where to stop on Paris to Zurich train route

Bon Jour!

I am just starting to plan a trip to Paris and Switzerland for next summer (August) Our daughter will be spending July studying in Paris, and my husband and I are flying over to meet her in early August. Since my husband is from Switzerland, we plan to spend a few nights in Paris, then take the train from Paris to Zurich, rent a car in Zurich and tour Switzerland

Rather than making the train trip to Zurich all in one day, I was thinking it might be fun to stop overnight in a small town outside Paris, then get back on the train the next day and head to Zurich. I had read that Colma, in Alsace france was a very charming town. DOes the train stop very close to this town, or would I need a car to get into town? We will of course have all our luggage on the train with us, so I dont know if this would be a problem getting transpportation into town. Is there a nice hotel there?

Is there another town that might be a good and convenient stop for overnight along that route to Zurich? Thanks so much for any advice

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Colmar is great, but that might be a bit of a stretch. On the TGV route to Zurich, you have Dijon, and also Bern! Bern is a wonderful city, if you haven%26#39;t had the chance to visit it yet, you really should.

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You need to buy at least two tickets. My own suggestion, if you don%26#39;t have time to visit the entire region (as much as it deserves it) would be to take the train from Zürich to Strasbourg (almost certainly a quick change of trains in Basel). Strasbourg is a fabulous city. And then from Strasbourg, you can take a TGV to Paris in 2h20.

You can find a cheap %26quot;Prem%26#39;s%26quot; fare from Strasbourg to Paris on the www.voyages-sncf.com site. In most cases you can print the ticket yourself, but if not, choose to pick up your ticket in Strasbourg when you arrive. All you need is the credit card you used to pay for the ticket.

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The Zurich-Paris journey can be done through two routes: arriving at Gare de Lyon through francophone Switzerland and Dijon, or arriving at gare de l%26#39;Est with the new TGV Est through Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne. The latter is the quickest journey (4h30, vs around 6h by the Southern route), but you don%26#39;t really care about that since you are willing to break your journey. I would suggest you to go to www.tgv.com, look at a network map and take your pick. My personal recommendations:

- On the Southern route: Besançon and/or Dijon

- On the Eastern route: Strasbourg indeed (Colmar lies about 50 km South), Metz (the overlooked but nice capital of the Lorraine region), Reims (cathedral, champagne, etc. but this might be too close, 45 mn, from Paris). If you are WWI history buffs, there is a purpose built station next to Verdun (sorry, can%26#39;t remember the name) with access to the battlefields and this otherwise lovely, green, hilly region.

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thanks for the help...i will loock into these options...