One really cool thing about France is that it has a real high speed rail network, far superior to anything California is going to come up with even if we do actually build something. The TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) can get you to many places in France at speeds up to 180 mph. And there is a train station in the International Terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport, which means you can get off a flight from the US and walk a few hundred meters and catch a train to Nimes or Lyon or Nice or Toulouse. Much more comfortable than a connecting flight and more scenic too.
Last February when I finalized my 2023 cycling trip plans, I decided to take the TGV from CDG to the lovely city of Nimes in southern France. My flight is supposed to arrive at 10 am, and there were two trains to Nimes: one at 12 noon and the other at 3 pm. Originally I booked the later train, because it delivered me to the Nimes Center station only a short walk from my hotel. But this train involved 2 transfers, including a 10 minute connection in Lyon, which made me a bit nervous. I’ve been to the Lyon station and it is busy and more than a little confusing.
The noon train was non-stop to Nimes, but the destination station is at Pont du Gard, maybe 15 miles from my hotel. When 44 5 (my ‘French Connection’ cycle-touring company) offered to pick me up at Pont du Gard I decided to book the earlier train. If everything works I will be in Nimes in time for an afternoon glass of rosé.
Using the SNCF website and the app is not always intuitive or easy to navigate, but eventually I got the second ticket. Today I decided to go back on SNCF and get a refund on my first ticket, which was fully refundable.
I logged on, went to ‘My Trips’ and was shocked to get the following message:
Both of my tickets has disappeared. Even though I had printed them on paper with the QR code, the website seemed to have lost track of them. I went back to my credit card statements and sure enough, both tickets had been paid. What now? Do I have tickets or not?
44 5 (Gerry) to the rescue! I sent him some What’s App messages and he used my password to get onto the site. And he said the tickets were there! I tried again and still couldn’t make them appear on my computer or on the SNCF app I installed on my phone. So I asked Gerry to cancel the first ticket, and seconds later I got confirmation by e mail from SNCF.
I tried to follow Gerry’s steps so that I could view my remaining ticket, but I kept getting the screens you see above. Finally I asked Gerry what name he typed in and he said “Freggiaro”. I told him I had been using Richard Freggiaro, or Freggiaro Richard, or FREGGIARO RICHARD or RICHARD FREGGIARO in case it was case sensitive.
I actually got tripped up by Google translate. The French word ‘nom’ apparently means surname. When I put the booking code in with FREGGIARO (leaving out any form of Richard) my ticket popped right up. In English the box asks you to enter “Name used to make the booking”. If it had translated ‘nom’ as ‘Last Name’ I could have saved myself about 2 hours of confusion and worry. That is the price I pay for not taking French in high school, although in San Joaquin County two years of Spanish proved much more useful. Google take note: nom and name are not the same!
Rich Freggiaro Cycling Blog 