SNCF’s catchy little renaming of Paris-Bercy railway station

There's a lot to be said for getting the name right, isn't there? Especially when you’re promoting a product or a service.

The simpler, catchier and more relevant the better.

Bearing that in mind and with a magic wave of its wand, SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français - France’s state-owned railway company) - and of course not succumbing to the implicit political pressure “state-owned” might suggest - has renamed one of its main Paris stations.

On Tuesday, Paris-Bercy - based in the area of the Paris of the same name - officially became…wait for it…”Paris- Bercy- Bourgogne - Pays d’Auvergne”.

Paris- Bercy- Bourgogne - Pays d’Auvergne (screenshot from France3 report)

Snappy, isn’t it?

Precise and to the point and not at all an unnecessary mouthful.

Apparently it took several (well-used) (wo)man hours of meetings to come up with a compromise that would satisfy elected politicians of both Bourgogne (or Burgundy in English)  a  former administrative region of east-central France which is now part of the new Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and Auvergne, another former administrative region which is now part of the larger Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (the number of metropolitan regions in France was reduced to 13 as part of a cost-cutting and efficiency exercise aimed at making local government and administration  simpler, yadda yadda yadda)

On hand at the inauguration ceremony to soak up some of the political glory (????) was the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez, He was only too keen to emphasise how the name change a) would reflect the area of France the railway station actually serves and b) would be a window to the world for tourists (honestly, even if there’s some truth in the declaration, only a politician would have the gall to say so).

Laurent Wauquiez (screenshot from France3 report)

“At last there’s a railway station in Paris that carries the name Auvergne,” he said in a television interview. “It’s really going to be a super way to promote our region.”

Similarly over the moon  was Marie-Guite Dufay, president of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

“It could increase travellers’ knowledge of our regions as a tourist destination,” she said enthusiastically.

“There could be demonstrations (at the station) of our regional products by people from the area,” she added, perhaps forgetting that…well…”Paris- Bercy- Bourgogne - Pays d’Auvergne” (what a mouthful) is just a railway station and nothing more; a point of departure and arrival et basta.

Marie-Guite Dufay (screenshot from France3 report)

Still, politicians love “over-egging pudding” whenever they get the chance.

Surely all that passengers passing through the railway station (and adjoining bus terminus) really care about is that the trains are on time and that SNCF can provide a reasonable service that isn’t too costly.

World Cup fever - let's get a grip

What is it with football?

Yes the World Cup - warts (Fifa) and all - is a major sporting event.

There's no doubting that.

But really, does it mean our elected leaders can afford to forget the really important things happening in the world to ride - albeit briefly - the crest of the feelgood wave they hope might somehow benefit them?

Russia reduces its gas supply to Ukraine "raising the possibility of disrupted transit of gas to Europe" and a difficult winter ahead if things aren't sorted.

And what are our illustrious leaders up to?

Well, the German chancellor Angela Merkel hot-footed it over to Brazil to watch "die Mannshaft" make clinical mincemeat of Portugal (with a little help from an imploding Pepe early into the game)

Back in France as the country limps through its economic muddle, now complete with the inevitable industrial ("non") action from SNCF employees and les intermittents du spectacle, how did the president François Hollande spend his time during Les Bleus' opening game?

He ostentatiously invited 200 people (and the cameras) to la salle des fêtes at the Elysée palace to gawp ("with collective passion") at a giant screen as France ran out victorious over mighty Honduras in their first match.

Giant screen at the Elysée palace (screenshot BFM TV)

Oh well. Winter is months away, so why should politicians care about gas supplies right now?

Perhaps the football commentators will help jog their memories by broaching the subject during Russia's first game against South Korea on Tuesday!

Nigeria kicked off its tournament on Monday with a thrilling 0-0 draw against Iran, and in the meantime the 200 or so missing schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in April are still being held hostage. They've been located apparently, but still haven't been freed.

Never mind. Who gives a damn anyway?

