sales receipt; rental agreement front and back; police report; itemized repair bill and copy of rental cars utilization law for loss of use. You may have only 30 days to file a claim. Be prepared to see a bill for the repairs that you then have to get your credit card company to reimburse you for.
Some recommendations:
Get insurance directly from the agency in France, like Avis, Hertz, Budget, National, etc. Call them directly in the foreign country you're going to be traveling to as the rental cost includes all insurance. When rented through an agency in the states the insurance is not included and the total will likely be more. -OR-
Accept all of the insurance options on the contract so no matter what happens you will not have to pay out of pocket.
The system of "ronde pointe" or round point, is a cool traffic control device. You come into a traffic circle yielding the right of way to whomever is already in there. You find your exit from the circle and continue on your way. No traffic lights. It works great until you hit some outrageous rush hour and find that you were wishing for traffic lights instead! These ronde pointe is everywhere to be found in France - city and country.
Looking to park in Paris?? Well, they have what's called 'horodateurs'. These are parking permit distributors and are found on every block in the city. Several to a block. In the past they were coin operated, but that is slowly changing. Now you can go in to a Tabac and buy a Paris Carte. This is a pre-paid card that give you a certain amount of time on a horodateur. They come in various sizes. You stick the card in the machine and select how much time you want. That amount is deducted from your card.
Want to leave the driving to others? Fine, take a taxi. I love the Parisian taxis and being an old cab driver in New York, I know what I'm talking about. You must go to a taxi stand or call for one to come and get you. You can also hail a cab as we do here in NYC but they're not nearly so available that way as they are at the taxi stands. There are stands throughout the city usually at major intersections and metro/train stations. When you call for one and schedule it for a time in the future then you will pay a little more than if they come for your right away.
Some of them use the GPS system and its cool to see that work in the console of their cab. What, no bullet proof windows between driver and passenger?? How weird is that?
Travel Insurance:
You can protect your travel/tour investment by purchasing a Travel Protection policy from one of a number of providers. They can cost anywhere between $70 and $150 per person depending on several factors, like your age, the cost of your tour, and the amount of coverage that you purchase.
Most policies include the following: trip cancellation, trip interruption, travel delay, lost baggage and travel documents, medical, hospital and dental expenses. Emergency assistance, accidental death and even rental car protection.
One very important thing to remember is that they will not pay for reimbursement of a non-refundable airline ticket under most circumstances. If you buy a non-refundable round trip ticket to France for one of my workshops, and I have to cancel that particular workshop, you're out of luck. However, the airlines usually allow you to apply the price of the ticket to a future trip, so the money is not lost. They will only reimburse you if I actually go out of business - which I have no intention of doing! The other thing to know about travel insurance is that their coverage is secondary to any existing insurance you may already have. Each insured would need to buy their individual cancellation plan, and they would base the 'trip cost' on their pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs. So, if the workshop fee is non-refundable and the airline tickets are non-refundable, then insure the cost of both. If they will be staying at a hotel with non refundable room policies, they'll want to insure that as well.
I highly recommend contacting http://insuremytrip.com/ as they offer a great tool for comparing the various insurance policies.
1) the nationally run SNCF trains including the suburban lines (Banlieue) and the Grandes Lignes for longer trips.
2) the large city local systems composed mostly of underground Metro trains, plus - in Paris, the faster and further reaching RER.
The SNCF Lines:
The Grandes Lignes will take you all over the country in either ordinary trains of the high speed TGV. The TGV has rapidly extended its service in recent years and now connects most of the major cities with each other.. You can set your watch by the TGV - it is remarkably efficient.
Don't forget that 1) you must purchase a reservation as well as a regular ticket for any TGV train. The ticket gets you on the train, but the reservation gives you a specific seat on that train, and 2) you need to compost your ticket before getting on a train. You will see orange metal boxes shaped something like small mail boxes at the entrance to train platforms. Place your ticket in the slot in the box until you hear it stamp the ticket. If you don't hear it stamp your ticket, which is what often happens, keep turning the ticket around until you do hear it stamp or 'compost' the ticket. You can be fined if you forget to compost the ticket as then it can be used over and over again. The train company frowns on that! However, most train conductors know that foreigners often don't compost their tickets so they'll go easy on you.
