A Train Ride to Barcelona

19 Avril 2012

Compiegne, France -> Gare du Nord, Paris, France -> Gare de Lyon, Paris, France -> Figueres, Espagne -> BARCELONE, Catalogne, Espagne
               
En route to Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

This was a long journey, so I'm writing a short post about it. For me, this train ride was a part of the trip; I really enjoyed it. I didn't want to make my Barcelona post too long, so I am separating this from it.

This was my first trip out of Gare de Lyon. It is a newer gare, and I was not familiar the concept of "Halls." I arrived a comfortable hour early, and on the monitor I saw that the TGV 6213 would depart from Hall 3.

My first task was to search for a bathroom - .5€ for the toilet? I can hold it, I decided.

I looked around at the sandwich stand before searching for this mysterious "Hall 3." My mistake, I should have done this at Gare du Nord. The selection here was smaller and much more pricey! Gare du Nord is huge, with tons of selection -- lesson learned.

Upstairs, I find Hall 3 and resign to the sandwich. It was tasty, but certainly pricey for its size. When the "Hall 3" showing on the monitor for TGV 6213 finally changed to Voie (Platform) A, I gathered my things and walked past several train cars to reach my assigned seat in voiture (car) 15, place assise (seat) 85. I settle in for a five and a half hour journey.

I slept steadily through the middle of France, but woke up early enough to enjoy the ride through the vineyards, fields of gold, mountains and past Montpellier and Nîmes (destinations for les vacances the following week).

The mountains were breath taking. Before seeing those peaks, though, we rode along a string of land in the south of France, with water on both sides. Used only for the railroad!

On the last leg of the journey to Figueras as we crossed the border, for my entertainment, there were two women and a little girl speaking rapid Spanish; from their accents, I assumed that they were native to Spain. Halfway through the journey, the girl began practicing her French. The whole group began speaking beautiful, flawless French. It was cool to witness such a young girl switching so perfectly between two accents.

Needless to say, I was jealous.

From Figueras (in Spain) to Barcelona, there was a special connection high speed train specifically intended to bring in international travelers. On this train, there was a monitor about to tell you how fast the train was travelling.

I saw this monitor get up to 159 km/h, but I know the TGV is able to reach much higher speeds. When the monitor reaches ~115 km/h, the speed begins to blink and disappear; they aren't interested in telling you just how slow they go.

The entire ride, though filled with pleasant scenery, did not seem promising weather-wise. I passed dark cloud after dark cloud. The worst was on this train. I was facing a completely black cloud, the scenery blurred with rain. Not much further on, people started looking to the windows, pointing...

 I've decided it's the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. Doesn't it look like there should be a pot of gold back in those trees?

Not only a full rainbow,

but a double rainbow. It was like a promise that my weekend would not be stormy at all, but sunny and warm.

That it was! The weather in Barcelona was perfect; sunny and without rain. A wonderful escape from the dreary, cold weather up north.

Coming soon: Barcelona.