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

Should we be looking into hotels already? I usually leave that sort of thing till quite late.....

Well, if the hostel is full already, it might be worth starting to look now.
Then if anyone wants to stop you from coming, you can answer that you couldn't possibly cancel, you've got your hotel booked!

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187137-d1220638-Reviews-Touring_Hotel-Reims_Marne_Champagne_Ardenne.html

I don't hang about! I've booked this place based on the lovely reviews in Trip Advisor, apparently the owner is a real character

Plus it was cheap, more money left for

I'm flying Easyjet to CDG arriving 16.25 on the Friday, there seem to be plenty of train connections to Reims. And my flight home on the Sunday is at 21.10 so I have a full day free on the Sunday too (though I should be doing a 10k run at some stage that day....)

You can find good offers when you book your train tickets very early (half price or so); not many seats with that price, though, so you need to be fast (reservation is available 3 months in advance).

Quite. *counts on fingers* three months before 15 June is 15 March. So I can't book my train yet.

There seems to be a green space (Couree verte?) in the centre of town that I'm pretty sure will be perfect for my Sunday morning run.

I can't get the Bundesbahn website to even identify Reims as a place.

I was looking on TGV Europe.

Weird, Sho. I got it on bahn.de yesterday...

Sho, I just tried and found it too.

Bea, I've been thinking, and if I remember correctly, people often run along the canal. There are also a number of parks.

ok what are you entering on Bahn.de
I have tried Reims and Reims Frankreich
(mind you, it won't show me my home station either - probably because it's too small)

"Reims" works for me, it then shows me a number of possible matches (from Reims itself, to pretty much every place that contains "Reims", or so it seems).
You need to let it load the whole page first, though, or it won't give you any choices.

it gives me a whole list of places, of which I've never heard, and then asks me to pick one. Same for my start point.

It really is one of the worst websites I've ever had the misfortune to want to use. I've had problems with it for years (and don't mention the ticket machines...)

ok finally found it.
it doesn't have any details because it's too far in the future.
Maybe I'll drive and save myself the bother of having to have anything to do with the stupid ticket machine too.

For me, when I type "Reims", Reims is the first on the list of places, followed by Reims Champagne-Ardenne (which is the high speed train station, a little away from the town centre).
Would it be something to do with detecting where you are and offering you the closest possibilities? (but then there might be a chance that you knew some)

... or you could drive. Yes. That too.

OK, I got the time off from work

So, then there is the question - how to get there..?

There are flights from my hometown to Paris (CDG) with a couple of stops on the way.

And then? How to get from CDG to Reims? My French is .. ... rusty to put it mildly (last French lesson 1976 ca...)

Any suggestions?

see post 23. There's lots of trains, some of them very fast, but it's too far away in time yet to make bookings.

If you know what time you'll be at CDG we could travel on together?

Beatrice, I've booked the same hotel as you, Hotel Touring. I'll arrive at CDG airport Friday 14th at 18.40.

Obviously train tickets can't be booked yet.

Well so far so good