PAGE 10: Through…Over… & BEYOND THE HILLS
Friday 18th October
From 06.30 (05.30 CET) on Wednesday we were travelling continuously until 17.30 (CET)…. 36 hours. There was time in Brasov to collect supplies (the sleeper train only had a bar as far as Arad) & our change of train in Vienna at 08.30 (CET) was 40 minutes.
In Iași we had several discussions about railways… and their poor quality in Romania.
However, at Brasov we saw several new train operators using modern trains and our night sleeper though rather ‘dated’ in style ran at over 160kms on the new track which will soon reach Brasov.Yesterday our smart and very comfortable Austrian train was slow (50-100 kms) for much of the long journey to Switzerland (only once did it reach over 200kms).
But now we are in Switzerland….. and for the first time today will be travelling on their famously good system.
Even yesterday when we walked through Chur we felt as if we were poor British strangers in awe of a rich and successful country.
The route from Chur to Geneva follows the upper reaches of the (ultimately) north flowing River Rhine & after Andermatt tunnels into the upper reaches of the (ultimately) south flowing River Rhone.
Our first train is with the Rhatische Bahn…. Narrow gauge climbing the Rhine valley from Chur
Not simply a tourist route…. commercial & socially valuable traffic also. At one point there is a short branch line running directly into a recycling centre.
The weather prospects worsened
At Dissentis were supposed to change to a train…. To Andermatt…..But no!…. We r on a bus with grimy windows, heavy rain and hills disappearing under cloud…. We were supposed to be on a ‘rack-rail’ line…… babies are crying, the windows are misting up….. etc
After Andermatt…. A train, then …… another bus. These trains are designed to ascend the steep routes and provide dramatic views. The track in some places is being completely rebuilt (before the snows arrive…. And the winter tourists for the ‘Glacier Express’). The bus ride provided ‘exciting moments’ as it swung round the twisting bends in the mist.
Dreich… as is said in Scotland about such days.
The descent from the Oberalp Pass – alongside the railway we had hoped to use.
Supplies were obtained at Andermatt
Through the Furkapass tunnel (which ferries cars) & back onto a bus.
A traditional building style once used in parts of Britain
Stone ‘mushrooms’ support the building – keeping contents dry and safe from rats & vermin.
Eventually, back onto a train taking us to Brig – and with the weather improving.
Summary
We join the mainline – and a train in which we seem to be the only passengers.
Varied layout…
There is a point at which the hills suddenly seem to ‘roll back to reveal Lac Leman
One of those moments where a first-time visitor may be ‘awesomely shocked’…. but which locals simply accept and probably, generally & for most of them, just ignore as it is simply ‘the way things are here’.
It stopped raining …. And we move into a totally different environment from that which we’ve experienced so far. Contrasts have been a major part of this journey and today has been another….. and very dramatic.
A considerable contrast with the past….. in what now, in these modern times when accessibility has changed the nature of ‘mountainous remoteness’, may now be regarded as ‘A Well-Favoured Land’.
The ‘Shock of Genève‘
Stepping out of the station at Genève produced an unexpected reaction.
We’ve travelled through hills and though we’ve met and chatted to many people, locals, visitors, train staff etc, we’ve largely been ‘away’ & rather isolated.
So arriving at a busy multi-cultural, multi-racial railway station in a major city …. to suddenly confront modern fast-moving urban life was a mild shock & for a few moment I stood at the entrance to the station and absorbed its atmosphere
It may be a different country to Wales but……We are back into our own rather joyous, busy, energetic society.
We go and sit by the lake, drink beer and enjoy our return.
We ended the day by strolling to the lake before dining.
Friday 18th October
Into France
A morning report to the WhatsApp Group
Today we leave the hill country and hopefully cross central France to Tours.
However!
We will be finishing our journey as we began.
A cancellation
The ferry required to reach the island of Jersey (tomorrow) has been cancelled and we have been switched to one early on Monday morning.
We posted images on the WhatsApp group & considered what options were available – the ferry company had offered no compensation or any support.
A night in St Malo seemed inevitable.
We’d chosen a train that avoided going through Paris (difficult because the French long distance system is based on a series of fast trains centred on Paris). Quite efficient (except when having to change stations in the capital) but rather tedious.
So we passed through the centre of France and were able to observe the landscape changes… starting with the Alps, then the Rhone valley, followed by the Loire, passing over the Madeleine Hills into the Allier, then back to the Loire.
There are only few trains per day that make this cross-sectional route from Lyon to Nantes…. And ours was full.
The first part of the 2 day journey was from Geneva, via Tours, to St Malo.
From Lyon, it being start of a French school holiday, the train was full – and we were lucky to eventually find seats.
Crossing the Loire at Roanne
Just before Roanne we had a brief conversation with someone who was heading for Le Puy de Dome where he was to start on the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela near the Atlantic Coast in Northern Spain.
Into central France – and with Charolais cattle
The Loire at Nevers
Vierzon
We entered a region of flooded landscapes
… and the heavy rain created a deepening grey atmosphere
We arrived at St Pierre-des-corps where we changed. Our train seemed to lose any desire to continue and was still in the station when we departed for Tours half-an-hour later
A truly depressing ‘super-grim’ station sited in what appeared to be the industrial quarter of Tours – bleak and decaying – but a busy junction served by TGV trains to SW France.
After arrival in Tours there was time for a brief stroll before dinner – which continued later.
The architecture of railway & town has a classic French C19th grandeur.
The meal we chose provided a curious experience
The concept: Cuisine Grand-Mere & La Cave de Grand-Père
An attempt to produce traditional ‘peasant’ food
The experience:
grandmother has lost whatever skill she probably never had.
Grandfather’s ‘cave’ was fine but fortunately it had not involved him in the growing or production processes.
We watched someone who seemed to be performing a ritual related to the river…. or were they just wanting an audience?
Reporting on WhatsApp from Tours
Today (18th): first on a train from Geneva to Lyon, then a train to a station worse, much worse, than Crewe…. incredibly worse
Then a train for 5 minutes to Tours (after being refused access to a TGV for the same 5 minute journey… central control ‘jobsworth’ culture).
Now in Tours.We met some very interesting people… especially a Danish woman with (in my opinion) a very accurate analysis of underlying structural U.K. beliefs – the poverty in certain sectors & regions, the widespread embedded unthinking easy acceptance of the Class System by all types of people Her partner was from Calabria & with whom we talked, in detail, about Vibo & Spilinga and all the people we know there.
On this journey, much has been seen, some has been heard & hopefully at least a little absorbed …. and a lingering, probably lasting, desire to have continued conversations with many of the people we met.
Inspirational Pathways 