Voyager à Auvillar

VCCA-France staff can arrange to pick up Fellows (with advance notice) from nearby train stations or airports. Contact Resident Director Cheryl Fortier at cfortier@vcca.com to make arrangements.

Fees for travel on weekdays inside the hours of 7am – 9:00pm:
  Toulouse airport (TLS – Blagnac): 95€ /trip
  Toulouse train station (Gare Matabiau): 110€ / trip
  Montauban train station: 50€ /trip
  Agen train station: 40€ /trip
  Valence d’Agen train station: 10€ /trip

Add 30€ for travel before 7:00am, after 9:00pm and on weekends:
  Toulouse airport (TLS – Blagnac): 125€ /trip
  Toulouse train station (Gare Matabiau): 140€ / trip
  Montauban train station: 80€ /trip
  Agen train station: 70€ /trip
  Valence d’Agen train station: 40€ /trip

By Rail
The French train system can be daunting to newcomers. Luckily there is an excellent web site in English which explains it all in simple but complete detail:

http://www.seat61.com/voyages-sncf.htm

The official train site for ticketing if you’re in France is https://en.oui.sncf.

From other countries you may be directed automatically to a raileurope.com site. With RailEurope you can have tickets mailed to you in the USA and you can call them if you’re having trouble figuring it all out, but they don’t always give you seating choices or the best prices.

Where should you buy French train tickets? Here’s a grid explaining the pros and cons of a variety of choices

https://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm#Which_website_to_buy_French_train_tickets_online

If you take the TGV from Paris toward Auvillar, plan to get off at Agen and either (a) arrange for us to come pick you up (see fees above) or (b) make your way to Valence D’Agen on a local train. Search for a separate itinerary for the last part – in other words don’t look for a ticket Paris to Valence d’Agen – look for one ticket from Paris-Agen, and a second ticket from Agen to Valence d’Agen.

There are smartphone apps available at http://www.sncf.com/en/services/mobile-apps

By Air
The closest international airport to Auvillar is Toulouse (TLS – also called Blagnac). VCCA-France staff can collect you from the Toulouse airport with advance notice. Please contact Cheryl Fortier, Resident Director, at cfortier@vcca.com to make arrangements.

Good shuttle between TLS and Toulouse Matabiau train station – http://www.toulouse.aeroport.fr/en/passengers/go/access-airport/airport-shuttle. You can also get to Gare Matabiau by tram and metro, less expensive but more complicated.  UPDATE for 2019Due to construction near Gare Matabiau, the train station, the shuttle from the airport is not stopping at Gare Matabiau, but it is still stopping at the Gare Routiere, about 100 metres away. Still the most reliable way to get from the airport to the train station.

From Gare Matabiau you can take a train directly to Valence d’Agen. See http://voyages-sncf.com or https://www.trainline.eu for current information and prices. In general, trains run in the morning, around  noon, and in the late afternoon/evening, for about €17 one-way.

There is also air service between Agen and Paris-Orly 3 times/day on Hop – http://www.hop.com/

Air France shuttle buses between Paris airports and train stations are now called « Le Bus Direct » – http://en.lebusdirect.com/

By Car
Moulin à Nef in Auvillar is near exit 8 from the A62 autoroute about 1/3 of the way between Toulouse and Bordeaux
TLS (also called Blagnac) airport – 50 minutes in non-rush hour times, tolls €6.80 in 2018.

For tolls on the autoroutes – US credit cards often are not accepted, and there is rarely a manned booth. Carry cash in euros.

Driving from the Toulouse airport to Auvillar:
—To exit the airport, follow the signs for Toulouse and then follow the blue signs for the Autoroute, A62, headed towards Bordeaux. On the blue signs is a picture of a highway going under an overpass.

—At the toll gate entry to the autoroute don’t use lanes that have only an orange « t », these lanes are for pass holders only, similar to Ezpass in the US. Look for a lane with a green downward pointing arrow above.

—Stay on the Autoroute towards Bordeaux until Exit 8 for Auvillar and Valence d’Agen (about 40-45 minutes from the toll entrance). Be careful not to miss this exit as the next one is 15 minutes away.

—-Take Exit 8, pay the toll (€6.80 in 2018, cash or credit card, US cards may or may not work, and follow the signs for Auvillar. When you are almost to Auvillar you will reach a stop sign at the intersection of the D12 roadway. Don’t turn right onto the D12, which will have an arrow pointing to Auvillar. Instead turn left towards the bridge. Then turn right just before the bridge. You will see the three VCCA buildings on your right, office at 18 Esplanade du Port.

Consider getting a GPS if you’re planning to drive to Auvillar. Cell phone GPS is ok too if you have a way to preload the maps – 3G and 4G coverage is spotty outside big cities and data charges can be very expensive.

Maps.
A custom Google map with annotations and photos of Auvillar and nearby areas can be found here (not necessarily up to date): https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zzQN8TpJNOEQ.kLWueJrVccdw

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