Track Basher
Member
This is rather a long report from the October school holidays. Hope you enjoy.
School Half Term Excursions October 2012
This was going to be a busy half term. Many things were all happening together during the October half term holiday. Several months ago I had booked the holiday to France. We wanted to have a few days in Paris as the children do not remember visiting the city. I also wanted to go for a train ride somewhere for the day but soon realised this would eat a day of our holiday so it was better to travel somewhere say overnight then travel back home in the one day. This was to be a DIY holiday I had searched out the hotels on the Internet and booked all the trains we wanted to travel on myself.
The plan was slightly complicated by the fact that I was booked on a UK Railtours trip to Uskmouth Power Station and Gwaun cae Gurwen Opencast Mine on the last Saturday of the holiday the 3rd November. This meant we would travel out to France on the Sunday 28th October by Great Western and Eurostar. We would then have three nights in Paris. I eventually settle on Chamonix in the French Alps as our destination for the rail trip, then we would travel from there all the way home on Thursday 01st November.
A couple of weeks before we were due to go a further complication presented its’ self. I had wanted to go on the UK Railtours trip to Boulby in September but had been unable to get tickets. They were now rerunning the tour on Saturday 27th October and new seats were being made available. Delicate negotiations were going to be required to pull this one off. I succeeded but this meant a complex arrangement on the Sunday to meet up in London and go to Paris
.
This meant the plan looked like this:
Railtour team one would leave on Saturday 27th October to York via London as the Cross Country option was not very good as it required an hour earlier start and an hours wait in Bristol Parkway to get to York in time. We would then travel on the tour between York – Boulby – York – Peterborough as the tour was doing Selby Canal Curve and I have not done this. We would then return to Doncaster to the Premier Inn as this is the only hotel in the area with cheaper rooms.
Team two would leave Neath on Sunday morning to London and team one would leave Doncaster to London via Sheffield and both teams would meet at St Pancras before heading out to Paris on the Eurostar. We would then have three nights in Paris, two days of sightseeing, before heading down to the Alps. We then return all the way home on the Thursday. We have Friday at home before team one set out again on the Amman Valley Ranger railtour on the Saturday.
This was going to be a busy week!
The Plan:
Sunday 28/10/2012
Neath 05:05 GW
Paddington 08:11
Tube to Kings Cross
Kings Cross 09:00 EC
York 10:52
11:29 Railtour
Peterborough 19:54
20:20 EC
Doncaster 21:16
Sunday 28/10/2012
Doncaster 09:39 NR
Sheffield 10:08
10:19 EM
St Pancras 13:21
St Pancras 15:31 Eurostar 9036
Paris Nord 18:59
Wednesday 31/10/2012
Paris Lyon 09:48 TGV6937
Annecy 13:33
14:32 RE84209
La Roche sur Foron 15:06
15:11 RE84621
St Gervais les Baines 15:55
16:06 RE18921
Les Houches 16:29
Thursday 01/11/2012
Les Houches 10:32 RE18910
St Gervais les Bains 10:54
12:03 RE84666/RE84667/RE84574
Bellegarde (Ain) 13:51
14:10 TGV9772
Paris Lyon 16:49
Paris Nord 18:13 Eurostar 9051
St Pancras 19:39
Paddington 21:15 GW
Neath 00:22
Saturday 27 October 2012
It was a 4 a.m. alarm call in order to catch the 05:05 train to London. The train arrived on time and also deposited us in London on time. The weather was clear but we were not treated to a good sunrise as there was heavy cloud cover around Bristol – Swindon – Reading. It was clear and sunny but very cold in London. The downside of this trip was that we were had to take luggage with us because we were away in total for nearly a week.
We make our way to Kings Cross and join the 09:30 to Edinburgh, first stop York. As the train heads north there is a light covering of snow around Grantham that has fallen overnight. We pass the railtour we are intending to join at Newark. It is stood just north of the station on the eastern side of the line, just before the Lincoln line diverges. What is also unusual is that there is only an engine on the front. Normally on this type of tour you have one on each end.
We are travelling much faster and beat it to York by nearly an hour even though both trains take the same route. We meet up with a friend who will travel with us on the tour. The tour eventually arrives and we are glad of the warmth on the train as York is quite cold.
We head out of York and a procession of trains pass us which are much faster, East Coast, Transpennine and Cross Country. We diverge from the East Coast Mainline at Northallerton and use the freight lines that avoid the station. The train continues on towards Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Thornaby. In years gone by there used to be a diesel depot at Thornaby but this had been demolished and little evidence remains of the roundhouse and the lines of Class 37s that used to fill the depot and work the steel trains from Teeside. There is very little now left of Tees Yard and just a couple of DB Schenker Class 66s are present.
The landscape between here and Saltburn is very industrial as you pass through what is left of steel making in Redcar. At Saltburn we diverge just before the station and head up the incline towards Boulby. This is quite a steep incline but the Class 66 manages it easily. The railway here runs right on the edge of the cliffs with only a few yards between the line and the massive drop. I suspect with the coastal erosion in this area it will not be too long before this line falls in the sea. This line is very scenic and there is even a mechanical signal box at the entrance to Skinnigrove Steel Works half way along the line.
We arrive at Boulby Potash Mine on time. What is potash you may ask? My handy railtour brochure tells me it is made up is dead sea creatures and is used to make fertilizer. At Boulby the loco is detached and runs round the train. I cannot remember when this last happened on a railtour I was travelling on. It is quite a number of years as top and tail is the norm these days.
We set off again and retrace our tracks back towards Saltburn. The journey is uneventful all the way back to York where we arrive a few minutes early. There is time for a beer in the York Tap located on the station with a fine selection of real ale. There is also time to procure hot food from Burger King before number one son and Ihave to head back to the train and or travelling companion heads home. Under normal circumstances I would have left the train here and gone home but the tour was travelling over Selby Canal Curve which I have never done. I am on a train that is going to do it so it is stupid not to stay on the train. The only problem is that the next stop is Peterborough and it is timed to take 3 hours. We did it in just over 1 hour on East Coast this morning. This journey is painful as we crawl along going in and out of loops to allow faster trains to pass. We eventually arrive in Peterborough on time.
We have a 20 minute wait for the train back to Doncaster. This is far quicker completing the journey in a little over 40 minutes. We now need to find the hotel. We head out the station and it is very cold. The temperature is around freezing. To reach the hotel we have to pass through the bus station. There are some sights to behold within it. A Saturday night in Doncaster must be an exciting experience as young ladies pass us heading to town wearing little more than underwear despite the freezing temperatures. Am I getting old, yes.
We exit the far end of the bus station pass Tesco and find the hotel on the roundabout opposite a large church. Check in is quick and we are glad to see our beds even though it is only just after 10 p.m.
There is one further complication we have to consider before bed. Today is the last day of British Summer Time and what are electronic devices going to do about this? At home this would not be a problem as we generally do not do anything on Sunday. Tomorrow we have to be sure to wake up at the right time in the morning to get to St Pancras for the Eurostar. Are they going to change time or not? What time should we set the alarm for? We attempt various phone / Ipod settings and hope for the best.
Sunday 28 October 2012
The various gadgets have all made different interpretations of the change from BST to GMT. Some changed, some didn’t, some moved the alarm time. In the end this was not a problem as I woke at 05:30 which was 06:30 in old money. I lie in bed for a while and consider the week ahead. Eventually I take a shower and wake number one son for breakfast just before 8.
The weather is worse today. It has obviously rained overnight from the wet ground but it now heavy cloud cover and still cold.
The breakfast is £8.25 and kids eat free. By 08:30 we are ready to leave so head out to the station for the train. The station is quite and we elect to catch the Cross Country train ahead of the Northern Rail service I had planned to catch. It is a short journey to Sheffield where we make the change for the 10:19 to St Pancras. The conductor makes several announcements to reflect this and that customers requiring the 10:24 need to be on another platform not this train. Despite this shortly after leaving Sheffield several customers in our coach are given the option to pay again of get off at Chesterfield. They all leave the train.
