Bike Travel/Trains

For information about getting to France, please see Where to Fly.

This section is about how to travel within France. Clearly the best way to get around France on a bike Tour is by bicycle. However, I made compromises when confronting the option between (a) drilling it through the heat of Provence to keep up with the peleton's 150 mile days or (b) spending a few extra days in the Alpes, riding L'Alpe d'Huez and other legendary climbs and then finding a way to catch up with them later. The train makes option (b) possible.

I traveled by train twice during my Tour: from the Alpes (Briancon) to the Pyrenees (Foix); and from the Pyrenees (Pau) to my departure airport (Tolousse). I have yet to find comprehensive information about traveling with a bicycle on trains in France. I was able to take my bike on the train each of 5 times I tried (I had multiple connections). However, at no point was I at ease doing so because there is a method to traveling with a bicycle (you don't just roll your machine into any car on the train on a moment's notice). For example, I learned that bicycles are stowed in specific bicycle cars. These cars are well marked with pictures of bicycles:

This marking system is pretty fool-proof but I still managed to wander around looking lost and confused, asking where I could put my bike before someone pointed these pictures out to me. The bicycle cars have racks or hooks and offer priority seating to those persons traveling with their bikes. This is a notice printed on the tray table of a seat in the bicycle car (it basically notes that there is priority seating for cyclists in that seat):

I believe that one makes a reservation for these cars when purchasing a ticket and this requires a small fee. I did not know this when I traveled from Briancon to Foix and managed to take my bike on each of four trains with little difficulty. Nonetheless, I felt clumsily ignorant. At night, a bicycle is only allowed in the sleeping cars, which are more expensive than regular seats, whereas during the day this is not the case.

I am presently trying to figure out the French train system because it does offer reliable, fast transportation between almost all parts of France. If anyone understands the system, please let me know so that I can post the information here.