Marseille – Brussels train options

Hi all,

I read a few questions that are similar and searched on the SCNF site but couldn’t really find what I needed so I hope this post I allowed.

I’m planning on doing the Eurovelo routes 15 and 17 (Rhine and Rhone) after each other this summer which will take me from The Netherlands to Marseille. But I’m now planning my return journey by train and find it quite difficult to navigate the French national train website. I hope somebody can help.

On the SCNF site it states that I can’t bring my bike on the route Marseille – Paris unless under cover with a 120×90 cm max dimension. My bike case by Evoc is 138×85 cm. I was initially planning on sending the empty bike case over (but the Dutch Post also only want to accept max 120cm, although the irony is they nowadays sponsor a world tour cycling team).

• can I only take the regional trains from Marseille to Paris when not in a case?
• does SCNF accept a case my size?
• does anybody have experience sending an empty bike case by mail between Netherlands and France?
• am I overlooking an easy option?

Thanks for the help!