As we head south we seem to lose time. This is not helped by engineering works between St Albans and St Pancras. We arrive about 10 minutes late but progress has been slow all the way from Bedford. Team two headed by Mrs Track Basher are travelling a more scenic route. Today they are treated to the delights of Westbury East Curve and the Berks and Hants route. She would much prefer to get to London in 3 hours rather than doing the unusual track. I do however tell her to look out for the horse on the hill at Westbury.
As it turns out we arrive at St Pancras within 10 minutes of each other. I decide a visit to the champagne bar is in order for a couple of glasses and an assortment of soft drinks. We sit and look at the station which still looks good with a few years since it was refurbished. It is a shame it is not possible to get a decent railway photo as the trains are to long.
As an hour before departure looms we head downstairs to check in. This is like a scrum at a Six Nations Rugby match but with all six nations playing at the same time in a small pitch. There are just too many people attempting to check in. We are booked on the 15:31 departure but we are mixed in with the 15:01 (Paris) and 15:04 (Brussels) passengers. In the end some of the passengers for the earlier trains have to jump the queue or they would not have made it. It takes 40 minutes to get through check in, security and immigration. By the time we do this we only have 5 minutes before boarding the train. I don’t know how the passengers who arrived for the 30 minute check in got on.
We are travelling Standard Premier which is located in the centre of the train. We find our carriage and take our seats. The train is very busy with no spare seats in our carriage. Departure time arrives and we set off into the tunnels under London emerging briefly at Stratford. We continue through Essex and onwards to Kent and bypass Ashford. Shortly before entering the channel tunnel dinner is served. It consists of principally salad, bread and wine.
We emerge from the tunnel into France in a little under an hour from leaving St Pancras. Before the construction of HS1 it took an hour to reach the tunnel. The light is now fading and the rest of the journey to Paris is in the dark.
The train arrives in Paris is on time and the exit here is easy. You just walk off the platform onto the station concourse. Gare du Nord is huge. It is a multi-level station which has mainline domestic and international train, RER (Paris local SNCF trains) and multiple metro lines. The station is also very busy even at this time on a Sunday evening. We head downstairs to the lower level and attempt to purchase a 5 Day Visit Paris pass. This proves to be quite difficult. The ticket office is closed. We attempt to purchase from the machine but despite requesting English the pages keep changing to French. A helpful local attempts to help but he speaks no English, we speak a little French. He understands what we want but he also cannot find the tickets on the machine.
We are about to head back upstairs to the mainline ticket office but spot the Metro one hiding away which is open. We manage to order the tickets in French as we knew what we wanted which the nice lady in the ticket office sells us. Then explains how the tickets work in English. Oh well we did try.
With our tickets we head down to the platform. The way the transport works in Paris is every line has a number or letter. Metro or Tram lines have numbers and RER (SNCF Regional Trains) letters the direction is indicated by the end of the line. We are attempting to reach Porte le Chapelle which is at the end of the line 12. We have to make a change at MarcadetPoissonniers to reach there. The entrance / exit gates in Paris are much more restrictive than the UK. It is very difficult to get a pull along suitcases through which we perfected after getting stuck a couple of times. Push the case in front of you not pull along behind. As we reach our destination the clientele of the train seem to get more dodgy and we begin to wonder what sort of hotel we have booked in to. We exit the station into a building site. We can see the hotel from the Metro station but cannot work out how to reach it through the multi-level flyover junctions that are between us and it.
The best option we think is to head straight for it. This proves to be more tricky than it appears. We get so far then find we have reached a motorway slip road. It appears the only way is to walk down the cycle path along the side of the slip road. We manage to negotiate our way across the fast moving traffic and down the cycle way to the hotel entrance. The hotel is a surprise as inside it is stunning with very large, nicely decorated and clean rooms. It may not be in the best area of Paris but at least we are staying somewhere nice. Dinner proves to be challenging as we had planned to go back into Paris but are tired after our journey so cannot be bothered. The hotel has no restaurant but they will order in Pizza which turns out to be very good. The hotel is not going to win any prizes for the view as all you have outside is a multi-level flyover. We are on the 6th floor and we are level with the highest one.
It has been a busy day so we retire to bed quite early.
Wednesday 31 October 2012
We have had two busy days in Paris. We discovered in the light that there is a much safer way to walk to the hotel. Had we exited the Metro from the other exit we could have used the footpath to reach the hotel without having to do the run of death through the traffic. The area though is still a bit dodgy but you can say that about much of the outskirts of Paris.It is always a compromise a nice hotel in a dodgy area or a not so nice one in a good area for the same price. We would always go for the nice hotel.
This is out third and last morning at the hotel and we have got the hang of the self-service continental breakfast. We are earlier today than we have been as we have to be at Gare de Lyon for the train at 09:48. We have to leave by 08:30 as it takes two Metro lines and the RER to get to the station. I estimate this will take 40 – 50 minutes as we have luggage.
I am not too far off and we arrive at Gare de Lyon at 09:15. On arrival our trains does not have a platform and we have to wait in Hall 3. This is a large concourse area located below the platforms.
Our platform is eventually displayed and we find our carriage. The platforms in France are very long as they have to accommodate 2 coupled TGV sets (16 or 20 carriages). Our TGV is a pair of the original sets rather than the newer double deck sets. I was hoping it would be one of the newer ones as I have never travelled on one of these. Only one of the sets is in use the rear one.
I have booked 1st Class as there was very little difference in price. We find our carriage and are directed to our seats. One thing that is noticeable with the TGV that is not possible in the UK you can get a full sized suitcase on the overhead luggage rack. Try that on a Voyager.
The train departs on time. As you leave Paris and head south you see sidings full of TGVs, EMUs and carriages. You never see this in the UK. During the day the depot sidings are empty all the trains are out earning money. In France they appear to have lots of spare rolling stock.
Within 15 minutes we are clear of the city and into open countryside. The train has diverged from the classic line a little distance outside Paris and using the high speed connection to the line that by-passes Paris through Charles de Gaulle Airport and Disneyland Paris.The trains used to travel further south on the classic lie before joining the LGV Sud-Est. The first couple of hours sees quite pleasant scenery speeding past the window. It is mainly rolling hills and small villages. The first stop for the train is Macon Loche TGV. Shortly after we diverge from the high speed network and head towards Bourg en Bresse. We then head south towards Culoz where we join the line between Lyon and Chambrey which goes towards Italy. I have done this line before an know it is quite scenic. There are lots of withdrawn engines in the yard at Culoz and DBS 66226 sitting in the fright yard. They get everywhere.
From here the scenery changes and steps up a level. Gone are the rolling hills we are now in the mountains. This section of line is in the bottom of a valley with high mountains on each side and on the run into Aix les Bains the track runs along the lake side. At Aix les Bains the train reverses and heads for the first change of trains at Annecy. Just before we arrive I get a phone call. UK Railtours, they have just been advised by DB Schenker the railtour in three days’ time is cancelled, no traincrew. Great I have worked this holiday around that tour. I make the next call to my friend that is coming to stay with us in two days’ time to travel on the tour. Mobile phones are a useful tool in these circumstances.
We arrive in Annecy on time and have an hour here, it is time for lunch. After a brief walk round we find a Boulangerie. We enter and have a selection of sandwiches. The hour we have goes quickly and it is back to the station to continue our journey. We have left the high speed network and it is SNCF regional trains from this point onwards. The next train is a two car electric multiple unit. The train is not very busy. As the train climbs you start to get views of snow covered mountains in the distance.
At every station along this route there is a passing loop. All the lines in this area are single line but are electrified. To my surprise the last passing loop before Le Roche surFeron has mechanical semaphore signals. I have never seen this is France before. At Le Roche surFeron we have to change again this is the tightest connection of the day with only 5 minutes between trains. We need not have worried the connecting train was 40 minutes late. We have 40 minutes to wait and this means we also miss the next connection is St Gervais.
We wait on the platform 40 minutes for the next train to arrive. There is now a definite nip in the air. It has not yet gone dark but you can see your own breath. This is not too bad a place to be stuck. It is cold but dry and you have a view or surrounding mountains.
