The Paris Tour

This is the tour that started the STARS ‘ball rolling.’ In fact, our Paris tour in 1988 was the first of three consecutive tours running to the city, all fully booked. Since then, there have been massive changes and, because it has been so long since our last tour, we are returning with a lot of catching up to do. The tour will have little formal structure and on the first full day a locally sourced coach will be used to visit those locations that are either difficult or time consuming to reach by public transport. Two such locations are the depots of Acheres and Villeneuve St Georges which are, in reality, the last remaining depots with a large allocation of locomotives. Several yards with their stabling points will also be visited or viewed.

The subsequent days are generally free days, but we suggest rush hour visits to the stations outlined later are a must. Getting there could not be easier. You could opt for the speed of Eurostar or the endless options of flight from most principal UK airports. If this is your first visit to Paris or you don’t know the Paris area, plenty of help and advice will be available from the officers on the tour. Now, how can we delicately put this? Our first Paris tours were blessed with the charming presence of members’ wives and partners who revelled in the sights and sounds of the city, not to mention immersing themselves in a little (but for some, a lot of) retail therapy. They formed and moved around in their own sub-groups, whilst the men concentrated on the serious side of spotting. How pleasing if we could resurrect that, so come on gentlemen, what about a treat for the long suffering wives with a few days to enjoy the sights or even shopping? You are sure to earn ‘Brownie points,’ and the only risk might be to your bank balances!

Remember- do not book your flight or travel arrangements until we have confirmed the tour as running.