Using Eurorail to buy a flexible ticket in France?

Question

I am currently travelling around France and having a good time.

I have a Eurail pass for eight journeys in France. I have used one of those journey from Paris to Rennes.

I was wondering is it possible for me to get a ticket e.g. from Rennes to Bordeaux which allows me to stay a night in La Rochelle and then continue my journey the next day to Bordeaux?

This would not be using the TGV line but the normal train lines in France. I checked the SNCF and Eurail pass site for information but I cannot find anything.

Does anyone know if this is possible?

Extra points for providing information on how to get this at the ticket kiosk and more points for someone who can tell me how to ask for it in French.

http://www.raileurope.com/

Answer 1

The Nantes–La Rochelle–Bordeaux line is an intercités line; intercités trains have no compulsory reservation. From Rennes to Nantes, you would take a TER (regional train), also without reservation. (Depending on the times, you might end up with a different mixture of TER and intercités, but my point is that this journey does not involve trains requiring a reservation, as long as you don't take a TGV between Rennes and Redon.)

Unless you have some type of Eurail pass that I haven't heard of and can't find any information about, An Eurail pass counts days, not journeys. The pass is valid only on the day you've ticked the box for (there's an exception for night trains which generally count only against the second day). So you can't put two legs of the journey on the same Eurail day if you do them on a separate day.

If you want to avoid ticking two days for this journey, buy one of the tickets separately. The full fare for Rennes–La Rochelle is 43.60€ and La Rochelle–Bordeaux is 28.60€.