It’s All Down to the Cyclists Now!
With Murray bowing out of Wimbledon, England failing in the World Cup, the cricket winding down after an England victory against the Aussies, it’s getting quiet on the sporting front.
But the Tour de France starts today and Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish should give us something to cheer about. I’ll be watching. Let’s hope that the victor of the Tour does it unaided by chemists!
Do you like Frogs, Boiled, Fried or With Tortillas?
The French really surrended to Mexico last night. Let’s hope England are better tonight!
And what happened to the Germans? They missed a penalty!
Would I Go Cambridge-Nice by Train Again?
Let’s count the positives.
- It was interesting. I know that is a word you shouldn’t use, but there was a lot to see.
- Security. There wasn’t a lot of time spent taking off shoes and having machines check you for bottles of water. They do check as you go on the Eurostar, but it’s not that intrusive.
- Meals on Eurostar aren’t that bad and are better than the airlines. But then you don’t need them on the plane.
- It was a lot more comfortable than a plane.
- I had a large table, which would have allowed me to play patience if I had wanted.
- I could plug in the laptop.
- Luggage was as much as I wanted and not subject to silly rules.
- I could have taken my Brompton.
And the negatives.
- It took twelve hours door-to-door, whereas the plane would have taken about six.
- It was lonely, but then my life is most of the time.
- It was more costly, but then I did travel First Class.
- I had to take an extra train to get London.
But remember I had no choice this time because of the stroke.
I think that if say I had to go to Lyon on business, that I would definitely use the train and for Marseilles I would make a decision based on train times and cost. But Nice, unless I had to use the train, then I would take the plane. Although like my late wife and I said, we’d have probably enjoyed taking the train one-way and the plane on the return.
Overall though, it was an exercise worth carrying out.
Eurostar to a Cold England
Lille was cold and it wasn’t a bad interchange with just a hundred or so metres to walk between tracks to transfer from the TGV to the Eurostar.
I did get a gluten-free dinner on the train. It was some sort of fish. I’ve tasted better, but it filled a hole.
I was perhaps a couple of minutes late into St. Pancras, which meant that I had no chance of catching the 19:15 to Cambridge. So I had to wait for the 19:45, which got me back to Cambridge on time.
The taxi got me home about fifteen minutes short of twelve hours after leaving Nice.
Reversing at Marseilles
The train reversed at Marseilles. So instead of going backwards, I was now facing north and on the eastern side of the train, so I didn’t get any of the sun that was going. There wasn’t much and we did have a bit of rain.
It started twenty minutes late at 13:30 and arrived in Lille at 18:00, which meant it lost another five minutes. But I still had enough time to get the Eurostar to London.
This train was via Paris Charles de Gaulle, so I didn’t have to change trains in Paris.
Charles de Gaulle Airport from the TGV
Why is it we don’t plan to build a connection between HS1 and HS2 in London, just like the French have done around Paris?
After all Birmingham to Paris would be only about three and a half hours, which would probably be quicker than a plane, if you took in the transfers to and from the airports.
French Dog on a French Seat on a French TGV
I took this picture of a poodle on the TGV.
French Dog on a French Train
It went all the way from Nice to Lille.
How Safe is the TGV?
TGVs are fast, but are they safe?
It is interesting to look at the list of accidents on Wikipedia.
On high-speed lines, there have been derailments but overall the technology has worked and the train has stopped fairly safely, with perhaps a few bruised passengers. But then the lines are straight, have few points and crossovers, and the trains are designed to hold together in an accident.
But on normal tracks there have been some serious accidents; one bomb, one freak accident in a depot, one derailment and four involving level crossings. The French are worried about the last and are endeavouring to remove all level crossings from lines used by TGVs.
None of the accidents have been as bad as the Eschede accident on Deutsche Bahn, where over a hundred people died.
So are TGVs safe?
Yes!
The French are to be applauded in removing level crossings and keeping their high-speed lines as straight and as clear of things to hit as possible. It could be argued that if the train at Eschede had just derailed and not hit the bridge, then the casualties would have been greatly reduced.
Trundling to Marseilles
Trundling is the word, as the TGV took just under three hours to get from Nice to Marseilles and then four and a half to get from Marseilles to Lille. And it’s not one and a half times the distance.
After my experiences on the journey down with the catering, I decided to bring my own, which I bought from a small supermarket near to the station. I arrived on the train with two bottles of Coke, some Roquefort, some butter, a pack of Trufree crackers, crisps, some fruit bars, two bananas and a free plastic knife. Never forget that, when you have a picnic.
Lunch, Puzzles, Phone and Notepad
Note too the paper cup from Paul. I can’t drink too well out of bottles, but found that this cup I got with coffee at the airport is excellent to stop my dribbling. But my menu shows the problems you have when travelling as a coeliac. The Roquefort was nice though and went well with the crackers.
The train left on time at 10:28 and it is very much a stop start journey with stops at Antibes (10:50), Cannes (11:00), St. Raphael (11:34), Les Arcs (11:52), Toulon (12:37) and it arrived at Marseilles at 13:20. That was just over twenty minutes late, but then the line from Nice to Marseilles is not a TGV line and carries all types of local traffic.
I think if I go south on the train again, I’ll go as far as Marseilles and then either go to a resort near there like Bandol or hire a car.
Just out of Nice I passed the Marina Baie des Anges.
Marina Baie des Anges
It describes itself as the world’s most beautiful marina, but that is probably subjective. Anyway, I think it’s awful and is starting to show its age from the railway.
We once went there with our two youngest children and had a holiday in a boat on the Mediterranean. It is perhaps a holiday we never talked about much and we never did something like that again. All I can remember was my youngest’s passion for eating duck every night in the various restaurants we visited and an outboard motor that was very temperamental.
Most of the journey to Marseilles was along the coast and you passed from one bay to another.
Agay
Here is the bay at Agay. This was a place that we visited in the boat and it is a lovely sheltered anchorage.
So although the journey is slow, there is a lot to look at.
St. Paul de Vence
I couldn’t go to St. Paul de Vence, or St. Paul as it seems to get called now, without taking a few pictures.
It is a beautiful village with views right down to the sea.
The Anonymous Widower 