The next train arrives and is a 4 car 27xxx Class Bombardier built streamlined EMU. These are very nice trains with big windows so you can see the surrounding scenery. The train makes good progress and the line continues as single line with passing places. The scenery is becoming more rugged as we get nearer to St Gervais les Bains. I consider the options for dinner. I had planned to go to the hotel and drop the bags then go into Chamonix for a meal. We would have an hour between trains to achieve this. With the hour delay this was no longer possible as we have to depart on the train we were are now arriving on in order to have time to eat. It is not possible to stay any later as we would have had two hours there and were returning on the last train at 20:11. The best option now is to remain on the train to Chamonix and drag our suitcases around town to the restaurants.
No time is recovered and we arrive 40 minutes late in St Gervais les Bains. We have to change here from standard gauge train to the meter gauge train. With the extra time we now have 30 minutes between trains as opposed to the planned 10. There are a couple of Americans who are confused trying to get to Chamonix who have arrived on the same train. I point them in the right direction.
It is then time for a very English thing to do, tea. I find the station buffet at the front of the station and order a thé aulait (tea with milk). I am given this in a cup and saucer so take this back to the booking hall and stand in the middle drinking my tea, much to the amusement of the Americans.
With the extra time now available I cross the station access road to look at the Mont Blanc tramway. This does not appear to be running today and it is also difficult to work out when it does as there appears to be no timetable.
The time of departure is getting close so we head back to the platform for the train towards Chamonix. The train normally runs to Vallorobe where you change to go on through to Switzerland. There is engineering works for a few months and the train is only going as far as Chamonix Mont Blanc today with a bus if you wish to go any further. Darkness is now beginning to fall as we leave St Gervais on this Class Z850 EMU. This railway may be meter gauge but it is still operated by SNCF. It is also third rail electrified in one of the snowiest regions of France. The live rail is about 2 feet off the ground though.
I found out after booking the trip this steepest adhesion worked railway in the world. The train heads out of St Gervais and up the mountain. A few minutes after leaving we reach the first climb. The road to Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel weaves under and over the railway. The high level road bridge at the first climb is very impressive as it snakes over the railway. I also wonder how this train is clinging to the line as the gradient is very server. We continue to wind up the valley and darkness falls so we have no idea what the scenery is like outside. We pass through Les Houches the village where our hotel is located and continue through to Chamonix. We arrive on time.
We go for a walk around town, spot McDonalds and look for something else. Many of the restaurants are closed as we are between seasons, hence why the good price at the hotel. After a walk around we find a brassiere in the main square and eat there. Service is very quick and we end up on the 19:11 rather than the 20:11 back to Les Houches. The train takes 20 minutes to wind its’ way back down the mountain to our destination. We have only the 500 meters to walk to the hotel. One problem not obvious on the map it is up a 1 in 3 hill and it is pitch black with no street lights. It takes about 15 minutes to walk up the hill dragging our suitcases along. Not being the fittest person in the world it takes me a little time to recover on arrival.
The hotel is fairly basic but nicely finished in wood. The rooms are basic but clean and warm we dump our bags and head back downstairs to the log fire and bar. The children now have internet access for the first time all holiday so are more interested in updating their Facebook status rather than enjoying the heat of the fire. This has been a good day and finishing it off with a beer by the warmth of a log fire in a wood lined room in the French Alps is great.
It has been a long day and by 21:30 we are ready for bed.
Thursday 01 November 2012
Today we are going home however home is 850 miles by train away. I wake early at 05:30 a curse of going to bed so early. I am sleeping next to the window and as I push the curtain back I can see lots of stars in the sky. The night is clear and there is going to be a great sunrise. I decide to get up, go for a walk and take some photos. As I head out of the hotel the first light is appearing in the sky and it is completely cloudless except for the small one forming on the top of Mont Blanc. We could not see the scenery last night as it was dark. We are in a place that is absolutely stunningly beautiful. The valley is quite narrow here only a couple of miles across. On the floor are trees full of autumn colour, reds, browns, yellows and greens. Rising above this to several thousand feet are rugged snow-capped mountain tops. Above this is the deep blue of the clear morning sky which is slowly getting lighter. It is also a crisp morning at about freezing point. A wonderful place to be.
I am robbed of the sunrise because I am in the bottom of the valley. Because of the high valley walls surrounding Les Houchesit does not reach the bottom. The one small cloud forming at the top of Mont Blanc changes colours red, orange, and pink to white It has been worth getting up to see this change of colours. After an hour I am getting cold so head back to the hotel. I am very warm when I get there as I have to climb back up the steep hill.
When I get back and everyone else is up. We head down for breakfast which is the usual French breads but also bacon and eggs. We eat well and we are finished by 08:30. The train is not due to depart until 10:30 but we are ready. I check the train times and we can leave at 09:30 and change at St Gervais and get to Bellegarde. Our ticket from there onwards is fixed so we can have a couple of hours there before catching the TGV that we are booked on.
That seems like a plan. We head out for the 09:30. The light is getting better but the sun has still not reached the valley floor. The autumn colours are now more vivid on the lower slopes up to the high mountains. This place was a wonderful find. Our train arrives and we wind our way back down the mountain. The train has large picture windows and the view across the mountains is probably one of the best I have ever seen. The line is incredibly steep and the train clings to the track as we descend. I see an effect I have never seen before. Because of the different temperatures of air meeting at the mountain peak between the adjacent valleys a small cloud is forming and splitting. The end of the cloud has a rainbow forming within it so you get all different colours forming within the cloud. Other than these handful of small clouds forming slightly above the high peaks the sky is completely clear and deep blue. The autumn sun also brings out the colours of the trees.
The journey to St Gervais takes 25 minutes where we leave the meter gauge behind and go back to 4 foot 8½ inches or 1,435mm as we are in France. I consider the thought that these railway tracks form a continuous link all the way home toNeath. You could actually take one train from here all the way home. This however is not possible as I can only see an incredibly small market so we actually have to make a number of changes and it is faster to cross Paris and London.
The train is waiting in the platform so we join and take our seats. This is the same type of Bombardier train as yesterday. I have noticed something annoying on these trains they have a small litter bin under the table and if someone places an empty water bottle in it you keep banging your leg on it. I had exactly the same problem yesterday. I go to reposition the bottle and notice my rubbish from yesterday. I am sat in the same seat on the same train! Overnight rubbish collection on SNCF not up to standard!
Today was always going to be a long day of travel. I had planned a 15 hour journey (including the change of time) and was suitably equipped with reading material. The scenery on this section with the bright sunlight and autumn colours it was a pleasure to just stare out the window and watch it change in front of me. I have planned to return a slightly different route. Yesterday we came via Annecy, today we return via Annemasse and Bellegarde. The journey goes quickly. At Annemasse there as a huge bang as another unit is attached and we are 4 coaches away at the other end of the train. From here to Bellegarde the train runs along the Swiss border and you can see this from the train. There are also views over Geneva.
The journey between St Gervais and Bellegarde takes just under two hours. We are ready for something to eat and drink as one thing about SNCF they do not provide any refreshments of their regional trains. We have a couple of hours here before the departure of our TGV. We decide to trundle out bags into the town. It appears today is market day but it is also a holiday in France. The market is full of amazing food stalls with hundreds of fresh meats and cheeses which unfortunately we have no hope of getting home. We wander around the market for a while and then look for a sandwich shop. This proves quite problematic. It appears because today is a holiday none of the bakeries have any food. After trying a few we give up and head back to the small shop on the station which has an ample supply.
We sit on the station platform and eat. We still have an hour to wait for the train. I am using a 1994 French Rail Atlas as we travel round. Something has changed here compared to my map and I am trying to work out what has been done. There are new platforms for the TGVs to the north and the station is split in two on two different lines. I eventually work out what has happened. The direction of the curve we are on has been switched round. The old station was on to levels and the line we are on used to go into the high level part and the existing station was the lower level. Once the curve had been realigned to point towards Geneva and new platforms constructed on this line effectively splitting the stations in two. The former high level platformsno longer appear to be used and are no longer connected from the eastern side.