The main difference between first and second class seating on the TGV is that in first class you have two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other side. In second class you have two seats on each side of the aisle. Both classes are comfortable and the trains are so remarkably quiet that even second class is a great joy for those of your new to the French rail system. But.... first class is really cool! and if you're a senior citizen you get 1/2 fare on the trains and planes so you would wind up paying regular fare for example on a TGV for traveling on first class. I believe that the age is around 60 for senior citizen status - maybe even less. But they often don't even check ID when you claim you're a senior. They're very trusting!
The Banlieue (suburban) lines tie the distant suburbs of Paris together. You can pick up both the SNCF Banlieue and Grandes Lignes trains at one of the six above ground trains stations like Gare St Lazare, Gare du Nord (Paris Nord), Gare de Lyon, etc.
the Local Lines:
Most large cities like Paris, Marseilles and Lyon have their own Metro systems. They are all well maintained, rather clean and safe and very easy to use compared to some of the subway systems in the United States (like my own beloved New York which must be a nightmare for foreign visitors). In Paris, the RATP runs the Metro, the RER (don't ever try to pronounce this in French) and the city buses.
The Metro lines are numbered i.e.: M3, M11, etc. Each line is noted by its beginning station and ending station. There are also correspondence points on each line that connect with all the other lines so you can be on one line and transfer to any other line at certain points. The Metro serves Paris and the near suburbs.
The RER connects the near suburbs and are designated by letters like RER B, C and D, etc. and go to places like Chateau Versailles, the Paris airports, Vernon (where you can take a connecting bus to Monet's Gardens in Giverny) and Auvers-sur-Oise, the town where Van Gogh spent the last years of his life. You can pick them up in Paris at some of the regular Metro stations. Whereas you can ride the RER within Paris using a regular Metro ticket you do have to get a different ticket to take the train beyond the city limits. Speaking of tickets, you can purchase one Metro ticket for around $1 and a quarter and 10 or them - called a carnet, for around $8 or 8 Euros. You can also look into the variety of passes offered.
To make things easier for you (yes. sometimes the French actually do that) the SNCF and RATP have an arrangement for Paris and its suburbs that allows you to purchase combined tickets from either company. This enables you to purchase only one ticket if you're coming in from a suburb on a SNCF train and planning to hop on a local RATP train.'
Car Rental and Driving:
This is what I wrote back in 2002:
You can rent a car in France cheaper if you do it from the US. There are plenty of American companies that provide you with the better rates. There are all the usual suspects like Hertz, etc. But there are ones that specialize in overseas rentals like Europe By Car, Europecar, etc. If you need the car longer than 17 days you can actually arrange a lease and save even more money. If you rent and pay with a Gold credit card of some kind you can often avoid paying the exorbitant extra insurance rates. You must call your credit card company before renting to find out if your particular card allows for this. If you rent a car and request a diesel - which is infinitely cheaper to operate - you may not get it. You will get a diesel however, if you lease your car. The difference in the cost of operating a deisel is significant.
If you pay for your rental by check then you will most likely need to pay for the extra insurance unless you want to risk incredible hassles if you have an accident.
I added this in July of 2005 and stating it again now in 2017: after experiencing some insurance issues while in France: I'm changing my tune. If you rent a car from the US to use in France, or perhaps other countries as well, you will be presented with some contract options when you get to pick up your car. These are options that ask you to accept or decline various kinds of insurance. Which ones you accept or decline will depend in part on: how you paid for the car: whether or not your car insurance policy at home will cover you for rentals overseas; whether you are paying by a gold or platinum credit card and whether or not you just want to pay for your peace of mind.
If you pay by a credit card that insures your rentals overseas you need to talk to that card company and ask them exactly what they cover. I've used my Gold Mastercard for rentals (meaning I paid the US company Europe by Car with my credit card). But they only cover theft, collision, vandalism and fire. They do not cover liability - which I believe is the general coverage offered by all France car companies. Nor do they cover personal accident and injury (PAI). Just understand that if something happens that is covered by your credit card company the overseas car company will bill your card anyway and you'll have to file a claim - as I did and then waited 6 months for the $3000 that they charge my Mastercard to be reimbursed.