French TV news reports spend an inordinate amount of time analysing and speculating on the Les Bleus' chances, interviewing individual French players and managers - past and present - wheeling in the "experts" to give their opinions and asking the man and the woman in the street what they think.

And at the same time Sunni Islamist militants have taken control of Iraq's second city Mosul and are now approaching Baghdad.

The world watches - says little and does nothing as the focus of media attention seems to be elsewhere.

And that "elsewhere" of course is Brazil - the host country, profiting from the glory and the money it's not going to make and the prestige the whole tournament will bring as an answer to its social problems.

Just ask South Africa, the host of the 2010 tournament.

Don't get me wrong. I love the so-called beautiful game. But I also care about other things.

And a World Cup which is as much about business and displays of exaggerated patriotism (whatever that might be) as it is sport, surely simply deflects attention away from those other things that really matter.

Snails, sardines and "helpful" police advice for Paris drivers

So this flashed up on Sytadin, a site some of those who live and work in Île-de-France might use to find out information on the traffic flow in and around Paris.


And just look at the helpful recommendations  La Préfecture de Police is offering drivers to avoid the tailbacks expected on the road as taxi drivers all but block access to Paris from both the major airports with their opération escargot which will see them driving at a snail's pace.

Screenshot Sytadin

"La Préfecture de Police conseille aux automobilistes, notamment en matinée, de différer leurs déplacements vers la Capitale ou d’emprunter le métro pour les résidents les plus proches de Paris."

Or summarised, they're advising motorists to try to leave at a different time (earlier) or take public transport.

Yep - as the first reports on breakfast telly showed, Wednesday is going to be a fun day with the opportunity of becoming intimately acquainted with complete strangers as those needing to get into Paris, are sardined into heaving métro carriages.

Still, there's always the train...or would be, if trade unions weren't on strike too meaning that there'll be a limited rail service.

screenshot BFM TV

Have a great day!

Hot air balloon causes train delays in western France

Now that's not the sort of headline you see every day - not even here in France.

Trains were delayed on the TGV line between Nantes in western France and Paris for the best part of Saturday morning.

Not so unusual, you might be thinking, given French national railways' (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français, SNCF) track (ouch) record.

But this disruption wasn't down to industrial action, the weather or even suspected sabotage.

(screenshot - France 3 television news report)

Instead it occurred after a hot air balloon hit an overhead power line.

The balloon was one of several, according to the regional daily Ouest-France, that had taken off early on Saturday morning from Oudon, 30 kilometres east of Nantes.

It belonged to Nantes Montgolfières, which describes its flights over the Loire valley as "unforgettable".

An apt description indeed - not so much for the journey the eight passengers and one pilot undertook - but the landing they experienced just as they were about to touch down in a field.

Apparently, caught off guard by a stronger-than-expected wind, the pilot wasn't able to prevent the balloon's fabric from becoming entangled with a nearby 25,000 volt overhead power line.

"There could have serious consequences," Captain Patrice Bongibault, a high-ranking police officer told regional France 3 television news.

"But only two of the passengers were slightly injured."

(source - Wikipedia)

And that was a point stressed by the director of Nantes Montgolfières, Géry Liagre.

"We take thousands of people into the air over the Loire Valley and such an incident is very rare," he said.

"Of course it shouldn't have happened, but nobody was seriously injured and in fact there was nothing dramatic: we just disrupted SNCF for a couple of hours."

Oh well that's all right then.

And anyway, train passengers are used to experiencing delays for one reason or another.

210511 - Une montgolfière sur une voie de chemin de fer Vidéo Fred-Lille sélectionnée dans Actualité

SNCF's new service - trains that don't run on time

It's the sort of story which, if you had heard it a month earlier, you would have probably put down to being an April Fool.

But it isn't.

French railways has come up with a somewhat novel approach to marketing and customer satisfaction - flexible or variable departure times on some of its routes.

In other words, trains that don't leave when scheduled.



Perhaps it's called thinking outside of the box - or some might consider it "not thinking at all" - because SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français or the French National Railway Corporation) is offering travellers what it calls a new "service" - tickets on trains that might - or might not - run on time.

