Day 15. Sete to Dieppe

Je voyage avec mon vélo

Having arrived on the Med the next problem was to get back by train. The good news was that the SNCF website (or at least the French version) has a tick box (Je voyage avec mon vélo), which allows you to find and book trains that will take assembled bikes. The bad news was that the direct TGV from Sète to Paris via Lyon did not carry bikes, so I was forced to take an InterCities train to Bordeaux and use the new TGV line to Paris on which bikes are allowed.

Booking a train online is easy - you get a message sent to your phone which contains a bar code and serves as your ticket. No need to collect tickets at the station or input a lengthy code into a machine with a flaky touchscreen that you cannot read when the sun is shining.

Bike storage on Intercities train

I had 40 minutes to make the connection at Bordeaux but the guard kept telling us that the train was more and more en retard and we only arrived at Bordeaux with 5 minutes to spare. I made it onto the TGV but by now the espace dedié au vélos was full of cases so I just dumped the bike on top. Of course when we got to Paris everyone tried to retrieve their cases from underneath rather than waiting for me to remove the bike.  

 

On the TGV. The notice on the wall says that this space is reseved for bikes. Or maybe not...

Crossing the Seine on the Pont Alexandre III

The 5km ride across Paris from Montparnasse to St Lazare was not too scary with a few cycle lanes and signs pointing the way. Another Intercities train to Rouen and a local train got me to Dieppe by 7pm, in time for another fish dinner by the harbour before the crossing to Newhaven the next day.