TRAVEL TIME

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If you know me or have read any of my prior blogs, you know we love train travel, yes at times it is difficult but 92% of the time it is a great experience. This journey is not different, other than I am currently a little warm in the TGV to Paris, that is only because I am by the window with the sun on me, the car itself is comfortable and there is always some more Rose to drink to keep me cool.

After our side trip to Sintra and our soccer mania at our hotel, we made our way to the train station and waited for our overnight to Irun. Irun is just on the Spanish/French Boarder, now really want to go to Hendaye on the French side as that is where we transfer to the TGV to Paris. The train out of Lisbon was about 20 minutes later, not sure why, but we waited in the crisp Lisbon air and I could tell Jerry was getting cold. The train finally arrived and with a bit of help from the conductor found our stateroom easily. For this overnight I paid a little extra for not only a private room but our own bathroom complete with shower, Jerry says Navy size.

Jerry did is typical arranging of luggage and unpacking of our essential items we would need for the trip. When he had everything the way he wanted we headed to the bar car in the car ahead of us for a real drink. We had a couple of drinks, gin for me vodka for Jerry, then returned to our room to have a light dinner of meats and cheese we still had from our meal in the room a few nights earlier in Lisbon. The train was pretty full, especially the three sleeping cars. There may have actually been more sleeping cars as the train was going to both Madrid and Irun, it would be split when we got over the Spanish boarder, with half going to Madrid the other half to Irun/Hendaye. They did let us stay on to Hendaye so we avoided the cab ride across the border.

The train was pretty uneventful and we slept decently, it is a train so the beds are not huge and there is the occasionally hard turn on the tracks, but overall it was fine. I woke up around 7:30 and had my shot at the shower. I have taken showers in small places before, the ferry from Palermo to Naples, the Boat cruise on Bangkok, but this was the smallest and with the turning of the train, a bit of a balancing act. They did have a spot to place your butt, so you could balance, but once it got soapy it was still difficult. The water pressure was actually good but it was a push on type of system that lasted for about 3 minutes then you had to push again. The water temperature did stay constant. The method was get all wet all over. Then do your air, then press the button and rinse. Then get wet some more, soap up your body, rinse, press button, rinse, press button, rinse some more and so forth. I managed to accomplish a decent shower. Getting dressed was more difficult as balance became a very difficult thing to maintain. When I was finished I woke up Jerry for his turn, and I headed to the café car for coffee.

I gave Jerry a little over an hour to shower etc., when I returned to the, car he was nearly done. While he finished up, I converted our beds to the seating arrangement. We had a few hours before arriving in Hendaye. The rest of the train trip was very pleasant.

We arrived in Hendaye with plenty of time before our transfer to the TGV and Paris. We boarded at about 12:20 with a departure set for 12:45, I splurged on first class just for the comfort and extra space. There was a bit of a tense moment as the initial ticket checkers could not scan our e-tickets from Loco2, where I purchased the tickets, but the conductor came by and figured everything out. I totally forgot to speak French, and that’s pretty much all they spoke, I need to turn my brain from Portuguese and Spanish to French. I am happy to say I actually know much more French than I do Portuguese, but not as much as I know Spanish.

The train is traveling at a very high speed but you can’t really; tell other than up close the scenery is a blur, but we are facing backwards so what we see looks normal. While I have been blogging and enjoying what I am sure will not be my last Rose while in France, Jerry has been looking for a place to eat for dinner tonight. We also have to find a place for tomorrow night for the first group meal when Christina and Jourdan arrive tomorrow.

So I believe we have located both a place for tonight and tomorrow night, so not much left to do but enjoy the train trip. But first, let me be clear no matter what I say about the French, France is my favorite place on earth and more often than not every French person we have ever encountered has been nothing but friendly and helpful. Yes, do they want you to speak French, but don’t we want everyone to speak English when in the U.S.? I don’t think I will ever get tired of Paris, or France, and if possible would love to move here permanently, especially if bad hair man becomes president.

We arrived in Paris at Gare Montparnasse at about 7:15pm. I always find it amusing when people on the train start lining up in the aisle 30 minutes before the train pulls into the station, like they aren’t going to get off? We were lazy and took a cab to our hotel instead of the Metro, just didn’t want to deal with the stairs and luggage. We are staying at Hotel Champ de Mars, just off Rue Cler, which is the street I first stayed on 21 years ago on my first trip to Paris. It is also a short walk to the Eiffel Tower, which we can actually see from our window.

After we checked in, we headed to the store next door to get wine for the room, then unpacked. For dinner we decided to stay in the neighborhood and go to a place that our friend Russel recommended to us. We try to go when we were here for my 50^th, but they were closed for vacation. This time, we were in luck and they were open. We ate outside as it was very warm inside.

We both went with the plat de jour (or the three course prix fixe). This is a very common menu option in France especially Paris. For an average of 35 euros you get an entrée, plat and dessert. You have a variety of items to choose from, some to have a supplemental charge if they are made with more expensive ingredients or a complex dish. We started with our traditional copa de champagne. The owner is known for his wild ties of which he has over 150, this evening he had a Loony Toon’s tie on. By the way the restaurant is Le Florimand and it is just to the left when you come to the end of Rue Cler.

Jerry started dinner with a bang and when right for the Duck foie gras, I started with the lobster and leek ravioli. Our main courses were Duck leg stuffed with duck and pork stuffing for me; and Grilled steak with tarragon & pear butter served with dauphine potatoes. These were not the traditional way of making them put prepared more like croquettes. We had a nice bottle of Bordeaux from the Medoc region and the bread, finally wonderful tasty bread. Everything was delicious and the sauce on my duck was, there are no words, we are in France and it is all about the sauce.

We both had the same thing for dessert a layered puff pastry with bourbon vanilla pastry cream. It was heaven.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel, and a bit of wine and were off to sleep. Christina and Jourdan arrive tomorrow but we do not meet up with them until around 4.

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