As my riveting blog is getting behind once again, I feel the need to speed through a few posts. This is Le Mans railway station and I needed to get to Lyon for my flight the following day, and as this was France I confidently assumed the railway would provide a calm and civilised end to the trip.
The railway station is from the late nineteenth century, but this extension has been added to the front to give more space.
It was too hot, which I might have mentioned, so I had my tropical Fanta to get me by.
I didn’t understand this at first, I just noticed that on the left it said that my train was delayed by an hour and it had doubled the number of trains going to Lyon. I went to find a staff member and he helpfully explained that the train was delayed by an hour and that it would be departing from Platform 2 but that I could safely leave the station and return a bit later. The stress levels of that were beyond me, so I took my increasingly warm Fanta to another platform to have a sit down.
And then for a few minutes, my train entirely disappeared from the boards. I considered this to be sub-optimal.
Although I had been told that the train was departing from Platform 2, this was the first time that it appeared on the board. I decided that I’d better go to the platform to see what was happening.
And the train to Lyon was at Platform 2, so I was most confused.
It was evident that something strange was happening as there were plenty of passengers who were on the train, but others were milling about. I decided that I needed to find an adult and I located the train guard. The guard explained, in perfect English and with admirable calmness, that only half my train had arrived. The other half was still somewhere in France and would be along in about ninety minutes, which was longer than the boards said, but he said it would definitely be arriving. He mentioned my seat was in the half that hadn’t arrived, so I went to sit in the heat with my Fanta to wait.
To my great annoyance, after days of it being too hot and needing to rain, it then started to pour down with rain. So several of us decided to find a dry spot on some steps.
A little over ninety minutes late, the other half of the train came sweeping into view.
It’s fair to say that I was pleased to see this train. It meant that I would be getting to my hotel without any further issues.
There’s my carriage and the double decker train looked really rather classy.
I was talking to the guard on this part of the train and she checked my ticket and was explaining where to go when a dog jumped up at us. The dog looked bloody vicious, but it was muzzled. The guard looked genuinely furious that a passenger decided it was appropriate to bring such a dog on the train and at this point the dog was out of control, barking and frightening other passengers.
My seat was a window seat and there was a laptop sitting on the aisle seat and I did wonder whether the dog owner would be seated there. I would have obviously gone to the guard to ask to be moved, but it transpired a passenger sitting nearby had just randomly left it there.
It soon became evident that the train staff had absolutely no intention of that dog being allowed back onto their train. Transport police, guards and others came to protect the public and there were some cheers when it was evident that the passenger wasn’t being allowed back on. I’m pleased to say that this was last bit of drama of the trip.
There’s a lot wrong with SNCF and the prices for rail travel really didn’t seem to be cheaper than the UK. But, the train was clean, there were power outlets, there was plenty of space for my laptop and it was a comfortable environment.
The train was only at around 65% occupancy and I didn’t have anyone next to me during the journey. The service was fast, efficient and peaceful. One thing I’d never really appreciated before is just how empty much of France is. There were long stretches where the only signs of civilisation were the occasional road, farmhouse or distant village. It’s a reminder of just how densely populated much of England really is.
Safely into Lyon with my now empty bottle of Fanta.
And there was torrential rain.
I was entitled to 25% Delay Repay, which is rather less generous than the UK system. The claim form took me about forty-five minutes to complete, which struck me as an impressively inefficient way of compensating passengers for having already lost time. Still, if it eventually appears in my bank account, I’ll forgive them. Eventually. But, I was pleased to get to Lyon in time as the alternative would have been an overnight Flix Bus and that would have displeased me.