Saturday, April 21, 2012

Rheims visit by TGV from Paris

Can anyone help with instructions on how to get from Paris to Rheims for a day in the Champagne area and a visit to one of the Champagne Houses, probably Moet.



Which station do I use and do I need to book ahead or just turn up and purchase tickets




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Hi,





The high speed train TGV from Gare de l%26#39;Est in Paris takes you to Reims, from where you could rent a car to reach champagne houses.



GO to www.voyages-sncf.fr, ask to go from Paris to Reims, select your dates, and choose to pick up your tickets in France (from a self-booking machine in the train station, it will require the credit card that paid the tickets to identify). You could also book a car from their website,





Bye,




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The Reims Office of Tourism website has it all, information about trains and Champagne Houses:



http://www.reims-tourism.com/



click on the StarsStripes/UnionFlag for the English language version.



You won%26#39;t need a car in Reims to visit the Champagne Houses, although you may have to walk a bit. IF you want to get out into the vinyards, then a car would be essential.




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It is about a 20 minute walk to the Taittinger and Piper Heidsieck caves. Taittinger%26#39;s tour is very informative, whereas the PH tour was very %26quot;Hollywood%26quot;, although the tasting room had a hip feel. I strongly suggest that you get a map of where the champagne houses are located in town. You will want to verify if Moet requires reservations as some of the caves do require them. If walking is a problem then I would recommend renting a car.




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I second the recommendation against renting a car. I made a stopover in Rheims MANY years ago and toured the Pommery cave. I%26#39;m quite sure I reached it by foot and, as another poster pointed out, other champagne houses are also walking distance from the station. Even if a taxi were required, that would be cheaper and easier than renting a car.



BTW, the Pommery cave was very interesting, with beautiful bas-relief carvings in the chalk walls of the underground rooms.




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There is a very similar thread made just a day or two ago on the Paris board and one also on the Reims board. You can look at those for lots of info.





First off, Moet is in Epernay, which is about a 35-minute drive from Reims.





I did the trip from Paris to Reims last week and it was easy as can be, and a nice visit.





Make sure when booking you get the TGV that takes 45 minutes, as other trains take more than twice that. Also, make sure the train stops at Reims Station -- NOT Champagne Ardenne station which is the first stop outside of Reims.





Also, make sure the train you get for the return trip starts at Reims station.





On all the days we looked (weekdays) we saw a 7:57 a.m. and a 8:57 a.m. train. And the last train back was 20:15. That%26#39;s a pretty full day and it worked out perfectly for us to see Pommery and Ruinart (lunch in between in walking distance of both houses) and the city%26#39;s magnificent Gothic cathedral. We like to take our time so if we wanted to compact things and do Taittainger as well, we could have done that. Piper-Heidsick is also in walking distance of this grouping of houses.





Here are a few links to help:





http://www.champagnemagic.com/cellarvisit.htm





maisons-champagne.com/liste_maisons/visites_…





second link has a map to give you an idea of the city%26#39;s layout. Reims station is at top left.





Trains also go to Epernay, but I don%26#39;t believe the fast train does.





I%26#39;d strongly recommend not doing a car and using a taxi to get to the houses from the station (8-9 euros) and having the house of your last visit call you a taxi to the cathedral (10-11 euros because the meter starts when the taxi starts heading toward the pickup point).





You can then walk to the station from the cathedral quite easily.




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On SNCF, if you indicate pickup in France and decline the insurance, you can print the tickets yourself.




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Hi. Just wanted to check if i have a zone 6 paris metro i can use the TGV as part of that without paying




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