On day 11, September 12, we took a train from Paris to Nice. The TGV trains run close to 300 km/h (180 mph). Boarding is a bit chaotic with luggage. We were looking for "coach 2", so we boarded the car with the big "2" on the outside. Ha ha ha ha ha. After a few tries and walking through the aisles, we finally located our seats. Train travel is more comfortable than air travel, and there was practically no security, but it will take a couple trips to figure out the idiosyncrasies.
Our trip was about 600 miles, so we got to see lots of scenery. France is lousy with rivers. Also, I am lousy with friends who tell me the European trains are always on time, but we arrived about 45 minutes late due to signal malfunctions. I have submitted a request for compensation (25% of the ticket price, in this case). We'll see what happens.
The Paris/Nice route runs mostly southerly and then turns eastward near Marseilles. This was our first glimpse of the Mediterranean, near Sanary-sur Mer.
After disembarking in Nice, we couldn't figure out where to walk. There were no exit ("sortie") signs. We finally figured out we could walk a hundred meters along the platform, take an elevator up a flight with our luggage, walk across a pedestrian bridge over four sets of tracks, take an elevator down, walk 50 meters back along the platform, and then there is an exit sign. We finally exited the building to the taxi stand.
The weather has been really nice all along. Here's another cloudless sky.
We went to dinner at a little restaurant on the main strip, Promenade des Anglais. Like Paris, Nice is full of casual restaurants, some moderately priced. I had a dish that was in a metal pie tin and covered with a pizza crust. Inside, the pie was full of shellfish and pasta. Clams, mussels, calamari, one big crawfish, three little octopi, and I'm not sure what else. This plate cost a very moderate 20 euros. Every forkful dug up a new treasure. The reviews are mixed on this place, and the traffic noise was annoying, but overall we had a great experience.
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