by rcaffin » Tue 05 Mar, 2019 7:18 pm
Cathay Pacific to CDG Paris, then TGV to Hendaye. You can actually walk out of the airport onto a railway platform to get the TGV, or maybe a local to the TGV. Overnight train from the other end (or Tarascon) back to Paris. We found Heathrow pretty awful.
Now, train tickets to Hendaye. We bought our TGV tickets over the web once, from Sydney. But the stopover went from 1 hour to 12 hours as the plane had a minor fault (blocked pitot tube) and they had to get another one, so we missed our train with seats. The queues at the ticket counter at the airport railway station during the summer season are utterly unreal: you would be looking at waiting for several hours in the queue. We found a very short queue, but that was to the Help Desk. The guy there was actually USEFUL! Just get on the train when it arrives he said. When the ticket inspector comes around (and he does), ask to buy a ticket. No problems! The Inspector even takes credit cards! The catch is that you will not have a booked seat, and the TGV tends to be pretty full in summer. You can, of course, sit in the food carriage for a long time on a cup of coffee, and since the trip is >8 hrs, for lunch as well.
Alternately, spend the night in Paris (direct train airport to the centre) to recover from the 24 hours of flying. You may need it! Buy the tickets (if you can) from a local (in Paris) station. Buy your fuel canisters at Au Vieux Campeur. That is what we have done since the above.
Maps. Take the latest Cicerone book - at least it is in English! Yes, we can read the French guides - but can you? You can often buy the NEXT map at the local village in the valley, and you can go from map to map like that. Trying to buy all of them beforehand ... very hard. Veron or Joosten? RTFM and mix&match. There are LOTS of refuges along the way, and the staff will often recommend the best way to the next one. They may even make a phone booking at the next one for you.
Will a Refuge turn you away if full? If it is car-accessible, possibly. That happened to us once, so we camped. Up in the mountains - never. You may end up on a spare mattress in the dining room, but so what? They will NOT reject you.
Cheers
Roger