The weather changes quickly here and within an hour it has clouded over and starts to lightly rain. Our TGV arrives and passengers keep asking me for information where the train will stop. I attempt to help with my poor French. The TGV is again two coupled together with only the front one in use. We have quite a long walk up the platform to our carriage. This is the problem with running 16 carriage trains.
We find our seats and people are sat in them. One difference with TGVs than UK trains is that all seats are reserved but no labels are placed on the seats to indicate this. They had obviously thought that if no one had joined at Geneva no one was coming. Wrong! As they realise we are booked in the seats they make a quick exit.
We settle down for the next leg of the journey. The train is routed directly to Bourg and Bresse then north up the LGV Sud-Est. This first section is not quick but quite scenicand the TGV winds its way over bridges and through tunnels. The train does not have any more stops to Paris Gare de Lyon. The line gets a bit quicker as we get beyond Bourg en Bresse and then considerably quicker as we join the LGV at Macon Loche TGV. Progress is fast until we stop on the LGV. We stop for about 10 minutes than set off again. There is an announcement but I cannot work out the reason for the delay, French not good enough. I do however work out the part where we are advised we are 12 minutes late.
From this point the driver does not spare the horses and we fly along central France. We go over the rolling hills and the weather changes between bright sunshine and very heavy showers. Arrival in Paris is about 10 minutes late. As I mentioned earlier today is a public holiday in France and the RER is running every 7/8 minutes not every 3 so this adds a little more delay. There is also quite a walk at both Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord between the platforms. You also have to negotiate the industrial ticket gates they use in Paris. I am glad we still have our 5 day passes to get through the barriers. It seems like an age waiting for the RER. We just miss one and the next one does not go as far as Gare du Nord so we end up waiting 15 minutes. This is severely eating into our cross Paris transfer time. Eventually the train arrives and we travel the two stops. Gare du Nord is a maze of walkways but we find our way to the main station concourse and up the escalator to the Eurostar check in. It is a 30 minute check in and we arrive 40 minutes before departure. There is no queue for our train and we go virtually straight through check-in, immigration and security. The departure lounge at Gare du Nord is incredibly small. It is not really big enough to hold a train full of passengers for a Eurostar. It is very crowded luckily we only have 5 minutes before boarding.
This is not a very efficient process it is quite slow progress out of the lounge onto the Eurostar. We find our carriage and join our seats. The train is much quieter than when we came out a few days earlier. There are quite a few spare seats. As we take our seats a work colleague walks down the train. We initially do a double take of each other. We were both sat in the same meetings last week and I had declined his invitation to meetings this week the reason which has now become obvious, I was in France. Remarkably we are both booked in the same coach. We chat for a while.
As we leave Paris darkness has now fallen. You can see very little of France outside the window. We eat out Standard Premier meal which consist of a cold airline type meal I cannot have wine as I have to drive later and orange juice appears to confuse the staff. The food at least will keep us going until later. I leave the family and talk work with my colleague. We have not had time to catch up since the meetings last week. The time passes quickly and before I realise we are stopping at Ebbsfleet. I need to start getting ready to leave the train. It looks as though we are going to be in London a little early at 19:35 (GMT). This means we may have a chance of the 20:15 from Paddington, an hour earlier than I had planned. This will get us home at 23:07 as opposed to 00:22. It is worth a go so the team is primed of the objective. We leave the train and head quickly through customs and down to the Circle Line to get back to Paddington. As we arrive at the platform a train is just leaving fortunately there is another due in 1 minute. The second train is much quieter than the one that has just gone out. We count down the stops and arrive at 20:00. This means a swift walk to the platform but none is shown so we head down to the main concourse where the helpful “Preparing” message is displayed. We may have time to purchase food. I set of to procure some but before I get there the platform is called. I decide to abort this and return to the family. We will get something on the train.
We board find seats and leave on time. There is however no buffet as there are no staff to operate it. It appears that there has been considerable disruption today which I found out later was a chemicals incident at WentloogRailfreight terminal near Cardiff according to the BBC. The staff eventually join at Swindon, but have no food to sell. We will have to wait until we get home. Problems are further compounded at Bristol Parkway as the Conductor is from London and they need to swap over with the train from Swansea coming the other way. We are 30 minutes late by the time we leave Bristol but do not lose any more. I check the train we should have caught and that was also 40 minutes late. We arrive back at 23:40 still better than 01:00 if we had caught the 20:15, 7 trains (including underground) and 15 hours and 10 minutes after leaving Les Houches in the French Alps. That is 850 miles by my calculation.
Friday 02 November 2012
Sleep followed by friend arriving for the non-existent railtour.
Saturday 03 November 2012
Today is the non Railtour day. As we now have no railtour to travel on we need to find something else to do. It had been a long time since I have done the branches of West Wales. I have never been to Milford Haven since living here. My last visit by train was in 1989. We head out with our Day Returns to Carmarthen and a West Wales Day Ranger.
The plan is to do Fishguard then Milford Haven, bus to Pembroke Dock and home in time for tea. We have to set off at 07:29 in order to make the trip round. The first train is a portion train which splits at Whitland the front half heading for Pembroke the rear for Fishguard. The train arrives and is a single car Class 153. This is going to be interesting to see how this train is split at Whitland. Angel grinder or more likely a bus. The weather is not too bad today it is fine and sunny spells.
We head into Swansea and on towards Carmarthen. On arrival another Class 153 is waiting to attach to ours. On departure we move through to the other half as we are in the wrong part. The train is freezing. It has obviously been sat in the sidings all night and just been turned on. The split takes place at Whitland and we trundle on towards Fishguard. We are the only two passengers. Another one joins at Clunderwen.
Rather than go down to the Harbour we decide to take a look at the new station at Fishguard and Goodwick. It is a couple of minutes short of the harbour station. There are at least a few passengers waiting for the return train. I have been down the Fishguard line quite a few times but this is probably the first time on a DMU. All other times it has been loco-hauled or HST. In just under 15 minutes the 153 is back and we head back towards Clarbeston Road. Another station where I have never alighted.
We have 20 minutes here before the Class 175 arrives to take us down to Milford Haven. This train has come all the way from Crewe and is very near the end of its journey. The sun is now out as we arrive in Milford Haven. We have an hour to wait for the bus so head to Tesco next to the station for lunch. Unfortunately there is no café so we have to settle for sandwiches.
The bus departs from Tesco car park. It arrives and is provided by Richards Bros and is not the most modern of vehicles. This turns out to be quite an eventful journey as it is a full sized bus on a route down very narrow country lanes. I think the driver got too big a bus out the depot this morning. It is quite a tight squeeze through some of the villages. He manages to negotiate the route without incident and we are dropped off close to Pembroke Dock station.
This station has changed quite a bit in the last 18 months. There is now a pub on the station with a selection of food and real ales. Last time was here there was nothing in the station building. The pub walls are decorated by old railway paintings and photos. We have coffee as we have half an hour before the train departs. The Class 153 is the same one we have just been down to Fishguard on, it has now warmed up.
10 minutes before departure time we join the train. We head off on time back towards Carmarthen. This train is quite busy. There is a steady flow of passengers all the way to Carmarthen. We had originally planned to go through to Swansea but instead went in search of tea in the station buffet. We have a little wait for the following Manchester train. This takes us directly back to Neath. It has only been a short day and we are back before 16:00. As it turn out a good move as shortly after the heavens open.
This has been an incredibly busy 8 days starting with Potash Mines followed by Eurostar, Paris and a quick trip to the Alps. We clocked up nearly 2,700 miles excluding the bits around Paris. Highlights were the railways around St Gervais les Bains, the scenery was outstanding. The low point was the trains around Paris these were in very poor state of repair dirty and covered in graffiti. I would like to go back to the Alps again and this time travel all the way between St Gervais and Switzerland. The French trains are good but I think you get better customer service on some British trains. The biggest surprise was the number of people speaking English in France. This has changed considerably in the 10 years since I last visited. Last time no one would speak English even if they could.
This holiday shows once again for the second time this year what is possible for a family to travel long distances using rail. The children enjoyed the experience of travelling around another country by train. You have to haul your suitcases along but prepare and take ones with wheels.