So what does this miracle approach to customer service offer exactly?

Well, it'll allow passengers to buy tickets on 30 intercity Téoz and highspeed TGV routes for trains that will leave 15 minutes before or after their scheduled departure time.

Customers who've bought such tickets will be informed seven days beforehand via email or text message about the exact departure time.

It's all part of SNCF's attempt to reduce the number of cancellations and unscheduled delays - by building planned ones into its timetable - and is a way of coping with necessary track maintenance work, according to Barbara Dalibard, the director of SNCF Voyages.

"Track renovation will take some time - several years," she told France 2 television.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that the service will be extended," she added - somewhat ominously.

The scheme has already been tested on some lines and will be extended in a couple of weeks time to include routes such as Paris-Toulouse, Strasbourg-Bordeaux, Lille-Toulouse and Paris-Dijon.

And the incentive for passengers in terms of price?

Well there isn't one.

Tickets will cost exactly the same as trains scheduled to leave on time.

The only benefit perhaps is to be able to book a ticket earlier but not necessarily knowing what time you'll be leaving.

Brilliant isn't it!

French railways fined for train leaving on time

Here's something of a novelty.

French national railways, SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français) has been fined for a train leaving on time!

Of course that's not the whole story.

The company had denied a passenger boarding because he arrived at the very last minute, just as the train was about to leave.

But unfortunately for SNCF, the passenger happened to be a lawyer, and he decided to take the company to court.

The incident dates back to July 21, 2009.

Jérôme Bertrand (screenshot from BFM TV report)

Jérôme Bertrand had a ticket for a train due to leave Gare de Lyon station in Paris for Bourg-en-Bresse in eastern France at 11.10am.

He was cutting things fine - to say the very least - and turned up with just one minute to spare.

But as far as SNCF was concerned, Bertrand was too late.

"I saw the train leave even though I was on the platform," he told BFM TV in a spoken style which surely says, 'Don't mess with me, I'm a lawyer'.

"I had been in a rush to arrive on time, but there was no way I was going to be allowed to board the train."

SNCF refused Bertrand a ticket refund or any sort of compensation because in its travel regulations and on its tickets the company pointed out that it "requested" passengers to present themselves for boarding at least two minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Bertrand wasn't to be outsmarted though. He was a lawyer after all and he was determined to see justice done.

He took his case to courts arguing that the "request" SNCF made for passengers to turn up at least two minutes before a train's departure did not make it a "requirement".

There was no mention in the rules and regulations, as far as he was concerned, that a passenger arriving at the station "on the dot" would be denied access to a train.

Almost two years later and guess what?

The court found in his favour and according to BFM TV, unless SNCF decides to appeal, Bertrand will be reimbursed the cost of buying an extra ticket - €129.30 - as well as one euro in symbolic damages.

So there you have it. SNCF fined for a train leaving on time.

Makes a change.

EasyJet treats Paris-Toulouse passengers to a 10-hour journey

Another tale of travel woes in France and one in which you pays your money and you takes your chances perhaps.

This time around though it's not the weather that's solely to blame and it doesn't involve Air France-KLM or the state-owned railway SNCF.

Instead it's the British-based lowcost airline easyJet and the 10 hours it took for passengers aboard one of its flights to make a trip that normally takes a maximum of one hour and 30 minutes.


It happened last Sunday as the 141 aboard the 'plane made the journey from the French capital to the southwestern city of Toulouse.

A two-hour delay in taking off because of maintenance problems certainly didn't put passengers in the best of moods, but worse was to come.

As the 'plane approached its destination the captain refused to land because apparently conditions were too windy and instead redirected 240 kilometres away to Montpellier, where passengers then boarded buses to complete their journey.

"Weather conditions" coupled with "technical problems that didn't affect flight safety", according to the airline were the reason for the diversion, but passengers aboard the flight weren't so sure they were being told the whole story.

"When we arrived at Montpellier I overheard one of the ground staff talking via two-way radio with a colleague saying that the 'plane wouldn't be taking off again," Luc Mousseaux, a passenger aboard the flight told BFM TV

"That makes me wonder if the weather really was the reason for not being able to land," he added.



