Train boards usually list the ENDING city and the intermediate stops scroll by just below it. It's pretty easy to figure out.
Our train tickets list the departing and arriving cities, the train number, what coach number we are on, and if we are going 1st class or coach. Most Eurail Pass passengers travel via 1st class. In addition to the Eurail Pass you have to buy a reservation on some/most TGV trains. We did on this popular route. The reservation costs an additional $11 for each person for most segments.
10 minutes before the train arrived the video board in the ticketing area changed and we now knew our train would be coming on on Track 4. Everyone then heads downstairs toward that track. Once we got down to where the train tracks were we noticed that there were areas designated by letters A-G. The train is very long and everyone doesn't get on at the same train door. There is a video board in the area that had a picture of the train. Each car of the train picture had a number in it corresponding to the Coach number. Below the picture was the boarding area. Our Coach 2 had the letter "F" below it so we knew to go stand by the letter F.
When the train arrives in the station each Coach had a video screen on the outside that listed what Coach number it was. We saw our #2 and hopped onboard. There are luggage racks as you enter; enough for half of the passengers it seemed. There are seats for about 21 passengers. Singles on one side, doubles on the other. Some face each other, others just face forward. I don't remember if we got to pick our seats when we made the reservation.
The seats are huge, the headrests have winglets so you don't use your neighbor's shoulder to sleep on, they electrically recline somewhat, have a large tray that folds down, and there's a footrest. There is a 220V outlet nearby for my laptop. Nice. The time and the scenery both seem to fly by.
We arrived in Avignon, got off the train, and realized I didn't have a specific document from the car rental broker company. They sent the final paperwork AFTER we left Seattle so I didn't know WHICH rental car company we were renting from. I walked around to 4 of them asking if I had a reservation with them before I found the right one. Within 50 minutes of getting off the train we were on our way to Nice in our Peugeot 307. The license plate had Karen's birth date and her father's initials - cool.
The Peugeot also had a huge pop-up GPS in it. If they had asked me to pay $25 per day for it I would have gladly paid them. Karen and I are still married because of the GPS. We just blamed the GPS lady whenever I drove some place wrong - which was quite often. Honestly, if you ever drive in Europe you MUST have one of these. There isn't a paper map and wife combination that can replace it.
We found lunch and then eventually found our way out of Avignon toward Marseille on our way to our destination of Nice. Once we got to the coast we found many little towns where the sun was shining and the scenes were picturesque.
Our GPS then led us nicely to Saint Tropez. The backup of cars leaving town was miles long as we entered. We got to the center of town and made our way around on many of the narrow side streets before ending up parking illegally on the breakwater to take a few pictures of the expensive boats.
We parked legally in a parking lot and shopped around the waterfront before having a crepe and Coke Light (think Diet Coke) and then shopped our way back.
It was getting late so we headed straight for Nice and arrived at our hotel at dark.
Nice work young man. Like the way you chose to
ReplyDeleteshare your trip with us....dad
Oh Pat! What a lovely train! We are so far behind the transportation times in Seattle. I've really enjoyed reading your posts. Continue to have fun!
ReplyDelete"Karen and I are still married because of the GPS" - I had to stop reading for a second to have a full blown laugh attack. That was good. The rest of the paragraph had me laughing too. :)
ReplyDelete-Lara