The only way of catching a train I ever discovered is to miss the train before. ~G.K. Chesterton
Probably I was in too much of a hurry because in the second weekend itself, I planned a trip to Switzerland. And to save some precious Euros, we decided to take an indirect route: the one via Luxembourg, the advantage being that we had a long four-day weekend!
I really can
’t resist falling in love with France. The people here know exactly how to chill out by ‘creating’ holidays. It was supposed to be a bank holiday on Thursday, and whenever there is a working day falling between two holidays, they designate it as a ‘bridged holiday’ to set you off - a bliss for travel freaks like me who are constantly looking for ways to extend weekends. :D
The plan was great, and offered us the luxury of visiting one more country at a lesser cost. In fact, a TGV from Paris to Zurich costs 10 Euros for seat reservation alongside the Eurail pass. Bu
t the TGV to Luxembourg costs just 3 Euros and is much faster too! From Luxembourg, one can take the regional Benelux train to Basel, Switzerland in which there is no need to reserve a seat, just hop on!
So far so good. I purchased tickets, asked Jatin to meet me at Interlaken, did some shopping and slept on Wednesday night with the sweet feeling in my heart that I am all set to go and see Switzerland,
a place whose peaks and lakes have fascinated me ever since I was a child – A dream come true!
Phoney came at 6:30 in the morning to wake me up and take the room-keys. It took me sometime to realize that my train was supposed to leave at 7:10!! I ran for the station, missed the RER, and could only reach Gare de Est at 7:15! Alas, this is Europe, where 7:10 means 7:10, and not 7:11! And also it’s a TGV, so you can’t really take some other fast means of transport to catch it at the next station like what they did in JAB WE MET. 500 km/hour is not a child’s play!
So, my first achievement came in the very first trip - a missed TGV. I could get the next ticket only for the next day, though the good thing was that I got my money back for the wasted ticket, even after the departure of train! I called up Jatin and told him about the blunder. He decided to come to Paris and that day was spent in exploring some more nooks and corners of the city!
Luxembourg
Fortunate
ly, we reached the station at 7:05 on the next day and caught the train. It took us to Luxembourg in almost no time, speeding past the vast fields of grain and cute little towns on the way. I really became a fan of TGV since that d
ay! Its colored seats and luxury comfort, combined with the unmatched speed and smoothness guarantee you the ride of a lifetime, everytime!
We spent half a day in Luxembourg. It’s a really rich country, and this fact is visible in every shop, showroom and vehicle. Moreover, it is also very expensive. The capital city is beautifully planned on two floo
rs, preserving the historic architecture. Except for the nice gardens, open spaces and few old structures, there is not much to see or do over here. So we took the Benelux regional train for Switzerland, and reached Basel at 6 pm.
Probably I was in too much of a hurry because in the second weekend itself, I planned a trip to Switzerland. And to save some precious Euros, we decided to take an indirect route: the one via Luxembourg, the advantage being that we had a long four-day weekend!
I really can
’t resist falling in love with France. The people here know exactly how to chill out by ‘creating’ holidays. It was supposed to be a bank holiday on Thursday, and whenever there is a working day falling between two holidays, they designate it as a ‘bridged holiday’ to set you off - a bliss for travel freaks like me who are constantly looking for ways to extend weekends. :DThe plan was great, and offered us the luxury of visiting one more country at a lesser cost. In fact, a TGV from Paris to Zurich costs 10 Euros for seat reservation alongside the Eurail pass. Bu
t the TGV to Luxembourg costs just 3 Euros and is much faster too! From Luxembourg, one can take the regional Benelux train to Basel, Switzerland in which there is no need to reserve a seat, just hop on!So far so good. I purchased tickets, asked Jatin to meet me at Interlaken, did some shopping and slept on Wednesday night with the sweet feeling in my heart that I am all set to go and see Switzerland,
a place whose peaks and lakes have fascinated me ever since I was a child – A dream come true!Phoney came at 6:30 in the morning to wake me up and take the room-keys. It took me sometime to realize that my train was supposed to leave at 7:10!! I ran for the station, missed the RER, and could only reach Gare de Est at 7:15! Alas, this is Europe, where 7:10 means 7:10, and not 7:11! And also it’s a TGV, so you can’t really take some other fast means of transport to catch it at the next station like what they did in JAB WE MET. 500 km/hour is not a child’s play!
So, my first achievement came in the very first trip - a missed TGV. I could get the next ticket only for the next day, though the good thing was that I got my money back for the wasted ticket, even after the departure of train! I called up Jatin and told him about the blunder. He decided to come to Paris and that day was spent in exploring some more nooks and corners of the city!
Luxembourg
Fortunate
ly, we reached the station at 7:05 on the next day and caught the train. It took us to Luxembourg in almost no time, speeding past the vast fields of grain and cute little towns on the way. I really became a fan of TGV since that d
ay! Its colored seats and luxury comfort, combined with the unmatched speed and smoothness guarantee you the ride of a lifetime, everytime!We spent half a day in Luxembourg. It’s a really rich country, and this fact is visible in every shop, showroom and vehicle. Moreover, it is also very expensive. The capital city is beautifully planned on two floo
rs, preserving the historic architecture. Except for the nice gardens, open spaces and few old structures, there is not much to see or do over here. So we took the Benelux regional train for Switzerland, and reached Basel at 6 pm.
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