Waking up early in the morning is tough but we had to make our way from Southwestern Paris to Gare de l’Est, or East Station. If you’re not familiar with Paris, there are 7 main train stations that serve different regions of France or different countries. Because we were heading East of Paris to Luxembourg, our train was to leave from the Gare de l’Est.
To get to Gard de l’Est we needed to connect to one of the Métro lines that go have a stop there, which the lines 4, 5 and 7 have. Since our hotel was off the number 12 line and we had to connect once on the number 4 and take north to the train station. It’s all relatively easy but make sure you have money or a credit card to buy a one way Métro ticket.
Once at Gare de l’Est, it’s pretty straight forward. Just look at the train billboard and fine “Luxembourg,” which will be operated by a TGV train. You may see other stops on the schedule but it should say that the ending train station is Luxembourg. And if you book on the TGV website before your travels, which I recommend, you will already have a seat reserved. Even in the height of summer our tickets were only 50 euros total!
What I really love about the TGV is how fast it gets me across France. I could take a train from Paris to Nice and be there in 4 and 1/2 hours or go from Paris to Luxembourg and be there in 2 hours and 20 minutes. And they are usually on time, clean and safe. Sometimes you may be surprised to find that tickets on TGV are high but if you book around 3 months out, when the tickets first go on sale, they should be a reasonable deal.
We left from platform 8 and we didn’t know our platform number until 20 minutes before we left. Before we boarded the train we stopped at a café inside the train station that was selling pastries and croissants. I think they sale food on the TGV train but it’s a better idea to bring food from outside. There will be tables with you seat and it’s nice to have food while traveling, usually long distance.
The train left on-time and we began our fast paced journey to Eastern France. Honestly I’m surprised how fast the train travels and Eastern France is beautiful, not like I was expecting anything less. I didn’t know that the area the train travels through is famous for Champagne and is rural while also hilly. The train travels near cities like Reims, Épernay, Metz and Thionville, and stopped at the latter two cities. Most of the journey is in France and only maybe the last 15 minutes is when we entered into Luxembourg. However it does feel like the border is defined by more hills and a more jagged landscape. Surprisingly Luxembourg has a variety of landscape and is extremely beautiful for such a small country.
Once we entered Luxembourg it was a quick trip to the central train station of Luxembourg City. The train station is typical European train station but had a great look. They have people who can help guide you to your hotel or help you with general questions about the city. We need information on how to get to our hotel. I’m glad we asked because there were two hotels in the city with the same company and I thought our hotel was the further one. That saved us some confusion and time!
First glance, Luxembourg is a very tiny city and extremely walk-able. The walk to our hotel took only 10 minutes. We decided to stay at the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal on Boulevard d’Avranches, a 5 star hotel that was gorgeous and very well priced. It was probably one of the cheaper hotels that we booked for our entire trip. The front desk helped us plan our time in the city and even showed how to use our room, a nice touch.
The whole operation from Paris to Luxembourg was very simple and we couldn’t have asked for a smoother trip. The Paris Métro is very easy to navigate and most of the time it won’t be crowded unless you plan to leave during rush hour. The only thing I would look out for is to bring a smaller luggage because you will have to lift your bag up and down stairs. Also you may want to get to the TGV train early because luggage space on the train does go quick but you do already have an assigned seat. Once in Luxembourg the train station has operating elevators to get up and down and it’s not as crowded as Paris. There is transportation to get around Luxembourg City but you may not need it. Also look out for deals and make sure to book your TGV train in advance! You can contact me if you have any questions.
images by: shawnvoyage