If you have your own car in the states and that insurance is covering some overseas rental insurance then that policy will likely take precedence over the coverage your credit card company provides. But here again you had better call your US car insurance company and ask them.
I mention two car companies: the one in the US and the overseas one. A little confusing but here's how it works: sometimes they're one and the same, as when you go to Avis or Hertz here in the states to rent your overseas car. When you get there you go to Avis or Hertz to pick it up. But if you rent here with a company like Europe by Car then they contract with various overseas companies like National-Citer to provide you with your car.
OK... so now you're ready to pick up your car. They'll have you sign a contract that includes the option to accept or decline various insurance products. PAI - personal accident and injury; CDW - collision damage waiver; super PAI and super CDW and perhaps a few others. It's not so easy to understand what they are - even if you speak the language it's difficult to fully understand. I believe the word 'super' means that there will be no deductible.
If you need to make a claim with your card company often they'll require: credit card sales receipt; rental agreement front and back; police report; itemized repair bill and copy of rental cars utilization law for loss of use. You may have only 30 days to file a claim. Be prepared to see a bill for the repairs that you then have to get your credit card company to reimburse you for.
Some recommendations:
Get insurance directly from the agency in France, like Avis, Hertz, Budget, National, etc. Call them directly in the foreign country you're going to be traveling to as the rental cost includes all insurance. When rented through an agency in the states the insurance is not included and the total will likely be more. -OR-
Accept all of the insurance options on the contract so no matter what happens you will not have to pay out of pocket.
The system of "ronde pointe" or round point, is a cool traffic control device. You come into a traffic circle yielding the right of way to whomever is already in there. You find your exit from the circle and continue on your way. No traffic lights. It works great until you hit some outrageous rush hour and find that you were wishing for traffic lights instead! These ronde pointe is everywhere to be found in France - city and country.
Looking to park in Paris?? Well, they have what's called 'horodateurs'. These are parking permit distributors and are found on every block in the city. Several to a block. In the past they were coin operated, but that is slowly changing. Now you can go in to a Tabac and buy a Paris Carte. This is a pre-paid card that give you a certain amount of time on a horodateur. They come in various sizes. You stick the card in the machine and select how much time you want. That amount is deducted from your card.
Want to leave the driving to others? Fine, take a taxi. I love the Parisian taxis and being an old cab driver in New York, I know what I'm talking about. You must go to a taxi stand or call for one to come and get you. You can also hail a cab as we do here in NYC but they're not nearly so available that way as they are at the taxi stands. There are stands throughout the city usually at major intersections and metro/train stations. When you call for one and schedule it for a time in the future then you will pay a little more than if they come for your right away.
Some of them use the GPS system and its cool to see that work in the console of their cab. What, no bullet proof windows between driver and passenger?? How weird is that?
Travel Insurance:
You can protect your travel/tour investment by purchasing a Travel Protection policy from one of a number of providers. They can cost anywhere between $70 and $150 per person depending on several factors, like your age, the cost of your tour, and the amount of coverage that you purchase.
Most policies include the following: trip cancellation, trip interruption, travel delay, lost baggage and travel documents, medical, hospital and dental expenses. Emergency assistance, accidental death and even rental car protection.
One very important thing to remember is that they will not pay for reimbursement of a non-refundable airline ticket under most circumstances. If you buy a non-refundable round trip ticket to France for one of my workshops, and I have to cancel that particular workshop, you're out of luck. However, the airlines usually allow you to apply the price of the ticket to a future trip, so the money is not lost. They will only reimburse you if I actually go out of business - which I have no intention of doing! The other thing to know about travel insurance is that their coverage is secondary to any existing insurance you may already have. Each insured would need to buy their individual cancellation plan, and they would base the 'trip cost' on their pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs. So, if the workshop fee is non-refundable and the airline tickets are non-refundable, then insure the cost of both. If they will be staying at a hotel with non refundable room policies, they'll want to insure that as well.
I highly recommend contacting http://insuremytrip.com/ as they offer a great tool for comparing the various insurance policies.