29-31st August
With a train departure from Udine station at just after midday, we had a leisurely morning to pack our rucksacks and saunter down to the next door cafe for an Americano and croissant, before leaving our hotel.
We were pleased that we were not taking a plane, as the Air Traffic Control debacle in the UK on the Bank Holiday Monday was still causing repercussions. Chris, Kirsten, Dylan and Becca had had their flight cancelled when they were in Venice and all but Becca had managed to secure a flight for the Tuesday, with Becca having to wait till Wednesday.
On the way to the station, Lynne received an email from Bernadette, warning us that there had been a landslide in the Alps, blocking both the motorway and the high speed train line between Milan and Lyon! Indeed, shortly after, we received an email advising us that our train to Lyon had been cancelled. This was doubly bad news, as we had a train from Lyon to Toulouse, made on a separate booking.
This was a second transport blow, after all the cancelled flights that affected everybody else heading back to the UK. Taking trains, we thought we were safe!
Pat and Eric happened to have booked the same train to Venice, so we met up for the 1 1/2 hour journey, where they got off a stop earlier than us for Venice airport – facing an uncertain flight departure. They were happy to be on the same flight as Chris and Kirsten, but were certain to miss their onward connection to Aberdeen.
We, however, continued to the train terminus, Venezia Santa Lucia, over the famous causeway, where we saw the first glimpses of Venetian boat traffic.
Surprisingly, we passed close by Fincantieri, the big cruise ship yard, where we glimpsed a very recognisable red-black ship’s funnel. Yes! It was actually….. the Queen Anne! This is Cunard’s newest ship, under construction, due to be launched in May 2024. So, on this world trip, we have clapped our eyes on three of the four Cunard ships – Queen Victoria being the only exception.
We had fifty minutes at Venezia Santa Lucia, grabbing a quick bite at a station cafe. In the busy station, we found a table outdoors under a canopy, out of the pouring rain. Through the rain, we glimpsed a canal with its famous gondolas and grand buildings on the far side. That was all we saw of Venice…
The high speed train to Milan was brilliantly smooth, and time passed quickly while drawing up our next transport plans. Despite all online suggestions to re-route via Zurich or Paris, we looked at the map and concluded that the better option was to aim South – via Genoa, Nice, Marseille, to Toulouse. A very scenic route. All options would involve at least one extra night in a hotel, but hey, that’s travelling! We emailed Bernadette advising her not to expect us for supper.
Once we reached the head of the queue at the ticket office in Milan Station, we were efficiently dealt with. We received a wad of notes for the refund of our original booking, handing back a smaller wad for the new booking, taking us to Nice. Success!
Sitting in our hotel across from the station, we booked the remaining train legs on SNCF, cancelled the redundant journey and booked a hotel near Toulouse Station. In looking at the tickets, it became clear that this involved four trains, as the trip to Nice required a change at Ventimiglia, at the Italian-French border.
Exhausted, we wandered down to a brilliant restaurant, sitting outdoors for our last dinner in Italy. Peter raised a last grappa in memory of our first dinner of our world trip in Turin, in March. It seemed a world away, as indeed it was!
Blissfully Cool Blissful grappa
The next morning we made our way through a lively, busy station to find our 09.10 train to Ventimiglia. True to Italian nature, we passed through a police ID check before being allowed onto the platform. We were able to catch an earlier train to Nice, but got held up by some French border police en-route, who unceremoniously marched a couple off the train.
Breakfast Police check
The train to Nice was a local train with little space for our luggage and very many passengers, as it stopped at all coastal resorts on the way to Cannes. We ended up with our rucksacks amongst our feet and it became quite a challenge to extricate ourselves to alight in time for Nice-Ville station.
We had about 90 minutes to have lunch in Nice before catching our third train to Marseille, a TGV to Paris, leaving at about 4pm, due in at Marseille, 50 minutes before our connection for Toulouse. We found a Lebanese restaurant by the cathedral, where we enjoyed a lovely lunch outside in glorious weather.
Our downfall was on the line to Marseille, where the train came to a complete stop – no station in sight. A person had been hit by a train and had to be helicoptered off the track. All trains ground to a halt for just over 2 hours. To recover time, the train we were on offloaded anyone not going to Paris at Toulon, including us. We had to take a local train to Marseille, where we arrived over 2 hours after our connecting train to Toulouse had departed.
There were only a few passengers who had missed the connection. We gathered around a lone station guard in a little group in the nearly deserted station. SNCF provided a room for the night in a nearby hotel and tickets for our next direct train to Toulouse, before 7.30am the next morning.
Late night fish burgers We got tickets! Will we have a bed tonight?
The bad news: the train to Toulouse was full and thus we didn’t have reserved seats all the way! But our train arrived in Toulouse on time, allowing us to catch our booked train to Carmaux, which was fortunately delayed.
Arrived Carmaux Bernard & Bernadette awaiting
Bernard and Bernadette picked us up at Carmaux and we had dinner at their home, only 24 hours late!
Home at last – or at least at one of them! What an amazing trip you’ve had, albeit with more travel problems apparently during the final European leg!
We’re staying in la Destrousse, to the north east of Marseille until 16th, when we head to the Camargue for our second week. Enjoyed the England v Argentina game more than Scotland v South Africa!