h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Finally got my Senior Railcard, and my younger son has kindly worked out trains for me. Travelling all the way from Grimsby on Thursday 13th and back on Sunday 16th. Staying in Hotel Touring. Very much looking forward to seeing you all.

oh blimey I need to get my act in gear... hopefully I can get it all booked by the end of the weekend.

Great!

So who has committed themselves?

Just going by what's on this thread, the following have booked hotels/travel (or live in Reims)

Superfrenchie
Beatrice
DragonQueen
KB
TC
WS

Z and Ben are the spontaneous sort, and always manage to get there somehow. So that's definitely eight of us.

AND MMF

and me if I get my finger out - at the moment I have so much going on I'm like a headless chicken. Hopefully most of that will be solved by the weekend.

I couldn't find anywhere that MMF had managed to actually book. I know he's dead keen to come if he can.

Let's hope.

Right, trains booked. Couldnt get any sense from the online websites, so I did have to ring the reservation people and pay them a fee, but to be fair, they were very helpful.

On the Friday, I'm on the TGV leaving CDG at 18.28, change at Champagnes and hopefully getting to Reims at 19.11

The return journey on Sunday has to be through Paris - train leaving at 16.43 gives me loads of time to get back out to CDG for a 21.20 flight.

How's dragonqueen getting on with train times?

If she has to go in to Paris from the airport, as there are no direct trains to Reims after she lands- is anyone else going to be at Paris Est at that time?

Sorry, I misunderstood MMF's post. I thought it was him booking that spurred the rest of us into action. Do hope he's coming.

so the train will take me more than 6 hours, which is probably ok, but since it's the Thalys and the TGV I can't book it from a travel agent.

Which means I have to try to get to a station that is open when I'm not working, and book from there.

Because I can't book online because I don't use a credit card (yes, I know I know)

I'm also going to investigate flights.
And then find somewhere to stay.

Yay hay!

I am very much looking forward to meeting KB and Whisky in particular after all these years.

How many people have definitely booked and are definitely coming? It's not long now.........

I booked my travel out a while ago, but have only just booked trains back (well, back as far as London, where I'll stop off to visit friends and relatives before returning to Ireland).

Arrive Reims: 19:16 on Fri. 14th June.
Depart Reims: 19:15 on Mon. 17th June

Stay in "Hotel Stars Reims", which appears to be a hostel. It offered dorm. accommodation, anyway, though I went for a private room. I had a glance at the place on Google Streetview: it appears to be a large white box in an industrial estate.

TRiG.

SF - is your mobile number still the same as at the time of the Mannheim meet? (ending in ..22?)

What is happening on Friday night?

Yes, TC, that's the one.

The plans so far are :

- Friday night: Restaurant? Walk around town?

- Saturday morning : brunch with my English-speaking group
- Saturday afternoon : visit of a champagne cellar, a museum,...
- Saturday night : main Meet at the Apostrophe. Possibly after watching the lightshow on the cathedral facade (if people are interested and the weather is nice)

- Sunday : Breakfast/brunch? Walk around town? Visit? Packing?


Friday night can be a restaurant, possibly following a tour of the city centre, depending on the time when everyone arrives.

well I still can't book tickets so it looks as though I'm not going to make it

But. But. What about the caterpillar knitting pattern I've found? Who will I make it for?

Awwww, say it aint so!

Is there a religious or moral reason why you won't have a credit card?

at this stage it's probably more moral than anything - but for the longest time (due to the pants things that happened to me when my company fired me while pregnant) we didn't earn enough and it was touch and go financially.

It is just too pants though that they recently stopped the German railways selling the Thalys tickets.

I'm really exceedingly grumpy about this.

I will arrive late - my train leaves Paris Est after 21. I'll go back Monday morning.

Booking train tickets in Francs is...exciting...

Sho - can't you just go to the station, like I did, and get your ticket there. I will admit that the lady in the travel office in Speyer is very nice, very experienced, and very trustworthy. I got my tickets there - for the TGV, ICE, local trains- she gave it all to me in one envelope. I paid by debit card, could have given her cash, though.