That's a view backed up by an aviation expert who, according to the national daily Le Figaro, said the wind had not been particularly strong around the city on the afternoon in question but admitted that the decision about whether to land was entirely at the captain's discretion.

As is company policy, easyJet did offer any compensation apart from refreshment vouchers and passengers are not entitled to any reimbursement because, as far as the airline is concerned, it met its obligation of ensuring passengers arrived at their destination.

Toulouse or 'La Ville Rose" as it is nicknamed is one of France's largest cities. It's home to one of Europe's top rugby teams, and of course is the base of Airbus.

It's also a major destination for holidaymakers in summer as it's very much the gateway to the whole of the southwestern region of the country.

The Paris-Toulouse route is a busy one, and the city is one of the destinations for the Navette or shuttle service operated by Air France from both Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.

In total the company operates 30 scheduled flights from both Paris airports combined each day and during peak hours there's a 'plane leaving every 30 minutes.

Not surprisingly perhaps easyJet has also grabbed a piece of the action with five Toulouse-bound flights leaving Paris every day.

SNCF report on "Hell on wheels" delay but not everyone is happy

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is not a happy bunny - at least not when it comes to France's state-owned railway company, SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français).

The French minister of transport (among other things) has threatened the company with sanctions and said that she had not been told the whole truth about the reasons behind that infamous 12-hour plus delay on the overnight train from Strasbourg to Nice and Port Bou just after Christmas.

The 4295 night train (screenshot from TF1 news report)

You might remember the so-called "Hell on wheels" trip on December 27 which saw the 600 passengers on board the 4295 night train endure a delay of 12 hours - the same length of time as the journey was supposed to take in the first place.

SNCF apologised (what else could it have done), offered all passengers a full refund and a free return ticket and announced that it would launch an internal inquiry and release a report on what exactly had caused the delay.

It has now published the 13-page "mea culpa", admitting that given the weather conditions and the number of personnel and logistical problems on the night in question, the train should never have left the platform at Strasbourg.

And at the top of a long list of reasons for the delay according to the report, which SNCF helpfully publishes in French on the English-language version of its site (grab a dictionary perhaps if you want to read all the details) is the time it took to find a replacement driver during a stop just 150 kilometres into its journey in the eastern French city of Belfort.

It was "a failure of planning" admits the report, a simple statement that has earned SNCF the wrath of Kosciusko-Morizet or NKM as she's commonly called here in France.

"That's not what I was told at the beginning," the minister for ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing (to give NKM her full title) said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

"When I was given the reason why it took so long for the replacement driver to arrive (he had to travel almost 350 kilometres from Lyon to Belfort) I was told he couldn't get there on time because of the weather."

As far as NKM was concerned she had been lied to (she used stronger words, but there might be children reading) and she was now going to "find out who was responsible for the error in planning and look into whether there would be sanctions to be imposed."

NKM wasn't the only person unhappy with the report.

Not surprisingly perhaps the unions were less than tender with SNCF's explanations with Sud-Rail saying in a statement that "The report is nothing more than hot air."

And a regional branch of the passengers association, Association des Usagers des Chemins de Fer de la Région Ouest (Avuc) has launched a petition "Fed up with SNCF".

So a bad PR end to 2010 for SNCF has hardly been helped by an equally miserable attempt to offer a mea culpa at the beginning of 2011.

Things can only get better - surely

SNCF 4295 - a French train journey (almost) "without end"

Snow and freezing temperatures throughout much of Europe have been taking their toll on those trying to travel and especially those choosing to take to the skies.

Cancelled flights, long delays, unscheduled overnight stays at airport concourses and the inevitable tales of luggage gone astray have been the stuff of headlines.

Rail travel has also been disrupted but, with some exceptions such as Eurostar, not quite to the same extent.

Until this past weekend that is, when passengers on the 4295 night train from Strasbourg to Portbou and Nice took a trip they're unlikely to forget in a hurry.

