Midnight Train To...The French Riviera

A few weeks before the end of Intermediate, Mom and I decided it would be fun to get away from Paris and spend a few days soaking up the sun in the South of France (specifically -- Nice, Monaco, and Avignon).  We opted for an overnight train to Nice (pronounced: niece) on the night of graduation because, well, it seemed like a fabulous way to travel!  So, we spent the rest of Wednesday getting packed up and ready to go on our adventure.  

The bewitching hour (20:00) arrived, and it was time for us to head to the train station.

Mom didn't get the memo that when you take a picture in a mirror, you don't actually have to look at the camera...

Au revoir Monsieur Eiffel!

The theme of the trip was "What Would Grace Kelly Do?" (WWGKD) because we were going straight to her stomping grounds...and because I was jazzed up about my new trench coat that definitely reflected her style.

All aboard!

When we bought our tickets, we splurged for first class since 11.5 hours is a reeeaaalllly long time (and Grace Kelly only does first class), so we were excited to see exactly what the luxury accommodations would be like. 

Well, folks, if what we got was first class, I don't want to know anything about second class.  It wasn't necessarily bad, it was just cramped and lacking all things luxurious.  So, maybe I don't know anything about What Grace Kelly would Do, but I definitely know what she wouldn't do.  And that, my friends,  was this...

These pictures were taken the next morning, so our "sheets" were in disarray.  You get the gist.

The pictures make it look a lot bigger than it actually was.  There were two bunk beds and a small aisle.  That was it!  I don't really know what I was expecting (even though I have been on overnight trains before in Europe, so I should have known better), but still.  Like I said, it wasn't that the conditions were bad, it was just that literally all you could do was go to sleep.  I was hoping for maybe some sort of club car or something where you could sit and relax if you weren't quite ready to lay prostrate for 11.5 hours.  Nope!  Nothin'.

To add to the predicament, Mom and I were quite possibly the two tallest people on the train, AND we were in the two top bunks (with a French couple who found it necessary to talk alllll evening, and then proceed to wake up in the wee hours of the morning and continue to talk.  How much can you possibly have to say to each other??), so it took a lot for us to get up there.  Once we were up, we were essentially stuck.

Fortunately, we planned ahead and had mini bottles of wine to help us relax.

Between the mild-claustrophobia, the fear that we were going to fly off the tracks at any moment, and the mini case of motion sickness, sleep wasn't necessarily in the cards for me.  I probably slept a total of 4 hours or so and spent the rest of the time worrying that I was going to roll off the top bunk and crash onto the floor...or into a strange bed, which would have been awkward. 

See that heavy suitcase?  Yeah, all night I was afraid it would fall and sever my legs.  Reason 92384 I didn't sleep

All in all, it was actually a pretty fun experience, and something that Mom and I still laugh about...even though my hopes of leaving Paris an average American citizen and returning as the princess of a small (but significant) principality were rapidly deteriorating.  Oh well!  A girl can dream.

- a tout à l’heure!