A few photos available on the link below.
School Half Term Excursions October 2012
This was going to be a busy half term. Many things were all happening together during the October half term holiday. Several months ago I had booked the holiday to France. We wanted to have a few days in Paris as the children do not remember visiting the city. I also wanted to go for a train ride somewhere for the day but soon realised this would eat a day of our holiday so it was better to travel somewhere say overnight then travel back home in the one day. This was to be a DIY holiday I had searched out the hotels on the Internet and booked all the trains we wanted to travel on myself.
The plan was slightly complicated by the fact that I was booked on a UK Railtours trip to Uskmouth Power Station and Gwaun cae Gurwen Opencast Mine on the last Saturday of the holiday the 3rd November. This meant we would travel out to France on the Sunday 28th October by Great Western and Eurostar. We would then have three nights in Paris. I eventually settle on Chamonix in the French Alps as our destination for the rail trip, then we would travel from there all the way home on Thursday 01st November.
A couple of weeks before we were due to go a further complication presented its’ self. I had wanted to go on the UK Railtours trip to Boulby in September but had been unable to get tickets. They were now rerunning the tour on Saturday 27th October and new seats were being made available. Delicate negotiations were going to be required to pull this one off. I succeeded but this meant a complex arrangement on the Sunday to meet up in London and go to Paris
.
This meant the plan looked like this:
Railtour team one would leave on Saturday 27th October to York via London as the Cross Country option was not very good as it required an hour earlier start and an hours wait in Bristol Parkway to get to York in time. We would then travel on the tour between York – Boulby – York – Peterborough as the tour was doing Selby Canal Curve and I have not done this. We would then return to Doncaster to the Premier Inn as this is the only hotel in the area with cheaper rooms.
Team two would leave Neath on Sunday morning to London and team one would leave Doncaster to London via Sheffield and both teams would meet at St Pancras before heading out to Paris on the Eurostar. We would then have three nights in Paris, two days of sightseeing, before heading down to the Alps. We then return all the way home on the Thursday. We have Friday at home before team one set out again on the Amman Valley Ranger railtour on the Saturday.
This was going to be a busy week!
The Plan:
Sunday 28/10/2012
Neath 05:05 GW
Paddington 08:11
Tube to Kings Cross
Kings Cross 09:00 EC
York 10:52
11:29 Railtour
Peterborough 19:54
20:20 EC
Doncaster 21:16
Sunday 28/10/2012
Doncaster 09:39 NR
Sheffield 10:08
10:19 EM
St Pancras 13:21
St Pancras 15:31 Eurostar 9036
Paris Nord 18:59
Wednesday 31/10/2012
Paris Lyon 09:48 TGV6937
Annecy 13:33
14:32 RE84209
La Roche sur Foron 15:06
15:11 RE84621
St Gervais les Baines 15:55
16:06 RE18921
Les Houches 16:29
Thursday 01/11/2012
Les Houches 10:32 RE18910
St Gervais les Bains 10:54
12:03 RE84666/RE84667/RE84574
Bellegarde (Ain) 13:51
14:10 TGV9772
Paris Lyon 16:49
Paris Nord 18:13 Eurostar 9051
St Pancras 19:39
Paddington 21:15 GW
Neath 00:22
Saturday 27 October 2012
It was a 4 a.m. alarm call in order to catch the 05:05 train to London. The train arrived on time and also deposited us in London on time. The weather was clear but we were not treated to a good sunrise as there was heavy cloud cover around Bristol – Swindon – Reading. It was clear and sunny but very cold in London. The downside of this trip was that we were had to take luggage with us because we were away in total for nearly a week.
We make our way to Kings Cross and join the 09:30 to Edinburgh, first stop York. As the train heads north there is a light covering of snow around Grantham that has fallen overnight. We pass the railtour we are intending to join at Newark. It is stood just north of the station on the eastern side of the line, just before the Lincoln line diverges. What is also unusual is that there is only an engine on the front. Normally on this type of tour you have one on each end.
We are travelling much faster and beat it to York by nearly an hour even though both trains take the same route. We meet up with a friend who will travel with us on the tour. The tour eventually arrives and we are glad of the warmth on the train as York is quite cold.
We head out of York and a procession of trains pass us which are much faster, East Coast, Transpennine and Cross Country. We diverge from the East Coast Mainline at Northallerton and use the freight lines that avoid the station. The train continues on towards Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Thornaby. In years gone by there used to be a diesel depot at Thornaby but this had been demolished and little evidence remains of the roundhouse and the lines of Class 37s that used to fill the depot and work the steel trains from Teeside. There is very little now left of Tees Yard and just a couple of DB Schenker Class 66s are present.
The landscape between here and Saltburn is very industrial as you pass through what is left of steel making in Redcar. At Saltburn we diverge just before the station and head up the incline towards Boulby. This is quite a steep incline but the Class 66 manages it easily. The railway here runs right on the edge of the cliffs with only a few yards between the line and the massive drop. I suspect with the coastal erosion in this area it will not be too long before this line falls in the sea. This line is very scenic and there is even a mechanical signal box at the entrance to Skinnigrove Steel Works half way along the line.
We arrive at Boulby Potash Mine on time. What is potash you may ask? My handy railtour brochure tells me it is made up is dead sea creatures and is used to make fertilizer. At Boulby the loco is detached and runs round the train. I cannot remember when this last happened on a railtour I was travelling on. It is quite a number of years as top and tail is the norm these days.
We set off again and retrace our tracks back towards Saltburn. The journey is uneventful all the way back to York where we arrive a few minutes early. There is time for a beer in the York Tap located on the station with a fine selection of real ale. There is also time to procure hot food from Burger King before number one son and Ihave to head back to the train and or travelling companion heads home. Under normal circumstances I would have left the train here and gone home but the tour was travelling over Selby Canal Curve which I have never done. I am on a train that is going to do it so it is stupid not to stay on the train. The only problem is that the next stop is Peterborough and it is timed to take 3 hours. We did it in just over 1 hour on East Coast this morning. This journey is painful as we crawl along going in and out of loops to allow faster trains to pass. We eventually arrive in Peterborough on time.
We have a 20 minute wait for the train back to Doncaster. This is far quicker completing the journey in a little over 40 minutes. We now need to find the hotel. We head out the station and it is very cold. The temperature is around freezing. To reach the hotel we have to pass through the bus station. There are some sights to behold within it. A Saturday night in Doncaster must be an exciting experience as young ladies pass us heading to town wearing little more than underwear despite the freezing temperatures. Am I getting old, yes.
We exit the far end of the bus station pass Tesco and find the hotel on the roundabout opposite a large church. Check in is quick and we are glad to see our beds even though it is only just after 10 p.m.
There is one further complication we have to consider before bed. Today is the last day of British Summer Time and what are electronic devices going to do about this? At home this would not be a problem as we generally do not do anything on Sunday. Tomorrow we have to be sure to wake up at the right time in the morning to get to St Pancras for the Eurostar. Are they going to change time or not? What time should we set the alarm for? We attempt various phone / Ipod settings and hope for the best.
Sunday 28 October 2012
The various gadgets have all made different interpretations of the change from BST to GMT. Some changed, some didn’t, some moved the alarm time. In the end this was not a problem as I woke at 05:30 which was 06:30 in old money. I lie in bed for a while and consider the week ahead. Eventually I take a shower and wake number one son for breakfast just before 8.
The weather is worse today. It has obviously rained overnight from the wet ground but it now heavy cloud cover and still cold.
The breakfast is £8.25 and kids eat free. By 08:30 we are ready to leave so head out to the station for the train. The station is quite and we elect to catch the Cross Country train ahead of the Northern Rail service I had planned to catch. It is a short journey to Sheffield where we make the change for the 10:19 to St Pancras. The conductor makes several announcements to reflect this and that customers requiring the 10:24 need to be on another platform not this train. Despite this shortly after leaving Sheffield several customers in our coach are given the option to pay again of get off at Chesterfield. They all leave the train.
