I headed back to Toulouse today.

I was slightly concerned about my connection times for the various trains to make it back to Toulouse. I had just over an hour to make it from the Gare de l’Est to Gare Montparnasse and then 12 minutes at Bordeaux – St. Jean to catch the train back to Toulouse. I made all the connections without an issue.

The main concern was the Paris connection. The Gare de l’Est is a 17 stop metro ride from the Gare Montparnasse. It takes about 20 minutes without any delays. I got off the train and headed to the Metro stop (which is connected to the train station) to get a ticket for the Metro. I saw that there were long lines at all the automatic ticket machines and was slightly nervous. There were only two out 6 machines that were actually operational. I then saw that they had two windows where humans were selling tickets. Those lines were a lot shorter. I jumped in line there and had my metro ticket in about 2 minutes. I went down and caught the 4 line with a train that came immediately. The metro (at least the 4 line) is very clean and east to navigate. I got to Montparnasse and had to do the trek for what I feel is about a mile to get from the 4 line to the actual train station. I walked various corridors, road a moving sidewalk, went up and down multiple levels and rode an escalator. After my trek I reached the station. Luckily, there is very good signage for finding the right train platform. I found the platform but was slightly confused as there seemed to be two trains on the same platform. The signs indicated which train to get on and where to find the car where I had my seat reserved. I made the whole trek with about 15 minutes to spare.

While traversing the metro station, I was stopped, along with everyone else, to make sure I had a validated ticket for the metro. I am not sure how you cannot have a valid ticket as the stations where I boarded, you had to use the ticket to enter the Metro with gates. For where I was seeing, it would be hard to jump a gate. People might be able to push through two at a time. The woman checking tickets had a machine that the ticket ran through and validated it and let me pass. I was happy as for some reason I had not put my ticket in my pocket or anywhere so I had it easily available to give to her when she asked.

At Bordeaux-Saint Jean, the transfer was easy as I just had to find the correct platform for the train. The station is fairly large but I made that connection without an issue.

Some observations on train life. The first is the inconsistency of checking tickets. I had taken the TGV (fast and most expensive way to travel), the Intercities (next level down) and the local regional trains. On two train rides, no one has ever come around to see if you had a ticket. One was the local regional train ride from Albi to Toulouse. The station is completely open and you just hop on the train that comes. I had a ticket more the trip but was never asked to show it. On the trip to Reims, when I transferred from the TGV to Intercities train, no one checked my ticket During the Intercities trip from Bordeaux to Toulouse, I was never asked for my ticket. There were conductors but they never checked tickets. We made multiple stops with people getting on and off. What is more interesting is that for the TVG and the Intercities, you have to have both a ticket and a seat reservation and there are two classes of service so people could be in First Class without a first class seat reservation.

On the TGV, your ticket is always checked. When you are boarding the train, there are ticket people and they scan your ticket before you can get on the platform. Once you are on the train, a conductor comes around and checks tickets. For me the interesting part is that I bought a Eurail pass so it would be easy to travel and I did not constantly have to buy tickets for trips. Even with the Eurail pass for the TVG and Intercities, I had to make a seat reservation. This is easy and you can do it online. When they would check my ticket, I would have to show both my Eurail pass on my phone and my seat reservation ticket. I was confused the first trip on the TGV as I had an online QR code for the seat that said ticket. After some confusion, I figured out they needed to scan my Eurail pass as well. After that experience, I was prepared for future ticket checking. On the TVG from Reims to Paris, they also asked for my ID to prove I matched the Eurail pass. That was a first.

Returning to Toulouse felt like returning to home (which I think is good). I felt like a true Toulousian as walking from the station to my apartment, I stopped and bought a baguette to have with dinner. I was waking down the street carrying a baguette just as everyone else does.

It was fun to be back to run with the Run in Toulouse group. Ran with Eliott again tonight which was fun. Met another young lady who is a med student here. I am beginning to feel more a part of the group.