Better still, I managed to get myself and my rucksack off the boat without getting either of us wet!
I can't quite believe it has only been two weeks since I set out from Hereford on this trip. It feels like I've seen and done so much in a short time, yet I've still been able to kick-back and relax. On the other hand, I am halfway through my trip already, it has gone so fast!
It is a scorcher of a day, without the breeze that made yesterday such a delight. I'm due to be on trains for 7 hours today, but if the other connections are as quiet and air conditioned as this first train to Ventimiglia, on the Italian border, than I will be content.
I've got a seat on the upper deck, on the sea side of the train so that I can get one last hour viewing the Cote d'Azur basking in the sun. I'm looking forward to catching a glimpse of Menton, to see what I have missed and whether it is worth adding to the 'another time' list. Villefrance-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer got added the other day on my Eze trip. I'm already looking forward to returning, but next time with less luggage and more space for Provençal purchases!
I definitely want to go on a sailing holiday as well. I loved being on the boat, it was a bit like camping, but better. I liked being on the water, despite not even leaving the marina. I even seem to have developed a swaying wobbliness on solid ground from only a few days of mild pitching on the boat. It feels a bit like being drunk, only with more rhythm.
When I last did this train journey as far as Eze, it was a cloudy day and the sea wasn't showing off the way it is today. The colours are delicious, clear turquoise where the sea meets the beach, grading through teal to a deep navy further out.
A couple of stops on from Eze is Monte Carlo. Disappointingly, we entered and departed the station via long tunnels, nothing to see here folks. However, further along, the tracks, still hugging the coast, gave us a view back across the bay to the small city full of mini skyscrapers.
The short view I had of Menton looked lovely. Warm pink, yellow and orange buildings clustered together over the hillside, running down to the waterfront. Then we had a few more glimpses of the azure coast before arriving in Ventimiglia, Italy.
But before we get to Italy, my top three round up of France has to be:
3rd place - boat life at Golfe Juan
2nd place - hiking to Eze Village
1st place - Aix-en-Provence
Ventimiglia
Here came the first blot on an otherwise very smooth trip. It wasn't possible to buy the ticket for my full journey in France, I needed to buy the Italian part at Ventimiglia. On arrival, there were huge queues and I was fretting I wouldn't get my ticket in time for departure, despite having 30 mins to play with. Unlike in the UK, it is illegal to board a train without a ticket.
It turns out that the train was full anyway. By the time I got to the front of the queue, it wasn't possible to buy a ticket for the 10:52 train, only the 15:02 train. Cue a four hour extension of my travel. Hopefully, I will arrive at Lake Garda in time for the last bus to my accommodation.
I find I've adapted to a slower pace and now that I am unburdened from the schedules of real life, I am quite happy to wait. I have my book and some food and instead of lingering at the station, I've taken a short walk to a park where I have found a bench in the shade of some palm trees. The air smells fresh and from here, I can just see the sea. I won't bother going further afield in the sun with my ungainly rucksack.
On the way back to the station, I had lunch at Tiffany's. It doesn't have the same ring to it. Once I was seated, I realised I was at table number 13. Aptly.
In the station shop, they sell cold cans of Heineken. I am havIng one of those for the journey for sure. Just another hour to wait for my connection to Milan.
The lady next to me in the waiting room is dressed in an interesting way - brown leggings with lace trim around the calves, worn thin in the bottom area so anyone who glances that way can see her leopard print knickers. Her top is low cut at the back and her mismatched, greying bra shows over the top. To top and tail it, she is wearing a bandana and granny sandals. She is like a living incarnation of that game children play where the first person draws the head and folds the paper over, the next person draws the body and folds the paper and the last person draws the legs. Open it up, voila, there she is, the lady next to me. It does make me wonder who she is and where she is going.
I'm on the train at last, part two out of four, and the longest part of today's journey. After Milan I have one last train to Desenzano, then a bus to Sirmione on the Southern shore of Lake Garda. This leg of the journey takes us along the Ligurian coast of Northern Italy before we turn inland and up to Milan. When I was originally planning this trip I debated whether to spend time in Liguria having read a book set in Diano last summer. Eventually, I decided to head north to Verona instead so hopefully I'll get to see a little of what I am missing along the way.
It is quiet on the train but very, very hot. I really hope the air con comes on when we get started or this is going to be an intense, 4 hour sauna. I also hope we get started soon - we're currently 14 mins late, meaning unless we make up time en route, I have precisely 1 minute in Milan to make my connection. Table number 13...
We're now 27 minutes late, and my earlier calm is evaporating fast, as has the Heineken. There are two other connections I can get to Desenzano, but neither are direct and both will miss the last bus to Sirmione. Italy is not being kind to me so far.
We've finally pulled away, sluggishly, 30 minutes behind schedule whereupon the conductor came along to say the air con isn't working and the windows don't open. I could cry.
We've mostly been in tunnels for the last hour so there hasn't been a lot to see yet. But when we do pop out into the light, the Ligurian coast looks much like its French neighbour, the calm blue sea gently lapping narrow strips of sand, crammed full of parasols and tanned holiday-makers. Thankfully, the air con has kicked into action so things are improving.
The train line is now so close to the sea that all I can see out of one side is blue, while out of the other I can see mountains.
After stopping in Genoa, we leave the coast and turn inland. The journey is still tunnel-tastic, but we are in a mountainous area, the northern part of Apennines, I think. Now whenever we emerge from a tunnel, we're greeted by forest-clad mountains topped with a deep blue sky and occasionally, a church.
I'm over my stress at the train being late now and have resigned myself to the expense of a taxi. Now that the choice has been taken away from me I'm actually quite pleased about not having to lug the rucksack so far.
They seem to favour pink and yellow for their buildings in this part of the world, as in Provence. The mountains have retreated to the background and the terrain near the tracks is flatter, agricultural land, mainly maize, with the odd small orchard dotted about. Some fields have been harvested of their crops and the dry, ploughed earth is a pale gold colour.
On the other side of Pavia, we pass fields and fields of a well irrigated crop which appears to be rice - risotto rice perhaps. There is no sign of life other than the plants and trees, and everything is bathed in the glow of early evening sunshine.
Eventually, more than 40 minutes late, we reach the outskirts of industrial Milan. I have just under an hour before my next connection, time to grab a slice of pizza and some more water. I've been travelling for eleven hours now and all of my supplies have gone.
I'm on my final train of the day, at last. This one is late too. These guys could give British Rail, or whatever it is called these days, a run for its money. I've just realised with glee that I only have two more train journeys left on the whole trip - one to Verona in two days time, then the final one to Venice on 16th. Eurostar was excellent, but I'm glad I opted for Bla Bla Car over trains as much as I did.
It is dusk when we leave, and it takes some time to get out of Milan, which seems mainly to consist of sprawling blocks of apartments, old and new, interspersed with factories and industrial estates. This is a regional train, stopping at all of the small stations, but it is nice and cool with the windows open. Eventually we reach the countryside, given away by the smell of cut grass more than anything I can see. It smells a bit like a warm summer's eve at home. It is still 31 degrees outside at 21:00.
I left the port at 08:30 this morning and have just arrived at my accommodation, it is 22:15, so it's a cool shower for me then I'm off to bed, excited about waking up and exploring somewhere new tomorrow.
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