If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Bonjour! We have just passed the halfway point in our month-long stay in Nice … gone in the blink of an eye! Life is busy and full with so much to do and enjoy, every day is a treat.
We returned from 3 days in Lyon last night. The second-largest city in France and known as the “Gastronomic Capital”, it’s well worth a visit and there is much to share. I haven’t downloaded or edited my photos from the trip yet, but here are a few shots of this beautiful city. More to come!
The trip home did not go quite as planned and let me just say this: it was not the TGV’s (Train Grande Vitesse) finest moment. I will be brief. (Clarification ~ as brief as is possible for me.)
The departure was almost an hour late. Then there were two additional train changes, the latter I just happened to catch via an announcement in French that was at a volume easily missed (my husband did not hear it at all). To add insult to injury, this last train stopped at every petit village between Toulon and Nice ~ and I think they may have made some up just to annoy us ~ so we arrived home at 2:15 a.m.
I usually love the train service over here … but last night … not so much! However I also know that can happen anywhere so we will just chalk it up and move on. My point is that I’m quite tired and it’s 1 a.m. here. I’ve been working on social media and trying to squeeze in some writing time and I have to say something that I don’t often say. I’m tired! So I’ve decided to give myself permission to go to bed.
The Nice Triathlon is on tomorrow (oops – I should say today now) and we want to get up to watch the amazing athletes, of all ages, who have gathered to participate. My husband and I will be participating in the spectating event and cheering loudly!
Bon soir et bon weekend tout le monde! I’ll catch up with you later …
Do you often have glitches in schedules when you travel? Was there one that really stands out? Tell me about it and then I will realize that last night’s really wasn’t so bad after all! Merci beaucoup!
When I was in India our van broke down each and every time we got into it — which was every 2-3 days for a month. The one train we took was more than 4 hours late and we spent a full day at the airport in Udaipur due to fog and ended up having to change out itinerary as a result. It’s all part of the adventure.
CONDOLENCES on the train ride that would NOT end. But, your pictures are beautiful. As for my own war stories…
Oh, gosh! I traveled for my job for YEARS, Patricia.
The one that stands out most is my trip from Gatwick to Dallas on now-defunct Braniff. Good little business traveler (moi!) chose to carry her briefcase with her, and check all other baggage.
Over a span of nearly 12 hours, we were told the flight would be further delayed. They kept having us queue up for this and that. New seat assignments, dinner vouchers, yadda, yadda.
After those twelve hours, we were told our flight would not depart until the next day.
CueQueue upyour nose!Hotel assignments? Niggling problem. They failed to book rooms for us and there was a shortage of rooms at local hotels.
All passengers would have to double up. They paired me with a very nice, young girl who spoke no English. Thank goodness I had a fair working vocabulary in Spanish.
Um. The baggage we’d checked? The baggage with clean clothes and our toiletries? Sorry. Those couldn’t be retrieved because they’d already been processed through customs. The emergency kits with toothbrushes and other basics? Already dispensed to other travelers — both at the airport and at the hotel. The nice Spanish girl let me use her toothpaste so I could brush my teeth with my finger.
We could (and did) shower. No deodorant. No make-up. No hair supplies. No clean clothes for the next day. No PJs.
It was nearly 1 a.m. before we were deposited at our hotel, and they asked that we be ready to board busses back to the airport by six the next morning. Failure to comply? We’d miss our flight, of course.
So. Back to the airport we went, where we waited yet another 3-4 hours (queued up for breakfast vouchers at some point).
It was a smelly, disgruntled, group of passengers who boarded the plane the next day (nearly noon) and a smellier, grumpier lot that finally got off the plane eleven hours plus later in Dallas.
They waited until it was too late for us to reschedule on another airline by delaying us in 2 hour segments of time. Never flew Braniff again.
I suppose it all comes down to the perspective we hold about what really we are looking for in our holidays. And a mindset that allows us to take responsibility when unforeseen situations confront us.
France is such a beautiful place to wind down and discover!
Shakti
Beautiful photos! I love Lyon…such a fantastic city! And yes the food – amazing! Your journey home on the TGV – well all part of the true French experience!
Sorry to hear of your TGV misadventure, Patricia. It’s worse with things you know and love: it’s a breach of trust. Our TGV experience is normally good – best in Europe including Eurostar, (don’t ask me about Brussels!). The Beloved had a British Airways nightmare this week: mechanical fault; wait four hours for new ‘plane; new ‘plane too small; 20 passengers bumped; got home at 2.30am. Luggage followed three days later – at 1.00am!
But it’s the lesser evil, isn’t it? We’ll be back on BA next week, and the TGV soon after. Are we mad, or trusting?
Great pix. Bon courage for the Triathlon!
I am sorry to hear about your frustrating journey. I think on the whole France’s public transport runs very well, but nobody if perfect. Try and concentrate on the positive aspects of your trip. The photos are lovely: the kind of thing I do. Je t’embrasse.
Lovely to see pictures of Lyon – my nearest big city so I think of it as my ‘local’. But sorry to hear about your travel woes.
It sounds like you’re having a marvelous time! I’d like to see Lyon sometime too… 🙂
Sorry to hear about your delay. After living in Eastern Europe for over 6 years, I’m used to long journeys, delays, and glitches. If I arrive on time I’m pleasantly surprised. 🙂
I can handle delays on trips, but illnesses…Eek! Just glad you arrived at your destination safely. Last time I recall a long train delay was when we lived in the Philippines. It happened in the middle of nowhere (something with the engine). We got to have potty breaks out in nature…fortunately someone thought to pack TP so no one had to use leaves.
Delays like that when traveling drive me nuts. Trains or planes. Still, a month in Nice sounds wonderful!