Two questions for French surfers

General Discussion
1

Anyone know if you can take a surfboard on a TGV train? I’m doing some planning for a detour from Paris to Normandy & Brittany.

 

On a different note, anyone ever heard of Philippe Puyo or know a relative? I believe Philippe made the Freewave planky in the 1990s. The company, (G+ S.A.R.L) was based in Bordeaux.

There was a patent - http://www.google.com/patents/USD433474 and a website http://emilion.chez.com/freewave/

 

Any information is much appreciated,

 

Bob

2

I’ve taken a board on a TGV train from Paris to Biarritz …

3

Hey Bob,

Still no info on Philippe Puyo - the older shops are all gone now in Bordeaux and the younger generation doesn’t have a clue that anything existed here before themselves. I will try and see if Gérard Depeyris remembers anything though, I hadn’t thought of calling Gérard till I was writing this.

For the TGV - it shouldn’t be a problem if the board is under 7-something. That way in a worse-case scenario you can place it vertically in at the end of your wagon near the luggage racks. I got some nasty looks with my two longboards a few years ago on my way to Paris via TGV to get a flight to Bali - people griped a little bit, but a smile and a few excusez-moi’s while I moved the boards when necessary went a long way.

If you’ll be in Brittany, contact Marc Billion on my behalf if you want spot info, etc. He’s a great guy and a fantastic shaper/glasser. And his Frangish is good enough to get by on.

Cheers,

4

Hello Jeffrey,

 

Thanks (and to Paul also) for confirming that is ok to carry a board on the TGV. I’ll definitiely have something shorter than 7’. Your comment about young guys being unaware of local surf history is one reason to document this while we can. 

 

Do you have an e-mail or contact details for Marc that you could pm or e-mail? We’ll be in Carnac for a couple of days after drivng from the Normandy coast where my wife wanted to see the D-Day beaches and where Monet painted. I wasn’t too keen driving from CdG airport, so was thinking of a train to Le Mans or Nantes, then hiring a car, and then a train from Rouen back.

 

Regards

 

Bob