St. Jean Pied de Port to Lyon via rail

[Hiawatha]

I may be lucky enough to be walking the Le Puy next May , it seems fitting to me to walk the first half after walking to Finisterre last year . Besides I found the countryside along the GR70 so beautiful I really want more of it and for a longer time .
A basic question , I suspect the rail system will carry me to Lyon from St Jean with little complication but if anyone can give me the heads up on the best time of day to leave, any things to beware of and what to book I would be grateful .

 

[mspath]

Unfortunatrly there is no direct route. Trains go from SJPdP to Bayonne with a TGV train from Bayonne to Paris/Gare Montparnasse and then a TGV from Paris/Gare de Lyon to Lyon. See www.ouigo.com for times, costs and possible connections.

 

[GettingThere]

I may be lucky enough to be walking the Le Puy next May , it seems fitting to me to walk the first half after walking to Finisterre last year . Besides I found the countryside along the GR70 so beautiful I really want more of it and for a longer time .
A basic question , I suspect the rail system will carry me to Lyon from St Jean with little complication but if anyone can give me the heads up on the best time of day to leave, any things to beware of and what to book I would be grateful .

Air France fly direct from Biarritz to Lyon - could be a better option for you. If you book well in advance you should find some good fares, probably less than the train which would be long and complicated as @mspath says. The direct flight is not much more than an hour, plus the time to get from St Jean to Biarritz airport.

 

[TMcA]

The French train system runs north and south around the Massif Central in south central France. That's why transport by train would be circuitous and time-consuming.

Tom

 

[irishrock]

I flew from Lyon to Biaritz on EasyJet...took 60 minutes and $85 versus $125 and 12 hours on a train. Just an fyi. Good luck

 

[Jeep500]

We did Le Puy to SJPP in 2015 , we came in via Lyon airport and flew back home from Bordeaux much closer international airport
Bon Chemin!

 

[AlwynWellington]

@Charles Zammit , gidday

Given you are from Australia, why do you want to travel to Saint-Jean and from there to Le Puy (via Lyon or anywhere)?

Were you to fly from Aus to Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris-CDG) you take an escalator to the CDG train station to board a GTV to Lyon (Gare de Lyon Part-Dieu), then a TER from the same station to Le Puy.

Kia kaha (take care, be strong, get going)

 

[Hiawatha]

Thanks all

I had hoped to meet friends in Lyon before starting in Le Puy , it is where I landed earlier this year before starting the GR70 and I found it to be convenient both for arrival and departure .
But , it is obviously not as straightforward as I thought to return to Lyon from S.J.Pde Port and as Alwyn kindly points out a flight to and from Paris may just be easier all round . So thanks again , with this advice I may not end up in Poland as has very nearly happened before

 

[Jeep500]

In October 2015 they didn't provide train service direct to Bayonne. They were fixing the rail that was damaged . We took the bus 6:00am at the rail station to the next city about 20 minutes then the train to Bayonne switch to Toulouse train around 8:30am. In the afternoon the TGV to Lyon.
Most Pilgrims took the same service to Bayonne then to Bordeaux much closer then Lyon . Bordeaux has an International Airport service for many Airlines.
Bon Chemin