A Rude Awakening

Waiting for our train at Ebbsfleet

In the early hours of this morning a strange feeling stirred within me and awoke me from my slumber. That strange feeling was, of course, Rudy awakening once again. And so, at 06:00 hours, Rudy stirred once again and returned. Now, first things first, 06:00 hours is a time of day that should be talked about and never seen! However it was important that we should arise at this time in order to ensure that we were ready for our latest adventure. Captain Clarke and I have decided once again to take the train to Spain. No there’s a thought … Let the train take the strain whilst it takes you to Spain … I should be in advertising! Anyway, enough of this, back to our adventure. Those of you that are not yet asleep and have some amount of memory recall will remember that Captain Clarke and I did this journey last year and enjoyed it so much we vowed we would do it again. And so, here we are!

Our Eurostar to Paris

So, at 06:00 this morning we arose to ablute, finalise our packing, clear away the remnants of last night’s curry and to depart. We only arrived back from France last night (yes, I realise we are now hurtling our way through France at 300km/h but it isn’t the same thing … honest!) and so we decided to get a curry delivered. We were going to try the new restaurant that Great Uncle Bulgaria and Madame Cholet have tried and recommended, but we couldn’t remember the name and, as they have escaped to Guatemala, we could hardly give them a call and ask them! So, we had a curry from India Village in Bletchingley which turned out just fine. Shortly before we left, I nipped around to Great Uncle Bulgaria’s greenhouse to check everything was OK (which it was) and then returned to find Captain Clarke pacing up and down ready to leave. So we did. I completely forgot to check my own greenhouse, but that’s just the way it goes!

Arriving in Paris

Having parked in the Premier Parking at Ebbsfleet (which is actually cheaper than the standard parking, but don’t tell anyone!) we passed through security and passport control (well I did, but we’ll come to that in a minute) and had a short wait in the lounge before taking our place on the platform to await the arrival of our Eurostar to Paris. Now, when I say we passed through security and passport control, I actually mean me. You see, I passed through security and on to passport control with no issues, but when I looked across (Captain Clarke had taken the other aisle of security) there was Captain Clarke talking to a security person. It was quite clear that they thought he looked a bit dodgy, but I think the grin on his face as the man pulled on his rubber gloves sealed his fate! (Oh, I wish I could have taken a photograph!) I waited and waited for him to arrive in the lounge. It seemed that he took longer to be checked than any other security check I have ever witnessed! Eventually, though, he did arrive announcing that “they went though everything” – what he meant by everything can only be left to interpretation … he hasn’t told me but he seemed pretty happy!

The RER D from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon

Having boarded our Eurostar to Paris, we journeyed there without incident (thank goodness) and arrived ‘à l’heure’ at exactly 12:54 local time. Now, I know I have said this before, but why on earth can’t Southern Rail get a train to arrive within 5 minutes of its scheduled arrival time, when the Europeans can get every train to arrive on the minute of schedule! Anyway, enough about British train operators – we all know they’re rubbish, but the government says they’re ‘world class’  – so help us all! Having arrived in Paris we made our way to the RER (Réseau Express Régional) and crossed from Paris Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon. The journey time is only about 15 minutes, so we had plenty of time as our train did not depart Paris until 14:07.

Gare de Lyon

Gare de Lyon is quite an old station, but quite ornate in places. We had a little walk around the station before our train was announced and then, once the platform was announced, went to board our train. I have to confess to having a slight moment of doubt when we went to board our train. I was absolutely sure that the screen at the end of the platform said ‘Barcelona Sants’ but as we walked up the platform, the carriages said ‘Paris – Montpellier’. Doubting my own mind, I returned to the platform entrance and checked the screen – it definitely said ‘Barcelona Sants’. Then I remembered, the train splits in Montpellier with only the front half of the train going on to Barcelona, the rear 8 carriages terminate in Montpellier.

Hall 2 in Gare de Lyon

We walked up to our carriage (at the very front of the train about ¼ mile from the platform entrance!) and took our seats on the upper deck. A slightly elder gentleman in the seats behind us was travelling with his wife and was somewhat out of breath. “Bonjour”, he said, “C’est …” and with much flapping of arms indicated that it was a long way. It was only when he spoke to his wife that we came to realise they are a couple from Exeter who had travelled on the same Eurostar this morning and are also travelling to Barcelona. This is their first time on a TGV, so they are TGV virgins! (We promise we’ll break them in gently!)

Our TGV to Barcelona in Paris

As I write this missive, we are heading south through France at 300km/h (actually at this moment 294km/h for the pedants amongst you). We will be in Valence in about an hour before stopping in Nîmes, Montpellier St Roch, Narbonne, Perpignan, Figuras Vilafont, Gerona and then Barcelona. The journey time is 6 hours 23 minutes, but the time flies by with the changing countryside as you pass from Paris, though burgundy, the Rhone Alps region, onto the south coast, through the Camargue, underneath the Pyrenees (through an 8km tunnel that takes about 90 seconds to get through!) and into northern Spain. It is truly a thoroughly enjoyable experience and definitely part of the holiday.

Captain Clarke’s G&T!

Although we are still very much on our journey and we will inevitably have more to tell you by the time we arrive in Spain, I must mention Captain Clarke’s preparation for the trip. As the train gently made its way out of the Paris suburbs, he turned to me and said, “Do you want lunch now, or shall we have a drink and then lunch?” I said that I was happy either way, so he said we should have a drink first. I don’t know why I was surprised when he rummaged in his bag and produced a glass, ice, gin, tonic and even a slice of lemon! I declined but he managed to force one down!

Captain Clarke looking after the luggage on the train from Barcelona to Sitges

And so to our fourth train of the day from Barcelona to our beloved Sites. Captain Clarke decided to let everyone onto the train first (it was quite busy) which left us with nowhere to sit with the luggage. (Apparently this was because his suitcase was heavy, I have no idea what difference that makes to when you get on a train.) This, I have to confess, turned out to be no problem for me as Captain Clarke stood with the luggage whilst I sat nearby. The train was, as you would expect anywhere but in the UK, on time, clean, air conditioned and comfortable. Journey time from Barcelona to Sitges, about 35 minutes on a stopping train. On arrival in Sitges we decided to push the boat out and get a taxi to our hotel. We have stayed here a few times but not for many years, (16 to be precise!). The Subur Maritim is fine. Old, tired, but fine. As I opened the door to our room I turned to Captain Clarke and said, “Well, it is half the price of the San Sebastian Playa!”. It is a bit SBD (seen better days) but it is clean, tidy and perfectly acceptable for somewhere to sleep.

Just a small one Mrs Wembley!

Having checked into our hotel, we wandered into the town for something to eat (and drink). We have been here at this time of year before, but it did seem that there was a lot of places closed. I actually started to get a bit worried that we wouldn’t find anywhere to eat, but eventually we did. We went to a restaurant called Pescadito (little fish) that we have never been to before and, after a small libation, we ordered ‘Costillas de Cordero’ (lamb chops) which were absolutely stunning (as they generally are in Spain) and went down a treat washed down with a bottle of local rosé wine and followed by a cortado (small Spanish coffee that cannot be beaten anywhere!) and a soberano (Spanish brandy). We wobbled back to our hotel room for a very good night’s sleep! So, here we are again – in our favourite town in Spain, for a week of relaxation and fun. We discovered on arrival that this week is carnival week. Expect some outrageous pictures and a lot of laughs. It’s Rudy Men Terry!