Gard du Nord station

I have walked (admittedly not alone) to D and SIL’s flat 10 minutes from the Gare du Nord after coming off the evening €* with no problems.

I've never liked Gare du Nord, DS uses it occasionally for work and says there's always a lot of police around.

Obvious typo- Gare not Gard - have guards in mind! Just remembered that my brother was almost mugged there for his very expensive camera but he did look like a rich tourist even if he wasn’t.

At/inside the station, or in the vicinity? The station is quite safe- the area not so much. Should be fine daytime- but I wouldn't walk around on my own after dark.

We always used to have to change trains/stations for Italy at gare du nord. Mostly in the evenings.
It was a long time ago but we never had any problems.
Anyone can be mugged, anywhere. Sadly.

My son had a very easy journey after all that! In fact he hopes to return with his young family soon!

Great news. From London to Paris, makes absolutely no sense to take a plane.

Especially when grandson adores trains….

People only compare costs of tickets, and flight time- and do not factor in cost of getting to airport, parking or train, etc, and getting from airport to destination, etc.

Train = town centre to town centre- brilliant. No stress, can move around freely, proper restaurant, etc, etc.

Fleurpepper

Great news. From London to Paris, makes absolutely no sense to take a plane.

Did anybody suggest planes?
From the question about Gare du Nord, it is pretty clear OP might be talking about €*.
As I said, I have never had any problems on the short walk to SIL’s flat nearby.

Anyone can be mugged, anywhere. Sadly.

Quite.

Yep train makes much more sense - if you live near London

It's weird that I always feel a bit nervous around stations in the dark - Paddington, King's Cross - even though the areas have been regenerated. I am fine on the underground and around tube stations!?

I'm off to Amsterdam next month. I did consider the train but it adds hours to my journey whereas I can be there in a couple of hours by plane.

Talking of travel and Paris, I can't wait to see the Olympics opening ceremony along the beautiful banks of the Seine. It's the first time it won't be held in a stadium.

DH regularly passes through Gare du Nord on his frequent trips via rail to and from the UK and never experiences issues. He wouldn't fly under any circumstances but then he does benefit from concessionary travel in France and free First Class seats in the UK.

That's good if your DH gets free rail travel and concessions Ashcombe. Do you also?
Don't quote ne, but I'm sure I heard Macron has withdrawn the family concessions from French SNCF workers in a move to save money.

I always feel safer once we’re out of it, despite the slightly dodgy area. Last time I was there with my DDs we were surrounded by 4 or 5 men trying to persuade me to give them my credit card while we used a ticket machine, right next to a manned booth with an operator determinedly looking the other way. Unfortunately we usually have to pass through even though we fly in.

It’d be great to have the Eurostar option though. Of course it was originally planned to run to Manchester and Glasgow - I think us Northerners always knew that was never going to happen…..

Yes, Joseann, I also have that travel concession. It wasn’t the reason I married him eight years ago, despite the rumours!!

It’s a horrible station anyway, and IMO a disgrace to French public transport. Other Paris stations are infinitely nicer.
But I suppose that like almost anywhere in cities, you need to be hyper vigilant, don’t give thieves the slightest opportunity.

A BiL who is bilingual and spends half his year in Paris, had his briefcase-type bag stolen at the G du N while he was buying a Metro ticket - he’d put it down for just those few seconds. He’s over 80 and has PD - looks very frail.

Bag had his passport, phone, credit cards and just about everything else in it.
Utter bastards.

😆 Ashcombe.