Normally this train station would be a 3 easily, based on overall aesthetic, convenience of location and accessibility to surrounding retail and dining amenities (convenience stores, restaurants/bakeries, groceries), but like some other reviews have mentioned, the customer service is beyond horrible and very unfriendly to non-French speakers.
I arrived 30 min prior for a 8:50am departure and being prepared, had purchased my ticket the night before on the SNCF app and with QR code on my phone. 10 minutes prior to departure I scan said QR code at one of the turnstile gates and it won't scan. There are 4-5 station workers standing around directing customers and I get their attention, showing them my phone and try scanning a couple more times. The attendant points over to the right and says something in French about going to the machines on the side. When I look confused I politely ask another attendant who basically says something similar and when I ask them if they could help me another attendant basically yells at me in French to go to the machines, very irritated and without further explanation.
I back away and go over to the ticket machines. I see a white machine with the word échange and figure it means exchange so I try this first. Wow. Incredibly frustrating. A) it has a touch screen but you need to double tap on options (as if you're using a mouse), this took me a couple minutes of angry tapping to understand. B) all initial instructions are in French, you have to choose a the language selection written in French to get to the English wording, super backward and unfriendly for non-French, non-European language speakers. C) in order to exchange a ticket you need to log into you SNCF account, and enter your personal email and SNCF password on screen, visible to all around you. D) after doing this THREE times, on TWO different machines, they both said the exchanged tickets could not be printed on the machine. E) BUT on the same machines if I wanted to buy a new ticket it was not a problem to print a ticket. WTH.
Meanwhile in between my trying I had walked around trying to find a ticket office (none) or help desk (not open/manned, which was the case multiple days when I arrived to the station). I had gone back to another attendant who told me he couldn't help me and pointed me to the yellow helpline telephone to the right of turnstiles. I saw another few people trying to use this and basically overheard the speaker reply by an automated help line, again in French. Not surprisingly as all of this is happening I notice about a dozen other confused parties of non-French origin similarly confounded by how to proceed. We ask each other but no one knows what to do.
By this point I've totally missed my train by 10 minutes and in my desperation not to miss the next one, i go back to one of the white machines and buy a new ticket.
The next couple days I end up using the blue machines bc the double tapping just felt idiotic to me on a touch screen. Those are NOT touch screens and are slightly easier to figure out. Press the green button to start and confirm options, and then use the circular dial (around the green button) to select options.
So yea....don't bother buying tickets online and get there early to buy your tickets at the machines. Other than that the departure/arrival screens are straightforward and the platforms are clearly marked. read more