Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Train woes

Ken had a ticket on a train out of Blois at 11:57 Monday morning. The best laid plans. When we arrived at the station about a half-hour before departure, there were trains posted as late on the board. Ken's was listed as on time, but after about five minutes that changed to late, too.

There's Ken pulling his suitcase along toward the Blois train station.
 
The station personnel made an announcement that people going to Paris should get on the train going to Orléans, leaving imminently, and then change to a Paris train there. We hurried out to the platform to find the train and someone to ask. Things were a little (but not too much) confused on the platform.

Ken's train pulls out of the station. He had to change trains in Orléans, about a 45 minute ride up the river from Blois.

Ken verified with an agent that he could board this train with the (non-refundable, non-alterable) ticket he had. So he did. He found a seat and we waited (me out on the platform) for the train to pull away. It left about fifteen minutes late, but fifteen minutes before his scheduled train would have left.

Bye, bye!

He called me from Orléans to say that things there were a mess; there was a problem on the line between Orléans and Paris, and he might have to wait an hour or two before a train could leave. The staff served little boxed lunches to people waiting.

This is a good reason for not trying to take a train to the airport on the day of departure. Ken was not in a hurry and not in danger of missing his plane. He got the first train out to Paris then on to the airport and to his hotel without having to stress about making the flight. He'll probably blog about it when he gets a chance. I'll be tracking his flight which is scheduled to take off later this morning.

16 comments:

  1. Very smart thinking to get to Paris the day before departure. I just read his blog (before going to sleep). Hope the flight will be uneventful and he will have a wonderful time "back home".

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  2. Definitely the way to travel if you can. Now that we can take 5 days to get to or from Australia it is so much less stressful (still horrible being on a plane for all that time and sitting around at airports, but not stressful...)

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  3. A much better way to do things. Far better than the mad scrambles I had to do all too often when flying for work!

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  4. I love train station photos :)
    Glad Ken made it to Paris, and is, no doubt, in the air by now. (6:15 a.m. Central US time)

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    1. judy, yes, as I type this (about 1:20pm France time), his plane is out over the Atlantic, off the Irish coast, directly south of Iceland. A long way to go, yet!

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    2. I love internet flight tracking! :)

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    3. I check it out whenever I can. It is a lot of fun.

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  5. I like seeing the train station too. Also like tracking flights- more fun from the couch than in a small plane seat like Ken is in right now. Weather is good over here today so hopefully Ken's flight is going smoothly.

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  6. Glad that Ken got off okay.....now you and Callie and Bertie are all in charge until he returns.
    The weather outside may not be conducive to what you have planned, but maybe you'll find some other "need to do" chores on the inside until the weather cooperates.

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  7. I see BBQ, sweet tea, and fresh fish in Ken's future.

    I see a TV remote, a box of chocolates, and a comfy couch in your future. I won't tell.

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  8. Traveling is always a hassle when one has to depend on public transportation. That's why Bill and I are traveling by rented van in a few weeks for our annual trek south.

    Thanks for posting the photos of the train station. Very interesting.

    Ron
    Retired in Delaware

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  9. So all he needs now is an airline workers strike!

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  10. Blois station is really an elegant building! I hope you and Callie and Bertie don't miss Ken too much. The time will fly by. Pauline

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  11. Will you be pulling some "all-nighters" with Callie and Bertie now that you-three have the house to yourselves? Just kidding - oh, April Fool's Day was yesterday :-O ! hehehehehe
    I've always been thrilled when inside those glass-topped train stations in Europe. I miss them.

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  12. train travel is elegant in europe and a mess over here. america let its trains go to hell for the automobile & oil lobby folks.

    don't get too lonely.

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  13. "The staff served little boxed lunches to people waiting." Made me laugh -- just in case there was any doubt that you weren't writing about US trains. And what anne marie said.

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