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GR65 - Part One - getting there.
Part One - getting there.
The saga of our annual trek along the GR65 - the Grande Randonnee across France from Geneva to the Spanish border near Biarritz. The section this year would take us from the Isere to the Auvergne, over 200 kilometers. We needed to get back to the last point we reached on our GR65 trek the previous year, which was in a rather uninteresting village called Le Grand-Lemps. The only distinguishing features, apart from being on the route, are that there is a railway station, and an extremely good gite just outside. We flew into Lyon St. Exupery airport. The only trains that run at the airport are TGVs, so we took the tram (Rhone Express) into Lyon. At the Lyon - Part Dieu station we had an unsuccessful struggle with the ticket dispensers for train tickets - we got as far each time as payment, but regardless which credit card we put in, the machine either rejected them or asked for PINs for cards which did not have PINs. After wasting around 15 minutes trying to buy tickets, we decided to just get on the train and pay the conductor - which works, it just costs more. The train was 10 minutes late, which caused a problem - we needed to change at Voiron, just before Grenoble, and we just missed the connection by seconds. After checking the timetables we found the next train would be over two hours later, so we asked the station master if there was a bus. He said to wait a moment while he made some phone calls. He came back and told us to get on the next train, get out at Rives and a taxi would be waiting for us. By this time we had been joined by another passenger in the same plight, and sure enough, the station master in Rives approached us and directed us towards a taxi driver standing there with a big grin. We all piled into his Renault Espace and shot off at high speed down the narrow winding lanes of rural France, passing every truck and tractor on the way. After dropping off the other passenger, we arrived at Grand Lemps and were told that the ride would cost - nothing. All part of the service of SNCF and TER. |
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GR65 - Part One - getting there.
On 10/3/2011 8:11 AM, Tom P wrote:
The train was 10 minutes late, which caused a problem - we needed to change at Voiron, just before Grenoble, and we just missed the connection by seconds. After checking the timetables we found the next train would be over two hours later, so we asked the station master if there was a bus. He said to wait a moment while he made some phone calls. He came back and told us to get on the next train, get out at Rives and a taxi would be waiting for us. By this time we had been joined by another passenger in the same plight, and sure enough, the station master in Rives approached us and directed us towards a taxi driver standing there with a big grin. We all piled into his Renault Espace and shot off at high speed down the narrow winding lanes of rural France, passing every truck and tractor on the way. After dropping off the other passenger, we arrived at Grand Lemps and were told that the ride would cost - nothing. All part of the service of SNCF and TER. Pleasant surprise! I had a similar experience some years ago in Scotland - the train I was to take from Inverness hadn't arrived, no other stock was available, and the connection to my final destination ran only once a day. I would certainly miss it, but there was no accommodation available in that town, as it was the day of their big lamb sale...The Inverness station manager arranged for a taxi, the driver drove _very_ quickly, and I made my connection. No charge at all! |
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GR65 - Part One - getting there.
On 10/03/2011 02:55 PM, S Viemeister wrote:
On 10/3/2011 8:11 AM, Tom P wrote: The train was 10 minutes late, which caused a problem - we needed to change at Voiron, just before Grenoble, and we just missed the connection by seconds. After checking the timetables we found the next train would be over two hours later, so we asked the station master if there was a bus. He said to wait a moment while he made some phone calls. He came back and told us to get on the next train, get out at Rives and a taxi would be waiting for us. By this time we had been joined by another passenger in the same plight, and sure enough, the station master in Rives approached us and directed us towards a taxi driver standing there with a big grin. We all piled into his Renault Espace and shot off at high speed down the narrow winding lanes of rural France, passing every truck and tractor on the way. After dropping off the other passenger, we arrived at Grand Lemps and were told that the ride would cost - nothing. All part of the service of SNCF and TER. Pleasant surprise! I had a similar experience some years ago in Scotland - the train I was to take from Inverness hadn't arrived, no other stock was available, and the connection to my final destination ran only once a day. I would certainly miss it, but there was no accommodation available in that town, as it was the day of their big lamb sale...The Inverness station manager arranged for a taxi, the driver drove _very_ quickly, and I made my connection. No charge at all! Try getting the Deutsche Bahn to organize a free taxi ride for you. They will only pay for a taxi if you get stuck after midnight, and then you have to prove that it was their fault. |
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