A madcap cab ride

Marseille train station

Ok, ok, thought I’d do a final piece on public transportation in France before closing the chapter on my French vacation.

7am - We were standing at the bus stop in Lourmarin, waiting for the public bus to get us to Marseille.
7.15am - We saw the bus approaching but it sped by, leaving us with our mouth agape. Of course it didn’t stop…we were waiting on the wrong side of the road!

Panic! I had to be in Marseille by 10am. The next bus would only come at 5pm. I called for a taxi. A lady’s voice come on, jabbering rapidly in French and then beep… I dialed another. A grumpy man answered and started yabbering away in French.

I said “No, wait! I can’t understand…” and passed the phone to CH who probably knows 10 more French words than me. No good. We walked back to the hotel. I called Mr Grumpy again and handed the phone to the housekeeper (who spoke no English but at least she understood we had to get to Marseille). She managed to book us a cab!

We waited in the drizzle. The cab arrived. A lady in uniform was at the wheel. “To Marseille”.
“Oui!” and we were off. Lady driver started speaking to us in French. We looked at her with our eyes wide open, a big question mark on our face. She pointed at her watch frantically. I ventured a guess and showed her 10 fingers. CH pulled out his pocket translator. She handed me a piece of paper, I wrote “1000hrs”.“Ahhhh!” She finally understood.

I gave her the address in Marseille. With a puzzled look, she started punching the little keypad on her dashboard. That instrument refused to show her the way.

It was raining, we were traveling on narrow roads, she continued punching away on that little thingy, talking on her mobile phone and shaking her head. I clung on to my seat, feeling dizzy.

90 minutes later, we arrived in the congested Marseille city. She drove round looking for the office building. She pulled over, rolled down the window and asked an old guy on the street. He got into the cab, strapped on the seat belt, chewed on a Madeline, pointed her towards the direction of the port. The port security officers asked for our tickets. What tickets? No, we're not going on a cruise. Out of desperation, I called my friend Nigel in UK who knows this place.

“Hey Nigel. Can you speak French? I have a problem here. Can you tell this guy where CMA Building is?” and thrust my phone at the port security officer.
Ah, the building was just behind us. The madcap journey cost us 100 Euro! Amazing!

When I was researching on public transportation in France, it was a bewildering exercise. I was worried about getting stranded if we didn’t buy train tickets prior to arriving in France but now, I am in a better position to shed some light.

The French transportation system is sophisticated; afterall, they are world famous for the Concorde and TGV. Though the French have a relaxed attitude towards meeting engagements and dinner schedules, you can count on their transportation system to be fast, efficient, and on-time!

First of all, do not let the complicated subway and train maps intimidate you. We were overwhelmed at first but after moving about a couple of times, you’ll figure your way out very quickly.

Don’t worry if you can’t speak French. Most of the staff at the ticketing booths are able to understand English. The TGV booths even have signs indicating it’s a French or English speaking booth.

Don’t panic if you haven’t bought any tickets in advance. You can buy TGV and Metro tickets easily at the stations. Maybe the TGV tickets will cost a little more but at least you don’t have to worry about missing the schedules.

Getting from Airport to Paris City on RER

It’s easy to get to the city by RER. It's a regional train network with stops at major railroad stations and Métro hubs in Paris. After you've retrieved your bags and gone through customs, look for a "Gare" sign with a train symbol. (CDG has two RER stations: one for Terminals 1 and 3, and the other at Terminal 2. The terminals are connected by a free CDGVAL shuttle train.) At the RER station, you can buy tickets at the ticket windows. Once you have your ticket, follow the signs to the platforms. Trains depart every 10 to 20 minutes between 5 a.m. and midnight.
http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/paris-cdg-ground-transportation-trains.htm

Traveling within Paris
While Paris is a small city that’s accessible everywhere on foot, you may take the RER from time to time. You’ll find a station everywhere and the train arrives every few minutes. It’s a massive underground network, really impressive!

Traveling across France on High-speed TGV
If you are traveling from Paris to other parts of France, you’d need to find out in advance which TGV station to embark. Tickets can be purchased at the stations. There are several TGV stations in Paris but each one will take you to different parts of France or Europe. Apparently it is the fastest way to get you to your destination, though the tickets can be quite expensive. A one-way ticket from Paris to Provence is about 90 Euro. You can check for more info at http://www.beyond.fr/map/tgv_paris.html

Traveling in small villages
When we arrived in Avignon (Provence) on the TGV, we took 2 local buses to the smaller villages. The bus stations are usually located near the train station. You can proceed to the counter (usually a small one manned by one person) to ask for the schedule. The buses don’t run very frequently, so be prepared to sit around and wait for the next one.