Fast Train to Nice
I’ve just returned on a TGV train to Avignon after spending 24 hours in Nice. The quick trip on the fast train to Nice was planned with Patricia Sands and Nancy McGee to finalize our plans for the Memories Tour in September.
Nice Train Station
The train ride along the Côte d’Azur out of Nice is spectacular. Antibes. Cannes. These are places I only dreamed I would see. Now they’re passing by me as if they were crossings on a road.
Strings of ochre rocks line up offshore like stalagmites on a cave floor. The sea is solid blue except for the white tips of the gentle waves and the occasional gray spots that lead to the depths below.
Riding on a high-speed train from place to place is getting to be something I take for granted now. Avignon to Nice, 3+ hours. Nimes to Paris, 2+ hours. Nimes to Barcelona, 3+ hours. Going to and from world-known places is more accessible than driving from Beaufort, South Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia.
Somehow I feel like I’m experiencing time travel.
How quickly the landscape changes as the speeding train rolls from the coast through Provence’s fertile fields and vineyards. The landscape is dotted with stucco Mediterranean houses with red tile roofs. However, the stucco has changed from tan to rose. Tree-covered mountains border the background on both sides of the track. Toulon. Marseille. The back side and outskirts of the large towns are not the best views.
Soon, the modern train station of Avignon will be in sight. It seems to stand in the middle of nowhere. Concrete and glass. Steel-covered parking structures and carefully marked spaces for the hundreds of cars that move in and out, delivering passengers to and from trains and their following destinations.
It’s all part of what I call “home” now. A different world. A new landscape. A new culture.
I could get used to this.
Note to all: All this travel is keeping me so busy that I’m behind on my posts to you. Please bear with me. I promise you’ll enjoy the ride. Italy, Croatia, lavender fields, food and fun in Provence, and much more.
Categories: Around France
Hi Deb,
We too took the train from Nice to Avignon many years ago in the previous century. We were coming from 2 weeks in Italy and stopped by Nice for a while before an appointment in Avignon. After touring Avignon, we met our van which took us to a horse ranch in the Luberon Mts. The next day we started our week-long horseback ride (much younger then) with 6 other riders (including our guide) to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. We ate lunch in the open and stayed a B&Bs on the way. We passed by Eygalières, Les Baux-de-Provence, Arles, and through the Carmargue. It was great fun to run the horses across the countryside and along the mediterranean beaches.
The day after we arrived in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer was our 10th anniversary. The group along with the local restaurant threw us a little party and gave us gifts we still display in our home and cherish to this day. We’ll always remember it, and it seems, France is calling us back.
Hopefully we will see you in Oct. If everything goes as planned, we will be neighbors when we later move to Nîmes.
Ron & Suzanne
I love this story, Ron. What a glorious time that must have been. Just think, soon you’ll be taking off from your new home in Nimes and be able to spend more days like this. Congratulations! See you in October. Stay in touch, please.
wow
♥️
WOW. BEST POST EVER!! APPRECIATE THE TIME TRAVEL BY TRAIN. CANT EAIT TO GO. MARCH 2018. WOULD LOVE TO TOUR WITH YOU.
Wow! Thank you, Carolyn. I was truly inspired by the beautiful landscape and the magic of fast train travel. You’re going to love being here. Yes, I’ll let you know about our next tour. Thanks again for traveling along with me.
Thank you, Carolyn. Come along on next year’s Memories Tour!