I’ll be out of the office for a few days in Lyon on some consulting work. I won’t be able to respond to questions on the ParisByTrain.com forums with the timeliness that I’d prefer, but rest assured, I’ll get back to you by Friday or shortly thereafter.
Have a great week everyone.
I recently met Gail Bosclair of Perfectly Paris which offers Paris vacation apartment rentals in the Montmartre area.
Visitors to Paris these days are getting savvy to the idea of renting out apartments for a few days to a week at a time. They end up paying less than they would for a hotel while getting a real taste of what it’s like to live in a beautiful area of Paris like Montmartre, which has spectacular views over the city.
She’s got some really beautiful Paris apartments under management. I encourage you to check out her properties.
France TGV Map showing high speed train lines in deep purple and light purple (click to enlarge).
This TGV Map shows the main TGV destinations in France:
The principal France TGV routes shown on the TGV map include:
Téoz train lines, in yellow, are regular speed (110 km/h) intercity trains. TGV train lines in purple (both light and dark), are high speed train lines, known as LGV (lignes à grandes vitesses) on which TGV trains operate at 300-320km/h depending on style of train. New double decker (duplex) TGV trains travel at 320km/h (199mph) at full speed while the older single level TGV trains operate at 300km/h (186mph).
Many edge destinations such as Nice, Toulon, Montpellier have a portion of the TGV route run at regular speed on non-TGV specific train lines (which are less straight). These parts of the TGV route are run at non-high speed which is about 110km/h.
Grand Palais in Paris along avenue Champs-Elysées on New Year’s Eve 2008. Paris city events planners know how to light their buildings.
Avenue Champs-Elysées on New Year’s Eve looking with trees lit from Concorde all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.
Glass bottles of any type are now banned (“interdit“). There’ll be packs of heavily armored police folks at all major Paris Metro stations along the Champs-Elysées searching bags. People still manage to bring bottles on the avenue by simply walking from farther out stations. This measure is to avoid mountains of broken glass along the street which presents a hazard to people who’ve been well “champagned”.
This photo was taken near station Champs-Elysées Clemenceau.
Eiffel Tower on New Year’s Eve. Photo was taken from Pont Alexandre III between the Grand Palais and Les Invalides / Napoleon’s Tomb.