As we head south we seem to lose time. This is not helped by engineering works between St Albans and St Pancras. We arrive about 10 minutes late but progress has been slow all the way from Bedford. Team two headed by Mrs Track Basher are travelling a more scenic route. Today they are treated to the delights of Westbury East Curve and the Berks and Hants route. She would much prefer to get to London in 3 hours rather than doing the unusual track. I do however tell her to look out for the horse on the hill at Westbury.
As it turns out we arrive at St Pancras within 10 minutes of each other. I decide a visit to the champagne bar is in order for a couple of glasses and an assortment of soft drinks. We sit and look at the station which still looks good with a few years since it was refurbished. It is a shame it is not possible to get a decent railway photo as the trains are to long.
As an hour before departure looms we head downstairs to check in. This is like a scrum at a Six Nations Rugby match but with all six nations playing at the same time in a small pitch. There are just too many people attempting to check in. We are booked on the 15:31 departure but we are mixed in with the 15:01 (Paris) and 15:04 (Brussels) passengers. In the end some of the passengers for the earlier trains have to jump the queue or they would not have made it. It takes 40 minutes to get through check in, security and immigration. By the time we do this we only have 5 minutes before boarding the train. I don’t know how the passengers who arrived for the 30 minute check in got on.
We are travelling Standard Premier which is located in the centre of the train. We find our carriage and take our seats. The train is very busy with no spare seats in our carriage. Departure time arrives and we set off into the tunnels under London emerging briefly at Stratford. We continue through Essex and onwards to Kent and bypass Ashford. Shortly before entering the channel tunnel dinner is served. It consists of principally salad, bread and wine.
We emerge from the tunnel into France in a little under an hour from leaving St Pancras. Before the construction of HS1 it took an hour to reach the tunnel. The light is now fading and the rest of the journey to Paris is in the dark.
The train arrives in Paris is on time and the exit here is easy. You just walk off the platform onto the station concourse. Gare du Nord is huge. It is a multi-level station which has mainline domestic and international train, RER (Paris local SNCF trains) and multiple metro lines. The station is also very busy even at this time on a Sunday evening. We head downstairs to the lower level and attempt to purchase a 5 Day Visit Paris pass. This proves to be quite difficult. The ticket office is closed. We attempt to purchase from the machine but despite requesting English the pages keep changing to French. A helpful local attempts to help but he speaks no English, we speak a little French. He understands what we want but he also cannot find the tickets on the machine.
We are about to head back upstairs to the mainline ticket office but spot the Metro one hiding away which is open. We manage to order the tickets in French as we knew what we wanted which the nice lady in the ticket office sells us. Then explains how the tickets work in English. Oh well we did try.
With our tickets we head down to the platform. The way the transport works in Paris is every line has a number or letter. Metro or Tram lines have numbers and RER (SNCF Regional Trains) letters the direction is indicated by the end of the line. We are attempting to reach Porte le Chapelle which is at the end of the line 12. We have to make a change at MarcadetPoissonniers to reach there. The entrance / exit gates in Paris are much more restrictive than the UK. It is very difficult to get a pull along suitcases through which we perfected after getting stuck a couple of times. Push the case in front of you not pull along behind. As we reach our destination the clientele of the train seem to get more dodgy and we begin to wonder what sort of hotel we have booked in to. We exit the station into a building site. We can see the hotel from the Metro station but cannot work out how to reach it through the multi-level flyover junctions that are between us and it.
The best option we think is to head straight for it. This proves to be more tricky than it appears. We get so far then find we have reached a motorway slip road. It appears the only way is to walk down the cycle path along the side of the slip road. We manage to negotiate our way across the fast moving traffic and down the cycle way to the hotel entrance. The hotel is a surprise as inside it is stunning with very large, nicely decorated and clean rooms. It may not be in the best area of Paris but at least we are staying somewhere nice. Dinner proves to be challenging as we had planned to go back into Paris but are tired after our journey so cannot be bothered. The hotel has no restaurant but they will order in Pizza which turns out to be very good. The hotel is not going to win any prizes for the view as all you have outside is a multi-level flyover. We are on the 6th floor and we are level with the highest one.
It has been a busy day so we retire to bed quite early.
Wednesday 31 October 2012
We have had two busy days in Paris. We discovered in the light that there is a much safer way to walk to the hotel. Had we exited the Metro from the other exit we could have used the footpath to reach the hotel without having to do the run of death through the traffic. The area though is still a bit dodgy but you can say that about much of the outskirts of Paris.It is always a compromise a nice hotel in a dodgy area or a not so nice one in a good area for the same price. We would always go for the nice hotel.
This is out third and last morning at the hotel and we have got the hang of the self-service continental breakfast. We are earlier today than we have been as we have to be at Gare de Lyon for the train at 09:48. We have to leave by 08:30 as it takes two Metro lines and the RER to get to the station. I estimate this will take 40 – 50 minutes as we have luggage.
I am not too far off and we arrive at Gare de Lyon at 09:15. On arrival our trains does not have a platform and we have to wait in Hall 3. This is a large concourse area located below the platforms.
Our platform is eventually displayed and we find our carriage. The platforms in France are very long as they have to accommodate 2 coupled TGV sets (16 or 20 carriages). Our TGV is a pair of the original sets rather than the newer double deck sets. I was hoping it would be one of the newer ones as I have never travelled on one of these. Only one of the sets is in use the rear one.
I have booked 1st Class as there was very little difference in price. We find our carriage and are directed to our seats. One thing that is noticeable with the TGV that is not possible in the UK you can get a full sized suitcase on the overhead luggage rack. Try that on a Voyager.
The train departs on time. As you leave Paris and head south you see sidings full of TGVs, EMUs and carriages. You never see this in the UK. During the day the depot sidings are empty all the trains are out earning money. In France they appear to have lots of spare rolling stock.
Within 15 minutes we are clear of the city and into open countryside. The train has diverged from the classic line a little distance outside Paris and using the high speed connection to the line that by-passes Paris through Charles de Gaulle Airport and Disneyland Paris.The trains used to travel further south on the classic lie before joining the LGV Sud-Est. The first couple of hours sees quite pleasant scenery speeding past the window. It is mainly rolling hills and small villages. The first stop for the train is Macon Loche TGV. Shortly after we diverge from the high speed network and head towards Bourg en Bresse. We then head south towards Culoz where we join the line between Lyon and Chambrey which goes towards Italy. I have done this line before an know it is quite scenic. There are lots of withdrawn engines in the yard at Culoz and DBS 66226 sitting in the fright yard. They get everywhere.
From here the scenery changes and steps up a level. Gone are the rolling hills we are now in the mountains. This section of line is in the bottom of a valley with high mountains on each side and on the run into Aix les Bains the track runs along the lake side. At Aix les Bains the train reverses and heads for the first change of trains at Annecy. Just before we arrive I get a phone call. UK Railtours, they have just been advised by DB Schenker the railtour in three days’ time is cancelled, no traincrew. Great I have worked this holiday around that tour. I make the next call to my friend that is coming to stay with us in two days’ time to travel on the tour. Mobile phones are a useful tool in these circumstances.
We arrive in Annecy on time and have an hour here, it is time for lunch. After a brief walk round we find a Boulangerie. We enter and have a selection of sandwiches. The hour we have goes quickly and it is back to the station to continue our journey. We have left the high speed network and it is SNCF regional trains from this point onwards. The next train is a two car electric multiple unit. The train is not very busy. As the train climbs you start to get views of snow covered mountains in the distance.
At every station along this route there is a passing loop. All the lines in this area are single line but are electrified. To my surprise the last passing loop before Le Roche surFeron has mechanical semaphore signals. I have never seen this is France before. At Le Roche surFeron we have to change again this is the tightest connection of the day with only 5 minutes between trains. We need not have worried the connecting train was 40 minutes late. We have 40 minutes to wait and this means we also miss the next connection is St Gervais.
We wait on the platform 40 minutes for the next train to arrive. There is now a definite nip in the air. It has not yet gone dark but you can see your own breath. This is not too bad a place to be stuck. It is cold but dry and you have a view or surrounding mountains.
