Yes they still do. You can arrive in Paris North in a fancy Thalys or Eurostar, but will then have to somehow get to Paris Lyon or South using weird subway like

Yes they still do. You can arrive in Paris North in a fancy Thalys or Eurostar, but will then have to somehow get to Paris Lyon or South using weird subway like trains which are often packed, dirty, smelly and confusingly inefficient unless you're used to them. This is why I don't travel by train to the South of Europe. It's a waste of time, and an uncomfortable one at that.