The train arrived at Gare de l'Est a few minutes ahead of time. Gare du Nord is just walking distance from there but I got a little lost and asked at a cafe for directions. In my opinion, Parisians are only human too; they are helpful if one doesn't commit the solecism of launching into a question in English. Even if your French is basic, if you make some effort, they will help you. I mean how would you like it if tourists came to your country and insisted on asking questions in their language without first checking?
There was a long line at the ticket counter, but I eventually got a reservation for the Thalys with a breakfast but no guaranteed seat due to the short notice. I found a place with no problem. I only had to pay the supplement as the base fare was covered by my Eurailpass.
At Brussels Midi there was chaos and services were delayed because a storm system was passing through Benelux and their train systems weren't coping well. A group of schoolkids on excursion was not helping. The departure platform was changed and eventually the service left for Antwerpen at 0930. As the train headed towards the Dutch border, I decided that trying to visit both Delft and Leiden would be too hard and opted for the latter only.
Leiden is a pleasant university city with handsome historical buildings.The previous photo was of the Koornbrugsteeg. This is the Hooglandse Kerk.
An Australian in Leiden?
Clever way of increasing seating capacity.
One of the many drawbridges that you will see all over the Netherlands.
I had lunch in a Subway shop there. As I sat eating my sandwich, it started pelting cats and dogs. After it had stopped, when I stepped outside, the cold wind cut into my jacket, so I decided to call it a day even though I could catch trains all day with my Eurailpass.
And of course what trip to the Netherlands would be complete without a picture of a windmill?
I hopped onto the train to Heemstede and soon was glad to be "home" even though it was my last night in Europe.
The grandkids were very reluctant to let me go. Their father was away, and it had been a long time since they had an adult who would push them on the swing, whirl them around till they were dizzy, etc. My cousin had grandkids; that made me feel old. His wife fed me a filling breakfast of noodles with beef and fish balls for the journey.
I had a first class seat (which went by the marketspeak of Comfort 1, there were no uncomfortable seats, just degrees of comfort) on Thalys with the perk of restauration à la place (meal served in the seat). It was quite tasty actually. I felt happier about the 22€ supplement it cost me. There were no classic white departure schedules at Rotterdam, nor at Paris Nord. Electronic automation was taking over. Train travel was getting more like plane travel, anodyne but flavourless.
From Gare du Nord I caught a metro to Gare de Lyon. I wanted to book my sleeper for a later segment but all the counters were closed. Was it the D-Day holiday or what? It turned out later that an electricity union was en grève (on strike), cutting power to many trains in Paris. I waited from 1320 to 1520. The platform was announced close to departure time, like with planes, then everybody got onto the TGV. I might have been lucky that the TGV service wasn't affected. We didn't seem to be travelling very fast, perhaps 140 km/h. The TGV seemed to be the normal intercity train now, only locals served regional destinations.
Sète with its port and canal, looked just as I had anticipated from my research. It did look a bit seedy. The hostel was halfway up a hill and it was quite tiring getting there. My German friend B, whom I had arranged to meet and travel for a few days together, turned up while I was having dinner. He was staying in a hotel in the port. We walked down there to have a drink and a chat. The canals give Sète the appellation Venice of Languedoc.
Just like in Girona there were noisy scooters roaming the streets in the evening, and this was a Monday. However the night air was soft, and the town did not feel sinister at all.
We had an early night. B was still recovering from a recent trip to Myanmar. Something smelt in the hostel room. Perhaps it was the port itself.
