We have arrived in Venice! Today has been a full travel day throughout France and Italy as we made our way from Paris via a TGV 300km speed train. Along the way we traveled through southern French country side, through the French Alps and then on to Milan. From Milan we traveled through Italian country side and we think the outer edge of Tuscany. Our day once settled, has been relaxing and a joy to experience by rail but the start, well, that's a whole other story. We learned quite a bit about the French rail system versus the rest of the world, that is, for us inexperienced English Canadians....(read below for the whole story or skip to the end for new pictures)...
1a. Our day started off with the alarm going off at 4:45am. A quick shower, final pack and off we headed to our waiting taxi. Early morning Paris is fast asleep and the streets are empty which gave us a quick and enjoyable chance to see Paris at night without all the chaos.
1b. We arrived at Gare de Lyon Station on time and slowly made our way to what we hoped was the correct terminal (there are a few here). Unfortunately our train was not listed on the schedule boards when we arrived and some guess work was necessary, as it was for many of the travellers on our train this morning. With a cup of espresso and a raisin pastry in hand, we settled in to the now familiar game in European Train stations; staring at the schedule boards awaiting a sign from the 'train masters' as to what track (and at times the terminal) the train would arrive and depart. All was going as planned!
1c. Not all terminal stops are created equal! The 'train masters' finally posted our desired information at 6:20 for our 6:45 departure. At which point the masses 'fast walk' and run to board what would be the correct train, we think. The 'train masters' posted the following "TGV 9239 Milano P Garibal - TER 2, Track 15". Seems simple enough, we guessed right and were in Terminal 2, track 15 was just up ahead, so off we go walking (not running) to our train. "Wait, why is there TWO track 15 signs?? Which train is our ours?...quick check the overhead track board...oh wait they don't have one here in France at this station! Hmm, guess to the right side". So off we go, hmm, we are on coach three seats 52-53...why do all the French coaches say 2?? Ok we ask a Train attendant, NO parle English. So we show him the tickets. He points to the coach in front of us. So we go onto the train to settle in, but these seats don't seem like our 1st class tickets (we got them cheap). My gut says these seats are not right, so out I go, I look at the attendant who helped us and show him my tickets again (with Elaine waiting on the train). This time I guess he actually looked at our tickets, because out comes him pen and he rights track 15 on them. WE KNOW THAT...no stupid...the other track 15 (the other unmarked train). AHHHHHH. We grab the bags off the train, and start running half way down track 15 (the wrong side), around the train and over to the correct side (we hope) and started fast walking towards our coach. Wow that almost was a disaster! Thank you God for giving us a sense that we were not where we should be!
1d. As we walk towards our coach. Everything says 2 on it??? I think it means the ticket class, ok...which coach is 1st class and the one we need to get on. Let's try another attendant. NO ENGLISH...just points to a coach board and points further down the walkway. So off we go, two thirds of the way down a DOUBLE TRAIN using this particular side of track 15....ask attendant #3, "Bonjour Monseuer...can you please help us...NO ENGLISH..he begrudgingly looks at our tickets and points to the other end of the track, conversation ended! Now we are running back the opposite way we came, Elaine is getting exhausted from pulling her luggage and running up and down the train track. Michael is asking loudly in English for someone to help us....anyone.
1e. We reach the very front of the train on the correct side of the track we presume. Elaine really is not happy, yelling that she is going to faint and Michael is becoming frantic. Attended #4 says "what is the matter?", he speaks ENGLISH!!!! We show our tickets, and he points us back to the other way we just came and says RUN!! The whistles start sounding, we start running, attendant #3 is back and keeps blowing his whistle and now yelling at me. Elaine is lagging behind yelling more frantically that she is going to faint and Michael running towards #3 hoping he can magically stop a DOUBLE stacked train from taking off. Then.....exasperated and feeling sick, Michael reaches attendant #5 who speaks English, asks what is wrong, then waves Michael on to the train and says he will help out once the train leaves...IN English! Elaine is still running and attendant #3 is blowing his whistle hard and yelling at Elaine "MILAN? MILAN!?"... Michael yells she is my wife, and attendant #5 tells her, IN English to get on now, while saying something to attendant #3.
1f. This trains pulls away from the other train at the front that is sharing our side of the track (by the way there were at least 4 empty bays when we left???) and thankfully we are on it. The comedy duo of Elaine and Michael Buckingham with the supporting cast of TGV train attendants was this morning's entertainment for those passengers already gazing out the windows. Finally, we are ready to head to our seats and sit...guess what, our seats are just through the dining car and waiting for us, right in front of where attendant #3 was when we first met! Sweaty, exhausted, too tired to be angry, we place our bags up in the coach and sit. Whew!! Did that just happen? Yes it did! But we are on our way from Paris and on to Italy.
If you made it this far....Venice is beautiful, pictures just don't do it justice. Below are a few shots from our train ride and our first few hours in Venice.
Michael & Elaine