The next train arrives and is a 4 car 27xxx Class Bombardier built streamlined EMU. These are very nice trains with big windows so you can see the surrounding scenery. The train makes good progress and the line continues as single line with passing places. The scenery is becoming more rugged as we get nearer to St Gervais les Bains. I consider the options for dinner. I had planned to go to the hotel and drop the bags then go into Chamonix for a meal. We would have an hour between trains to achieve this. With the hour delay this was no longer possible as we have to depart on the train we were are now arriving on in order to have time to eat. It is not possible to stay any later as we would have had two hours there and were returning on the last train at 20:11. The best option now is to remain on the train to Chamonix and drag our suitcases around town to the restaurants.
No time is recovered and we arrive 40 minutes late in St Gervais les Bains. We have to change here from standard gauge train to the meter gauge train. With the extra time we now have 30 minutes between trains as opposed to the planned 10. There are a couple of Americans who are confused trying to get to Chamonix who have arrived on the same train. I point them in the right direction.
It is then time for a very English thing to do, tea. I find the station buffet at the front of the station and order a thé aulait (tea with milk). I am given this in a cup and saucer so take this back to the booking hall and stand in the middle drinking my tea, much to the amusement of the Americans.
With the extra time now available I cross the station access road to look at the Mont Blanc tramway. This does not appear to be running today and it is also difficult to work out when it does as there appears to be no timetable.
The time of departure is getting close so we head back to the platform for the train towards Chamonix. The train normally runs to Vallorobe where you change to go on through to Switzerland. There is engineering works for a few months and the train is only going as far as Chamonix Mont Blanc today with a bus if you wish to go any further. Darkness is now beginning to fall as we leave St Gervais on this Class Z850 EMU. This railway may be meter gauge but it is still operated by SNCF. It is also third rail electrified in one of the snowiest regions of France. The live rail is about 2 feet off the ground though.
I found out after booking the trip this steepest adhesion worked railway in the world. The train heads out of St Gervais and up the mountain. A few minutes after leaving we reach the first climb. The road to Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel weaves under and over the railway. The high level road bridge at the first climb is very impressive as it snakes over the railway. I also wonder how this train is clinging to the line as the gradient is very server. We continue to wind up the valley and darkness falls so we have no idea what the scenery is like outside. We pass through Les Houches the village where our hotel is located and continue through to Chamonix. We arrive on time.
We go for a walk around town, spot McDonalds and look for something else. Many of the restaurants are closed as we are between seasons, hence why the good price at the hotel. After a walk around we find a brassiere in the main square and eat there. Service is very quick and we end up on the 19:11 rather than the 20:11 back to Les Houches. The train takes 20 minutes to wind its’ way back down the mountain to our destination. We have only the 500 meters to walk to the hotel. One problem not obvious on the map it is up a 1 in 3 hill and it is pitch black with no street lights. It takes about 15 minutes to walk up the hill dragging our suitcases along. Not being the fittest person in the world it takes me a little time to recover on arrival.
The hotel is fairly basic but nicely finished in wood. The rooms are basic but clean and warm we dump our bags and head back downstairs to the log fire and bar. The children now have internet access for the first time all holiday so are more interested in updating their Facebook status rather than enjoying the heat of the fire. This has been a good day and finishing it off with a beer by the warmth of a log fire in a wood lined room in the French Alps is great.
It has been a long day and by 21:30 we are ready for bed.
Thursday 01 November 2012
Today we are going home however home is 850 miles by train away. I wake early at 05:30 a curse of going to bed so early. I am sleeping next to the window and as I push the curtain back I can see lots of stars in the sky. The night is clear and there is going to be a great sunrise. I decide to get up, go for a walk and take some photos. As I head out of the hotel the first light is appearing in the sky and it is completely cloudless except for the small one forming on the top of Mont Blanc. We could not see the scenery last night as it was dark. We are in a place that is absolutely stunningly beautiful. The valley is quite narrow here only a couple of miles across. On the floor are trees full of autumn colour, reds, browns, yellows and greens. Rising above this to several thousand feet are rugged snow-capped mountain tops. Above this is the deep blue of the clear morning sky which is slowly getting lighter. It is also a crisp morning at about freezing point. A wonderful place to be.
I am robbed of the sunrise because I am in the bottom of the valley. Because of the high valley walls surrounding Les Houchesit does not reach the bottom. The one small cloud forming at the top of Mont Blanc changes colours red, orange, and pink to white It has been worth getting up to see this change of colours. After an hour I am getting cold so head back to the hotel. I am very warm when I get there as I have to climb back up the steep hill.
When I get back and everyone else is up. We head down for breakfast which is the usual French breads but also bacon and eggs. We eat well and we are finished by 08:30. The train is not due to depart until 10:30 but we are ready. I check the train times and we can leave at 09:30 and change at St Gervais and get to Bellegarde. Our ticket from there onwards is fixed so we can have a couple of hours there before catching the TGV that we are booked on.
That seems like a plan. We head out for the 09:30. The light is getting better but the sun has still not reached the valley floor. The autumn colours are now more vivid on the lower slopes up to the high mountains. This place was a wonderful find. Our train arrives and we wind our way back down the mountain. The train has large picture windows and the view across the mountains is probably one of the best I have ever seen. The line is incredibly steep and the train clings to the track as we descend. I see an effect I have never seen before. Because of the different temperatures of air meeting at the mountain peak between the adjacent valleys a small cloud is forming and splitting. The end of the cloud has a rainbow forming within it so you get all different colours forming within the cloud. Other than these handful of small clouds forming slightly above the high peaks the sky is completely clear and deep blue. The autumn sun also brings out the colours of the trees.
The journey to St Gervais takes 25 minutes where we leave the meter gauge behind and go back to 4 foot 8½ inches or 1,435mm as we are in France. I consider the thought that these railway tracks form a continuous link all the way home toNeath. You could actually take one train from here all the way home. This however is not possible as I can only see an incredibly small market so we actually have to make a number of changes and it is faster to cross Paris and London.
The train is waiting in the platform so we join and take our seats. This is the same type of Bombardier train as yesterday. I have noticed something annoying on these trains they have a small litter bin under the table and if someone places an empty water bottle in it you keep banging your leg on it. I had exactly the same problem yesterday. I go to reposition the bottle and notice my rubbish from yesterday. I am sat in the same seat on the same train! Overnight rubbish collection on SNCF not up to standard!
Today was always going to be a long day of travel. I had planned a 15 hour journey (including the change of time) and was suitably equipped with reading material. The scenery on this section with the bright sunlight and autumn colours it was a pleasure to just stare out the window and watch it change in front of me. I have planned to return a slightly different route. Yesterday we came via Annecy, today we return via Annemasse and Bellegarde. The journey goes quickly. At Annemasse there as a huge bang as another unit is attached and we are 4 coaches away at the other end of the train. From here to Bellegarde the train runs along the Swiss border and you can see this from the train. There are also views over Geneva.
The journey between St Gervais and Bellegarde takes just under two hours. We are ready for something to eat and drink as one thing about SNCF they do not provide any refreshments of their regional trains. We have a couple of hours here before the departure of our TGV. We decide to trundle out bags into the town. It appears today is market day but it is also a holiday in France. The market is full of amazing food stalls with hundreds of fresh meats and cheeses which unfortunately we have no hope of getting home. We wander around the market for a while and then look for a sandwich shop. This proves quite problematic. It appears because today is a holiday none of the bakeries have any food. After trying a few we give up and head back to the small shop on the station which has an ample supply.
We sit on the station platform and eat. We still have an hour to wait for the train. I am using a 1994 French Rail Atlas as we travel round. Something has changed here compared to my map and I am trying to work out what has been done. There are new platforms for the TGVs to the north and the station is split in two on two different lines. I eventually work out what has happened. The direction of the curve we are on has been switched round. The old station was on to levels and the line we are on used to go into the high level part and the existing station was the lower level. Once the curve had been realigned to point towards Geneva and new platforms constructed on this line effectively splitting the stations in two. The former high level platformsno longer appear to be used and are no longer connected from the eastern side.
