Getting to Gare de Lyon

The meeting at ICAO ends just after 17:00 on Thursday afternoon. The ICAO offices are located on a quiet side street off the Avenue Charles de Gaulle, which links the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile with the Grande Arche at La Défense in what is, technically, Neuilly Sur Seine.

I catch a line 1 metro from Les Sablons which goes directly to Gare de Lyon. It’s 15 stops and the journey in the cramped and crowded carriage takes about thirty minutes to complete. The advantage of taking the metro, of course, is that it is fully automated and therefore still running at normal capacity, whereas the RER trains are running on a limited service today as the result of a strike called by one of the unions. Given that the French government toppled only the previous week, though, I’m not quite sure I get why they’re still striking.

Pierre Hermé at Gare de Lyon

There is a lounge available for First Class passengers travelling on what the French railways grandly designate as Les Grandes Lignes, which refers to the mainline high speed routes operated by TGV. The lounge, or Salon, is located in the Salle des Fresques which connects Hall 1 to Hall 2. But le Salon is already quite crowded. So instead, I exit and make a left turn into the Pierre Hermé Café two doors down and indulge in a hot chocolate which doubles as a late lunch.

Boarding

Boarding is from Hall 2, at the far end of the Salle des Fresques. By the time I’m done with the chocolat chaud, it’s just gone 18:00 and my train is showing as boarding from gate 5 on the departure screen.

I mean, seriously, how can you not totally geek out at the sight of such a funky looking engineering masterpiece?

The Cabin

On a standard composition, the TGV has three First Class coaches, which are separated from the Second Class coaches by the service car with the bistro. On the upper deck of the first First Class coach is the Business Première cabin, which is reserved for passengers on a fully flexible ticket. In addition, in Business Première, passengers are served a meal at their seat. Other than that, though, the Business Première cabin is identical to the standard First Class cabin.

The pitch is generous and the seat has a good recline. Every seat is equipped with a standard issue European electricity socket. There is also plenty of storage space for bulky items of luggage at both ends of the cabin. On this evening’s service, it also helps that there are only ten passengers in the Business Première cabin, so there’s plenty of room to spread out.

The Service

We depart on time. At 18:22, the TGV slowly pulls out of Gare de Lyon station. For the first few minutes of the journey, we trundle along at a leisurely pace, until we branch off and enter the TGV’s dedicated high speed line. And that, boys and girls, is where the fun begins. The driver opens up the throttle and we go flying through the darkness at 322km/h.

The ride is incredibly smooth. Only the deep and menacing rumble of the wind gives away the speed at which we are travelling.

The service is done by a single attendant, and starts with the distribution of warm scented towels. Once they are collected again, the tables are set for dinner with TGV branded linen.

The Meal

The meal is quite substantial and a lot more impressive than what you’re likely to get in Business Class in Europe on a flight of three hours. There is a starter, hot meal, cheese with butter and chutney, a slice of bread and dessert.

For the starter there is a quinoa salad with cubes of cheese and pickled root vegetables.

There are two choices for the hot meal. I opt for the vegetarian main course, which is a buckwheat risotto with mushrooms and greens. The non-vegetarian option is fish in a white wine sauce.

The risotto is good. It’s rich and creamy and packs a lot of flavour. I also like that it’s still hot when the tray is placed in front of me.

The cheese dish is a slice of camembert and a shaving of tête de moine which goes very nicely with the chutney.

The dessert is some kind of chocolate and hazelnut mousse cake. I only try a spoonful of this. It’s okay, but a bit too fluffy for my taste.

The meal concludes with coffee, which is served with a packaged trufffe. Surprisingly, the coffee isn’t half bad either!

Arrival in Basel

The trip from Paris to Basel takes three hours and four minutes, with the train briefly calling in Dijon and then in Mulhouse. The platforms at Dijon and Mulhouse look busy as we pull in. However, the Business Première cabin remains comfortably empty and quiet all the way to Basel. Eventually, we cross into Switzerland and pull into Basel SBB, the Swiss railway station, exactly on time at 21:26.

Conclusion

The journey by TGV is always an experience and very enjoyable. I also greatly appreciate how punctual the trains run. Of course, you could argue that I’ve just been really lucky, but I don’t think it’s just that. I travel to and from Paris by train frequently, and have the TGV has yet to let me down.