TRAINS

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I love trains. I love train stations. For a lot of the same reasons I like the Metro. Though they serve a similar purpose, airports and train stations do not have nearly as much in common as you may think.

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REASON ONE: SANITATION

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An airports is sterile and shiny and sealed off. A train station (gare, pronounced like you were going to say the word “guard” and just left off the “d”) cannot be expected to be in the same condition, mainly because the trains literally come into the station itself. There is no back wall of a train station. In its place are anywhere from 5 to 25 sets of railroad tracks that stop about halfway into the station. They bring with them a mixture of rust, grease, dirt, and dust that forms a thin layer on the train. Some of the boldest pigeons you’ll ever encounter fly in, land, and cruise around, taking advantage of hurried, distracted passengers eating on the go and dropping crumbs all the while.

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REASON TWO: EATING

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The cafés and snack shops in train stations usually have a seating area, in which most of the seats are facing outward, facilitating people watching (this is true of most cafés and snack shops in France in general as well). In airports, there are usually either full-out, sit-down restaurants or little stands, from which you are expected to take your food to your gate to eat.

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REASON THREE: TIME / HASSLE

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Unless you are traveling on a very busy day like a holiday, you can generally just go to the train station 30 to 45 minutes before you wish to leave and buy your ticket then. They have automatic guichets (machines that look like ATMs at which you can buy or change your tickets), but we Americans generally cannot use them, as our credit and debit cards have no puce (little metal data chip), and most guichets require this type of card. So we get to wait in line. The lines always look longer than they are, because they move pretty quickly. There are also parts of each car dedicated to storing baggage, in addition to the small overhead storage space above all the seats. If you’re particularly paranoid (like I am, since what I brought is all I have to call my own for the next year), there are fold-down seats in the baggage area if you prefer to sit and watch over your stuff, though generally no one bothers it at all.

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SUBJECT: THE TGV

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I love riding on TGVs; they are so smooth and quiet, unlike the rickety, screeching Paris Metro. You don’t get a good feeling for how fast you are truly going until you are on a track that runs right next to something, be it a wall or a row of telephone poles. If you haven’t been paying attention and you suddenly look over and down, it can be quite dizzying.

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Then there’s the experience of passing another TGV. This can be a bit startling if you are leaning your head casually against the windowpane (the windows, for those who are interested, especially Christian because of Mike, are made by Saint Gobain) and you happen to pass another train. The entire train suddenly jerks to the right (or left) by an amount substantial enough to catch you off guard if you aren’t paying attention and then jerks sharply back after four or five seconds.

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Comments

[Beau]

Subways..
I love the idea of trains and subways as a major mode of transportation...there's something about that Big City feeling. Here's a question for ya...the train stations are dirty, ok fine. how are they as far as safety though? I'm thinking about subways in, lets say, New York. My personal impression is that its not a good idea to go on those without some sort of weapon. Since France is big on train travel and subways, are they just as unsafe?

[EmilieJolie]

Metro
It isn't that unsafe. Don't be dumb - so, don't walk around with a bag hanging open and begging to be stolen from, and don't look completely lost, and don't stare at people you don't know.. Like any big city, be conscious of your personal belongings, but it isn't that dangerous, no.