France: Train to Bergerac

Three trains, and a full day of travel

I left Argeles-Sur-Mer in Southern France and headed north to Bergerac to visit friends who moved there from Washington State earlier this year. I was so excited to see them and was looking forward to seeing the French countryside via the train.

I left Argeles at 8:55am for an hour ride up the coast to Narbonne. I had an hour and a half to transfer to the next train to Bourdeaux St. Jean, so that was good. But, it was very cold and windy, and I had to make a difficult decision….Stand on the platform for over an hour in the cold, or drag/haul my luggage down a long flight of stairs to cross under the tracks and then back up another set of stairs to the train station. Keep in mind that with my shoulder issues, any lifting of my luggage is going to be slow and difficult. The idea of a cup of coffee won out, and I made the trek to the station.

Narbonne to Bourdeaux St John

I booked a first class ticket on this route because it was a 3 hour trip. I’m on the platform looking for the first class car. I got bad info from an attendant, and headed the wrong way down the tracks to the end of the train and realized that all of the cars had the number 2 on them. I could not locate number 1, so I headed back up. About 10-15 cars up, I heard the announcement that the train would be leaving. I asked another porter and found that I needed to be at the other end of the train. He told me get on, because I was not going to make it to my seat before the train left. Easy enough. I would just head up, through the train, to my seat in first class.

By now the train is moving, and I’m dragging my suitcase and backpack up the aisles, through the train cars, trying to locate first class. Needless to say, the train was rocking and rolling, and I was bumping and falling into people trying to get through. About 8 cars later….I come to a car that was obviously geared for families with kids, but there was an empty section, and I decide to sit there until the train stops, and I can move to my seat. Except for the screaming child, this was a great seat, and I considered just staying there for the entire trip.

Of course, the porter came by later and told me that I couldn’t stay thee. Fortunately, he took my bags and we headed towards first class. About 3 cars later, we are moving again, and he has me sit in a very nice single seat in second class. I decide that I will just stay there for the entire trip rather than making the trek to first class. And again, that was not to be. At the next stop, a lady got on who was assigned to the seat I was in. So….I packed up again, and with the train moving, made my way through 3 more cars to my seat in first class. Finally!

The French Countryside. Fall in France

Bourdeaux to Bergerac

I knew that I only had 13 minutes to switch trains in Bourdeaux, so I was already stressing about making that connection. I knew that Bourdeaux was a large station and it would not be easy. It got even more stressful when I realized that the train was going to be 4 minutes late. That means I now have 9 minutes to get off the train, find the right platform and get on the train. So, I got up and headed to the doors before we stopped in anticipation of running off the train to my next connection.

It became obvious pretty quickly that I would need to switch to an entirely new platform, and I had NO idea which one. Nothing on the monitors gave any indication at all. I asked a porter, who spoke limited English, and he pointed down the tracks and told me to go down and take a left. So, I trekked down the tracks and realized that there was nothing there. I headed back, asked another porter, who told me to go down the stairs and locate platform 8. So, down I go, dragging my luggage. When I hit the lower level, I started running because I knew that the chance of making that connection was slim. Up the stairs….and the train is just leaving. By this time, I’m exhausted and almost in tears.

The good news was that there was another train in 21 minutes, so I sat on the platform, caught my breath, and waited for the train. It came on time, but sat on the tracks for about 20 minutes, so I had to let my friends know that I would be late. At least I was on the right train and would eventually get there!

Bergerac and friends

My friends, Carrie and Greg, met me at the station and took me to their beautiful home on the Dordogne river, and then out to dinner at a lovely place in old Bergerac.

Just for fun…