Meeting Your Trip in ARLES (or Nimes)


On this page, you will find information about meeting your trip in Arles. Topics include...

We suggest that you print these pages out, and bring a copy with you to your trip.


When and Where:

EITHER

In Nimes, across the street from the train station, in front of the Hôtel Milan, between 11a and noon.

This meet is only available if you are travelling self-contained, that is, if you have not have any of our baggage transfer services. If you have baggage to be shipped, it will depart from Arles, and you must meet the trip there.

OR

In Arles, on Sunday morning at 9:15a, at our “usual hotel” (the one on the trip's hotel list), even if you are staying somewhere else, or arriving by the overnight sleeper train.

Your coordinator will be out front of the Arles hotel at 9:15a (and also in Nimes at 11a). Should you have trouble of any sort, her name is Marianne Bry, and her phone number (dialing locally) is 06 76 87 95 33. From outside of France, you would dial +33 676 87 95 33.

You should be punctual, breakfasted, dressed for cycling, and have with you any belongings you want for the day (camera, rain gear, wallet, parachute...) when you meet, at least if you intend to travel to Nimes with your coordinator. She will walk to the station for a 9:50a bus / train to Nimes, departing the hotel at precisely 9:15a. The bikes have been stored in Nimes hotel, and the trip will start from there, as it normally does.

If this is too early a start for you, it is actually fine to take the next train to Nimes, at 13h04 (1:04p). The shorter of our two routes can easily be done in the afternoon, though in this case it is important that you have lunch before you go (or on the train). You will not have time to get off in Nimes at 1:30p, fiddle with your bike sizing for an hour, have a relaxed lunch, and do the ride, unless you are a strong cyclist. The counterpoint to this flexibility is that your coordinator will not worry about you if she does not see you at 9:15a... she will just assume you are coming by the next train. Call her on her cell if you have trouble.

Should you opt for this “later train from Arles to Nimes” option, simply buy your own train ticket, which your coordinator will reimburse. And meet her in Nimes, in front of the Hotel de Milan, across the street from the train station. She will be there at 1:30p, waiting for you.

Arles is a small city just north of the Mediterranean, a 3.5-hour ride south of Paris on the high-speed TGV, though most trains require a connection in either Nimes or Avignon.


Included in Your Access Package, if you subscribed to it:
A train ticket to Arles, as well as a detailed timetable of the train for which you are reserved.

If you are arriving in Arles via a Saturday daylight train, a hotel room in Arles is also included. If you are arriving via an overnight train, a couchette berth is included on board the train.

Travel Documents will be supplied by our Paris office, unless you are arriving via a different route, in which case they will be sent to you at home, prior to your departure. You will receive either a train ticket, or a railpass with accompanying explanation regarding its use, and a schedule for the train that you have reserved.


Getting to the Trip
The following routings are described. You may follow the link to jump directly to yours, or just scroll down. Information on getting to your hotel from the Arles station is offered at the start of the next section, "Practical Information."

From Paris
Trains from Paris require reservations. If you are arriving via this route you should have requested a reservation on a specific train from us. Your tickets will be waiting for you in our Paris office, (opening hours). If you must make alternate arrangements, please call the Paris office at least 48 hours in advance (or e-mail at paris@bluemarble.org).

All daylight trains depart from the Gare de Lyon, and offer café / bar service.

From Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Trains from Charles de Gaulle airport require reservations. If you are arriving via this route you will have given us a travel schedule, and we will have provided you with an appropriate train reservation.

The railway station is located in terminal 2, to the right as you come out from the plane and into the concourse if you are arriving via terminal 2A, 2C or 2F; to the left if you are in 2B, 2D or 2E. All trains from the airport require that you change trains in either Lyon, Avignon, or Nimes. Study your reservations carefully to see if this is your case.

A café / bar service is available on all trains.

From Nice
Take the airport bus to the downtown rail station, and ask at information for the next train to Arles. Through trains run several times per day, but you may get there more quickly by changing in Marseille (2 hours away) or Avignon (3 hours away), rather than waiting for a direct service. The information counter will offer you this possibility, if it saves time.

Trains on this line are easy to use: many can be boarded without advance seat reservations. The exception is the TGV, the high-speed train bound for northern France, which you may find yourself using as a connector from Nice to Marseille. If this is the service that is proposed to you, simply go to the ticket window and make a reservation (there will be space available, even at the last minute, since the train does not fill up until it reaches Marseille). SHOW THE AGENT YOUR TICKET OR RAILPASS WHEN YOU MAKE THE RESERVATION. If you fail to do so, the agent will sell you a whole new ticket, in addition to a reservation. In all, your reservation should cost you no more than 4 €uros. If it costs more, a mistake is being made.

A couple of hints about the ride: try to sit on the left hand side of the train (as you face direction of travel) for better views. Also, do not be alarmed when your train reverses direction after the Marseille station stop. This is normal: Marseille is a “stub-end” station, and all trains are obligated to reverse direction to continue their routes. It does not mean that you are headed back where you came from.


Practical Information

Finding Your Hotel.
Our usual hotel is the Hôtel du Cloître, 16 rue du Cloître, 13200 Arles. The phone (dialing locally) is 04 90 96 29 50. To get there by taxi would cost 10 euros or so, including tip and baggage charge.

With baggage, it is a bit of a walk (20 minutes?), but here is how to do it if you want to. Come out of the station and turn left, thus heading for the center of town. About 10 minutes will bring you to the old city wall. Enter the old city via the obvious gate (a stone arch).

Walk forward a couple of blocks, until your street forks. You can see the Roman Arena, locally referred to as les Arènes, down each tyne of the fork. Keep right, and walk around the right side of the Arènes when you come to them, to the top / back.

When you get there, you will come to a little open square / parking lot, the Place Henri Bornier. Enter this, keeping to the right, and exit via the rue de la Calade. The old Roman theatre (Théatre Antique) is on your right hand. The first street on your left, just past the theatre, is the rue du Cloître. Follow it for a block to your hotel (it curves around to the right, and your hotel is on the right).

Laundry facilities
Coin-operated laundry facilities are available, should you need them. Ask at the hotel reception.

Combatting Jet Lag
Trips starting with our Provence itinerary assemble on Sunday morning, but if you arrive via a Saturday train from Paris we will have reserved a hotel room for you. If you have just landed from the United States, we strongly suggest that you not use that hotel room, at least until 11p or so, since even a short nap when you arrive will ensure that you are wide awake and raring to go between 2 and 6a for the next couple of days.

Getting Advance Information on Tomorrow's Ride, Contacting Your Coordinator
Tomorrow’s route sheets (the daily documents we distribute to describe that day's route) should be available this evening if we arranged your hotel room in Arles. They will hopefully be placed in your room’s mailbox at reception (or under your room's door) by your harried, but smiling, coordinator. She will spend the night at this hotel, and you can leave a note for her there if you need to reach her in advance for any reason.