SNCF 4295 night train (screenshot TF1 news)

It was, as the national radio station RTL called it, a "journey without end". And even if that was perhaps a little bit of journalistic hyperbole at its best, it certainly must have seemed that way to those on board.

The train was supposed to leave the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Sunday for its 12-hour trip to Portbou, a town on (the Spanish side of) the French-Spanish border, and the city of Nice on the Côte d'Azur (obviously it was scheduled to split at some point).

Instead the 600 passengers arrived at their destinations with a slight delay of just 12 hours following what French national railways SNCF admitted had been "a succession of exceptional incidents".

In other words a series "cock-ups" with the weather playing a handsomely helping hand.

From the start the outlook wasn't particularly propitious as the train was late in setting off, but quickly what was to become something of a leitmotif for the whole trip clicked into motion (or rather lack thereof) as after just 150 kilometres the train stopped in Belfort to change drivers as the one who had been been aboard the train as it left Strasbourg had been working for three consecutive days (poor thing) and security regulations stipulated that he had to be replaced.

Except his stand-in was in Lyon - 342 kilometres away - and he only arrived at six o'clock in the morning.

When the 4295 eventually continued its journey, it wasn't long before it stopped for a second time as a regional train had broken down ahead of it just a few kilometres along the line at Montbéliard.

Another two hours were added to the trip in Tournus in Burgundy where the train was forced to come to a halt because of a problem with its own engine.

"We've done 300 kilometres in 17 hours," Ralph Lydi, one of those on board, told journalists by 'phone (the whole journey was followed by reporters from the comfort of the studio and of course covered in real time on Twitter).

"Some food was handed out but the drinks machines are no longer working and we have the impression that SNCF is just making fun of us," he added, saying that there had been little or no information provided as to what was happening.

Of course all good things - and bad - must come to an end, and the train eventually chugged in to Lyon at five o'clock on Monday evening, where those bound for Nice switched trains while those going south-west remained aboard.

SNCF apologised for what has been called the "hell on wheels journey" (BBC hyperbole this time) and (hurrah) as Didier Cazelles, a director of the company told TF1 news, offered all passengers a full refund and a free return ticket, which is probably exactly what they want!

While SNCF has put the whole sorry tale down to a combination of technical problems and weather conditions, the unions have a rather different interpretation of what happened.

"What the passengers have gone through is symptomatic of the cutbacks that SNCF has been making both in terms of rolling stock and personnel," Julien Trocaz of the Sud-Rail union told RTL radio, seeming to imply that the weather had not played any sort of role.

L'interminable voyage du train Strasbourg-Port-Bou

French strikes - pensions and Champagne

Yes there is a link between the two; admittedly a little tenuous perhaps.

Strikes protesting the French government's pension reform plans are almost guaranteed to make the headlines here in France on Thursday.

But there's also another labour dispute that hasn't really grabbed too much media attention.

It involves one of this country's most famous drinks - champagne - and one of the best-known names at home and abroad Piper-Heidsieck.

Employees at Piper-Heidsieck have been on strike for the best part of a week now over plans by its parent company, Rémy Cointreau, to cut around 40 jobs from a workforce of 160.

It's a reaction to a reportedly poor company performance in 2009 and the need to "redress the balance through restructuring".

The timing of the strike couldn't be more awkward or delicate for the company as it comes right at the beginning of the annual grape harvest.

But a spokesman for the directors has reportedly insisted that, "There would no impact on the business".

As the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien commented, "Who said champagne wasn't being touched by the recession?"

photograph author, Jon Sullivan/PDPhoto.org from source

That strike of course will be overshadowed by yet another day of action over the government's pension reforms, and in particular plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Public transport services in particular are likely to be disrupted, not just in Paris, but throughout the country, in what promises to be another fun-thrilled day for those trying to make their way to work...and then back home again.

There are the usual warnings from SNCF, the country's railway operator, with a breakdown of the services likely to be hit and kind of delays everyone can expect.

And for those trying to get around the French capital, perhaps it's a good idea to check out the RATP site.

