Transporting your bicycle by train
In Belgium, a bicycle can be transported on any train for a fixed fee of about $5 per voyage.
In Spain, bicycles can be transported on regional trains for free, and train travel is also inexpensive.
In France, transportation to certain destination such as Nancy/Strasbourg and the Loire Valley are also free, as as local short distance trains at specific times of the day. The availability of these services are indicated in the train time table booklets available at the station. However for long distance transportation to, for example, Nice, it is usually necessary to send your bike in advance at a substantial cost. Usually, your bike will arrive the following day, but on occasion it can get lost for several. On inter-city trains other than Paris, e.g Poiters to Saintes, the conductor of a train not designated as a ‘bicycle train’ does have the power to allow you to take your bike with you if he feels that doing so will not inconvenience your fellow passengers. This is however not likely to work in Paris.
Outside of rush hour (before 9.30 a.m.) you can take your bicycle with you on the ‘trains de banlieu’ (sort of GO train). Should your cycling trip begin in Paris, this will at least allow you to avoid the city traffic and the traffic lights which seem to be timed specifically to annoy cyclists! This way you can get as far as Meaux from the Gare de l’Est, or Dreux/Chartres from the Gare Montparnasse, etc.