The weather changes quickly here and within an hour it has clouded over and starts to lightly rain. Our TGV arrives and passengers keep asking me for information where the train will stop. I attempt to help with my poor French. The TGV is again two coupled together with only the front one in use. We have quite a long walk up the platform to our carriage. This is the problem with running 16 carriage trains.
We find our seats and people are sat in them. One difference with TGVs than UK trains is that all seats are reserved but no labels are placed on the seats to indicate this. They had obviously thought that if no one had joined at Geneva no one was coming. Wrong! As they realise we are booked in the seats they make a quick exit.
We settle down for the next leg of the journey. The train is routed directly to Bourg and Bresse then north up the LGV Sud-Est. This first section is not quick but quite scenicand the TGV winds its way over bridges and through tunnels. The train does not have any more stops to Paris Gare de Lyon. The line gets a bit quicker as we get beyond Bourg en Bresse and then considerably quicker as we join the LGV at Macon Loche TGV. Progress is fast until we stop on the LGV. We stop for about 10 minutes than set off again. There is an announcement but I cannot work out the reason for the delay, French not good enough. I do however work out the part where we are advised we are 12 minutes late.
From this point the driver does not spare the horses and we fly along central France. We go over the rolling hills and the weather changes between bright sunshine and very heavy showers. Arrival in Paris is about 10 minutes late. As I mentioned earlier today is a public holiday in France and the RER is running every 7/8 minutes not every 3 so this adds a little more delay. There is also quite a walk at both Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord between the platforms. You also have to negotiate the industrial ticket gates they use in Paris. I am glad we still have our 5 day passes to get through the barriers. It seems like an age waiting for the RER. We just miss one and the next one does not go as far as Gare du Nord so we end up waiting 15 minutes. This is severely eating into our cross Paris transfer time. Eventually the train arrives and we travel the two stops. Gare du Nord is a maze of walkways but we find our way to the main station concourse and up the escalator to the Eurostar check in. It is a 30 minute check in and we arrive 40 minutes before departure. There is no queue for our train and we go virtually straight through check-in, immigration and security. The departure lounge at Gare du Nord is incredibly small. It is not really big enough to hold a train full of passengers for a Eurostar. It is very crowded luckily we only have 5 minutes before boarding.
This is not a very efficient process it is quite slow progress out of the lounge onto the Eurostar. We find our carriage and join our seats. The train is much quieter than when we came out a few days earlier. There are quite a few spare seats. As we take our seats a work colleague walks down the train. We initially do a double take of each other. We were both sat in the same meetings last week and I had declined his invitation to meetings this week the reason which has now become obvious, I was in France. Remarkably we are both booked in the same coach. We chat for a while.
As we leave Paris darkness has now fallen. You can see very little of France outside the window. We eat out Standard Premier meal which consist of a cold airline type meal I cannot have wine as I have to drive later and orange juice appears to confuse the staff. The food at least will keep us going until later. I leave the family and talk work with my colleague. We have not had time to catch up since the meetings last week. The time passes quickly and before I realise we are stopping at Ebbsfleet. I need to start getting ready to leave the train. It looks as though we are going to be in London a little early at 19:35 (GMT). This means we may have a chance of the 20:15 from Paddington, an hour earlier than I had planned. This will get us home at 23:07 as opposed to 00:22. It is worth a go so the team is primed of the objective. We leave the train and head quickly through customs and down to the Circle Line to get back to Paddington. As we arrive at the platform a train is just leaving fortunately there is another due in 1 minute. The second train is much quieter than the one that has just gone out. We count down the stops and arrive at 20:00. This means a swift walk to the platform but none is shown so we head down to the main concourse where the helpful “Preparing” message is displayed. We may have time to purchase food. I set of to procure some but before I get there the platform is called. I decide to abort this and return to the family. We will get something on the train.
We board find seats and leave on time. There is however no buffet as there are no staff to operate it. It appears that there has been considerable disruption today which I found out later was a chemicals incident at WentloogRailfreight terminal near Cardiff according to the BBC. The staff eventually join at Swindon, but have no food to sell. We will have to wait until we get home. Problems are further compounded at Bristol Parkway as the Conductor is from London and they need to swap over with the train from Swansea coming the other way. We are 30 minutes late by the time we leave Bristol but do not lose any more. I check the train we should have caught and that was also 40 minutes late. We arrive back at 23:40 still better than 01:00 if we had caught the 20:15, 7 trains (including underground) and 15 hours and 10 minutes after leaving Les Houches in the French Alps. That is 850 miles by my calculation.
Friday 02 November 2012
Sleep followed by friend arriving for the non-existent railtour.
Saturday 03 November 2012
Today is the non Railtour day. As we now have no railtour to travel on we need to find something else to do. It had been a long time since I have done the branches of West Wales. I have never been to Milford Haven since living here. My last visit by train was in 1989. We head out with our Day Returns to Carmarthen and a West Wales Day Ranger.
The plan is to do Fishguard then Milford Haven, bus to Pembroke Dock and home in time for tea. We have to set off at 07:29 in order to make the trip round. The first train is a portion train which splits at Whitland the front half heading for Pembroke the rear for Fishguard. The train arrives and is a single car Class 153. This is going to be interesting to see how this train is split at Whitland. Angel grinder or more likely a bus. The weather is not too bad today it is fine and sunny spells.
We head into Swansea and on towards Carmarthen. On arrival another Class 153 is waiting to attach to ours. On departure we move through to the other half as we are in the wrong part. The train is freezing. It has obviously been sat in the sidings all night and just been turned on. The split takes place at Whitland and we trundle on towards Fishguard. We are the only two passengers. Another one joins at Clunderwen.
Rather than go down to the Harbour we decide to take a look at the new station at Fishguard and Goodwick. It is a couple of minutes short of the harbour station. There are at least a few passengers waiting for the return train. I have been down the Fishguard line quite a few times but this is probably the first time on a DMU. All other times it has been loco-hauled or HST. In just under 15 minutes the 153 is back and we head back towards Clarbeston Road. Another station where I have never alighted.
We have 20 minutes here before the Class 175 arrives to take us down to Milford Haven. This train has come all the way from Crewe and is very near the end of its journey. The sun is now out as we arrive in Milford Haven. We have an hour to wait for the bus so head to Tesco next to the station for lunch. Unfortunately there is no café so we have to settle for sandwiches.
The bus departs from Tesco car park. It arrives and is provided by Richards Bros and is not the most modern of vehicles. This turns out to be quite an eventful journey as it is a full sized bus on a route down very narrow country lanes. I think the driver got too big a bus out the depot this morning. It is quite a tight squeeze through some of the villages. He manages to negotiate the route without incident and we are dropped off close to Pembroke Dock station.
This station has changed quite a bit in the last 18 months. There is now a pub on the station with a selection of food and real ales. Last time was here there was nothing in the station building. The pub walls are decorated by old railway paintings and photos. We have coffee as we have half an hour before the train departs. The Class 153 is the same one we have just been down to Fishguard on, it has now warmed up.
10 minutes before departure time we join the train. We head off on time back towards Carmarthen. This train is quite busy. There is a steady flow of passengers all the way to Carmarthen. We had originally planned to go through to Swansea but instead went in search of tea in the station buffet. We have a little wait for the following Manchester train. This takes us directly back to Neath. It has only been a short day and we are back before 16:00. As it turn out a good move as shortly after the heavens open.
This has been an incredibly busy 8 days starting with Potash Mines followed by Eurostar, Paris and a quick trip to the Alps. We clocked up nearly 2,700 miles excluding the bits around Paris. Highlights were the railways around St Gervais les Bains, the scenery was outstanding. The low point was the trains around Paris these were in very poor state of repair dirty and covered in graffiti. I would like to go back to the Alps again and this time travel all the way between St Gervais and Switzerland. The French trains are good but I think you get better customer service on some British trains. The biggest surprise was the number of people speaking English in France. This has changed considerably in the 10 years since I last visited. Last time no one would speak English even if they could.
This holiday shows once again for the second time this year what is possible for a family to travel long distances using rail. The children enjoyed the experience of travelling around another country by train. You have to haul your suitcases along but prepare and take ones with wheels.
A few photos available on the link below.