Arrival

So we are stuck in morning peak hour traffic circumnavigating Paris. 

All was looking good until we received the following text from Rani.

and so the news unfolded....

The answer was "YES" . I a little googling (thanks lefrenchmobile.com for getting us connected hassle free!) soon revealed headlines like "France crippled by worst railway strike in 50 years" and "strike set to extend for days more". The SNCF website with updated information had crashed and other websites just had references to unspecified timetables being "perturbed",

Translation of a helpful SNCF website

We had received nothing but beaming smiles from tourist information when we outlined our train travel plans, and we are consequently happily on the bus, terns in its belly, crawling through the city streets towards Montparnasse.

The trip took ages, but all considered, I think it was probably better than taking the tube. The bikes are heavy and difficult to carry while all packed up. They look like they have been subjected to considerable force in transit, with scuff marks on the bags and my carefully taped spacers to prevent rubbing and leverage have been pretty much displaced. A full assessment will have to wait as unfolding them in Paris would be pointless, since we just have to restow them.

At Montparnasse, there weren't the expected throngs of grumpy passengers, and it looked busy but not chaotic. While one sign was foreboding, the important one showed our train was "a l'heure". The place was crawling with helpful attendants who confirmed that we should have no problems, at least to Bordeaux. Beyond there was uncertain. A shrug in France looks pretty much like one in Australia, but the apologetic smile it comes with is a nice touch!

We found a little spot to nest, and did so. 

Some sparrows joined us, feasting on discarded morsels. We toyed with the idea of taking an earlier Bordeaux train, but the prospect of not having a seat wasn't attractive. We chatted with an astute couch surfer who intended travelling for free- the strike means conductors aren't looking at tickets!

Terns in the luggage rack on the TGV

The TGV is so smooth! We didn't realise we had started moving and suddenly we were in Bordeaux. OK, I exaggerate, bit it really flies along beautifully. Every piece of land that isn't populated in France is ploughed and planted, with the exception of the wonderful forests. I loved the window views, with little villages with glimpses of backyard life, and the sudden transition to countryside with rustic farmhouses, turned earth and lines of crops. As we proceeded south it became less green, and the warmth from outside could be felt radiating from the windows into our air conditioned comfort.

Not my photo! http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/gallery/picture.asp?id=10044 Taken by AJ Hale

We had been fortunate to get to Bordeaux hassle free, with little sign of the strike except for the throaty cheers of unionists in a meeting at Montparnasse. I couldn't understand what they were saying but the hurrahs informed me that they had voted to extend the strike. Anyway once we achieved Bordeaux, things were less encouraging. Our train to Le Buisson had been cancelled, and upon enquiring, it seems like Le Buisson didn't actually exist in the reality of the SNCF customer assistant. I showed her our ticket. She made some enquiries. It existed but she couldn't get us there. The nearest station was Bergerac, and we could enquire there about the last leg.. Bergerac to Le Buisson. We had 2 hours to kill. Lugging our increasingly heavy migratory birds, we found a cafe and had just settled when I had a flash of brilliance. If we were quick, we could board a train to Perigueux which was a little further for Meryl and Rani to drive to collect us, but meant they wouldn't have to wait up, and we could get "home" much earlier. We crashed and clunked our way down stairs, along under the lines and up to the platform. We just made it. 

We had no valid tickets, but this was a train strike. We would be fine. Mary had the gumption to plonk herself in first class, with aircon! I stayed with the masses - all sweat and firm seats.

ok so these tern pics are getting boring.

My only ethical dilemma was when the ticket inspector (!) boarded. Would I tip Mary off, or let her reap the consequences of pushing her luck? I tipped her off, but she stayed put. The inspector entered her cabin. I could hear him talking rapidly. I waited for Mary to be forcibly ejected. Nothing happened. He exited the section and stood beside me, glanced at me and alighted at a station. I asked later what he was doing in the cabin "Not much" was Mary's reply. We weren't sure if this was his normal behaviour, or had something to do with the strike.

At Perigueux we waited ......

......and our faithful welcoming party arrived, flustered with their hire car GPS. 65 km had taken an hour and a half! 

Tea (thanks Ben- wonderful), incoherent contributions to conversation, and bed! From door to door was 44 hours.