France - a "working" week in the life of a country

Hello or "bonjour" from France, the country of liberté, égalité, fraternité - oh yes and of course industrial action.

Within the space of barely a week, pilots, train drivers, teachers and postal workers will all have been protesting, and what might from the outside appear almost a national pastime is from the inside just a way of life.

If somehow you managed to make it to France by 'plane last weekend, in spite of the Air France-KLM strike over government plans to increase the retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65, the chances are that when you landed you would have heard the usual sort of announcement.

You know the kind of thing. Something along the lines of....

"Welcome Ladies and Gentleman, we have landed at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

"The local time is eight o'clock and the outside temperature is nine degrees celsius.

"Please remain seated until the aircraft has reached its final parking position.

"On behalf of captain Dupont and the rest of the crew, we would like to thank you for flying Air France-KLM, and hope to have you on board again soon."

Well that's more or less what you would have heard.

Of course what probably wouldn't have been mentioned, but perhaps should have been for anyone wondering what on earth is going on in France at the moment was that little "extra added value" resembling the following.

"As you know, our pilots have been on strike for the past four days, and if you thought that was the end of the story as far as industrial action in France is concerned, think again.

"On Thursday, primary school teachers throughout the country will be on strike over job cuts due next year, and as local authorities cannot guarantee the government's promised 'minimum service' many parents will have to take the day off work to look after their children.

"Next Saturday - November 22 - it'll be the turn of the post office, or La Poste as we call it here. Employees won't actually be on strike, they had one last month to protest privitisation plans in 2010.

"Instead this time they plan a massive march in the streets of Paris and most of the country's major cities. So in case you're hoping to do some autumn sightseeing of the capital's world famous monuments, or are taking a trip to Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux or practically any other destination in France, you can expect some congestion.

"For those of you who were looking forward to the train drivers' strike on Wednesday, we're sorry to have to tell you that it has been postponed.....for the moment.

"Management and unions are still in negotiations over proposed changes in working conditions for freight train drivers.

"But don't worry, with a little bit of luck, those talks should break down and normal strike service will be resumed from Sunday.

"On behalf of captain Dupont and the crew, once again thank you for flying Air France-KLM, and we hope you enjoy your stay in France."

All right, so you'll probably never hear such an announcement, but what's striking about this week in particular in France is exactly that - striking.

Not of course that France is a country unaccustomed to industrial action, and there has been plenty of it, well documented over the years.

Just last autumn the country was brought to a virtual standstill when train drivers came out on strike over government plans to reform pensions, and there have been a series of one-day stoppages over the past 10 months.

Similarly in spring, teachers, students and parents regularly took to the streets to demonstrate against education reforms, and postal workers have also held a number of one day walkouts over the past year.

The French though seem to take it all in their stride.

They grumble about the impact it has on getting to work and everyday life, and then seem to just get on with it.

Perhaps though the most remarkable aspect of this latest round of disputes has been the deafening silence from politicians of all persuasions.

Even though unions reckon that around 70 per cent of primary school teachers will be on strike tomorrow, the education minister, Xavier Darcos, has dismissed the action as an almost "annual autumn ritual."

Meanwhile little has been heard from the opposition Socialist party, which of course is currently embroiled in a battle to choose a new leader.

So to all of you out there, who have made it to the end of this post, here's wishing you "bon travail" as some might say in France.

French travel delays expected as pilots strike and train drivers threaten walkout

As the French get back into their stride after last week's one day train drivers' strike disrupted travel throughout the country, they can now look forward to another few days of possible travelling chaos.

Yes - there's another strike scheduled for next Wednesday.

But even before the delights of yet again struggling into work, France will be treated to a weekend's worth of flight delays as Air France-KLM pilots go on strike.

Management has already warned passengers that they can expect significant disruption during the action which begins on Friday, with at least half of scheduled flights forecast to be cancelled tomorrow alone.

Interviewed on national radio on Thursday morning, the president of the Air France-KLM, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, warned that the strike could have serious consequences for the airline.

