Originally Posted by
strawbearlyjamms
Thank you Mike and nrr. We decided to "risk it", and go for the early train. I think we will attempt a Cab, though intend to leave early enough to walk if necessary. Luggage is limited, but we'll all have a small roller bag. Regarding Mike's "what if someone in your group can't get going fast enough?" the person in our group I would be most worried about is me, and I won't let that happen. ;-]
Part of the reason for leaving early is cost, but also it is getting to spend more time at our destination, as that is already limited. We'll have plenty of time to sleep on the train.
The train is a commuter train, without seat reservations to Lyon part dieu. Tickets are paper and have already been mailed. It says to arrive 15 minutes early for that. It will be the only commuter train on our trip, is there anything else to look for or be aware of?
When we arrive we'll scope out the plan for a quick and painless departure, any advise for making this as painless as possible would be appreciated (where to look for our train, etc.)
There won't be too many trains at that hour of the morning, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Upon arrival at the station, you'll be looking up at the big board to find your train and its track number. The track number typically doesn't post until shortly before the train arrives, but you're not going to be arriving at the station much sooner than the train anyway.
The destination may not be enough to find your train, since that might not be its final stop (although, for a commuter, it's likely Lyon is the final stop). I just checked the schedules on bahn.de (world's greatest site for euro train schedules) and it's almost certain your train's final stop is in fact Lyon. Likely train #17600. Far more confusing will be going from that train to your connection in Cannes. Oh, don't forget to insert your ticket into the punch machines before boarding. Don't ask me why they want you to do that.
You've got my curiosity up; just checked the schedules and don't quickly find a train leaving around 5-ish that connects efficiently in Lyon... ah, right. You're probably spending some time in Lyon because that was the cheaper ticket. Next time you book trains in France, keep in mind that it's not always cheapest to book a single itin. My son and I saved about 50 euros each by booking Lourdes-Dax Dax-Paris instead of Lourdes-Paris. We did have to change trains in Dax, but it was only 15 minutes longer than the direct would have been.
And avoid buying from RailEurope. Expensive! You can buy on-line from the SNCF website and print your tickets at home, or in some cases, pick them up at the station. All stuff you probably already know.
Have a great trip!