"The action is pointless," he said. " It comes at the worst possible moment and it'll have an effect on the confidence our customers have in the airline at both home and abroad," he added.

"And it'll cost the company millions of euros."

The protest is over government plans to increase the retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65 - part of a package of reforms due to be discussed in parliament shortly.

The claim by unions representing the pilots is that the amendments constitute a "violation of an earlier promise" by the transport minister, Dominique Bussereau, that the retirement age for pilots would be "a matter of negotiation."

Unions representing cabin crew have already given consent to government plans to increase their retirement age from 55 to 65, and have even requested that the change be introduced a year earlier than originally planned.

So no happy flying this weekend if you're planning a trip on an Air France-KLM 'plane, and the airline recommends taking a look at the website and it has also given two numbers to call for more information on flight cancellations.

Within France, dial 0800 240 260, and from abroad call 00 33 157 02 10 55

Meanwhile if you have somehow managed to make it here by the time the strike finishes on Monday, you're likely to be greeted by delays on the country's railways a couple of days later.

If it happens, it won't be widespread action, but could still cause headaches for many if, as threatened, train drivers from two unions begin action on Wednesday.

At the heart of the dispute is an attempt by SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français - the French national railway company) to re-negotiate working conditions with some freight train drivers.

It follows a similar strike last week which caused delays to commuter trains, but largely spared international destinations.

But it will differ in being more than simply one day of action, with the unions threatening to continue into Thursday.

Happy travelling - or as they say here - bon voyage indeed.

A nightmare trip

It wasn’t so much the journey to hell and back as a 10-hour one-way train ride to nowhere.

And it was to be the longest of nights for the 650 travellers who boarded the Paris-bound Eurostar train in London on Friday evening.

What was sheer misery for the passengers soon became a catastrophe for the train operators, France’s much-revered SNCF, as technical blunders and wrong decisions followed hard on the heels of each other.

Sadly the tale of the tortuous train trip tells like a French farce.

It left London as scheduled at 8 o’clock in the evening local time, due to arrive in Paris just under two and a half hours later. A marvel of modern technology in which the high speed train reaches a top speed of 300kms per hour – when all goes to plan of course.

There were no problems entering France as it passed through the channel tunnel that separates the two countries, still on time. But then the gremlins had their say.

Another Eurostar train, but one bound in the opposite direction, had been halted in Lille in northern France after a warning light came on. That light meant it had failed the security requirements to enter the channel tunnel and couldn’t continue its journey.

So when the Paris-bound train pulled into Lille, passengers swapped trains - remember there was nothing wrong with the one that had arrived from London, so it could make the return trip without any problem.

That left the Paris-bound travellers now sitting in what they were soon to find out was a train straight from the pages of a Stephen King novel. Almost one and a half hours later it eventually agreed to get its huffing self out of the station.

Perhaps this was the point at which SNCF should have realised that this was a train with more than just a slightly off hair day. In fact it had an all round bad attitude, and was doomed never to complete its journey. But there again hindsight is never kind.

It was rolling along less than merrily some 120kms north of the French capital when it finally had a complete nervous breakdown and lost all power.

Stuck in the wee hours of the morning, the passengers were then asked to walk along the trackside to a third “rescue” train, because the broken-down one couldn’t be shifted.

Train number three finally made it into Paris Gare du Nord station at a quarter past nine local time the next morning. Even with the one-hour time difference between the two countries, that’s a humdinger of a delay.

The director of SNCF’s France-Europe, Mireille Faugère, apologised profusely and called it a “completely unacceptable situation in which the passengers had had a miserable experience.”

Now there’s a woman who doesn’t believe in understatement. The 650 had spent hours without any heating, light or sound and with absolutely no idea of what was going on.

Upon arrival they were offered a gratis breakfast, taxi rides to their final destination, full cash refunds on both legs of their return tickets and - as a crowning glory and probably just about what any sane person dreams of after such a trip - a free return ticket for future use.

Perhaps they would be happier flying next time.

Not surprisingly a full enquiry has been launched.