I'm travelling from Lille to Marseille today. There's a nationwide one-day transit strike, so I received a notice a few days ago that the second leg of my train itinerary was cancelled. I'm not worried. It looks like there are several options for getting from Nimes to Marseille in the afternoon and evening.
I got to Nimes just fine. My train took me to the Pont-du-Gard train station in (well, just outside) Nimes. The next available train from there to Marseille didn't leave for about an hour. And because this is a new train station kinda on the edge of town, there aren't any restaurants close enough to get to them and get back in time. So I snacked on some junk food from the mini-mart in the station. The train arrived. and took about ten minutes to get me to the main Nimes train station where I would then catch a train to Marseille. There were more food options within walking distance of the main station, but after snacking at Pont-du-Gard, I wasn't really hungry. I'll wait to get to Marseille and eat there.
The train was delayed by about 90 minutes, so I just hung around the station and waited. I took a few photos of some interesting buildings that I could see from the platform.
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| Kinda what I'd expect next to a train station |
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| Not what I expected next to a train station |
The train arrived and I took it to Marseille. On the leg from Lille to Nimes I watched a video about the origins of chicken tikka masala, so I looked for an Indian place in Marseille near the train station. I found one, called Pakiss-Naan. The guy was awesome. I was the only customer and he was really friendly. He threw in some naan for free -- I think because he was making some for himself. It was all delicious.
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| Chicken tikka masala from Pakiss-Naan |
After dinner I walked back to the train station, took a subway to near my hotel, then caught the last bus from that subway station to a few blocks from the hotel and walked the last few blocks. If I had missed the bus, the five-minute walk would have turned into a twenty-minute one, so it wasn't crucial, but it was nice.
The hotel check-in time ended at 7:00 p.m., but the clerk had been in touch with me throughout the afternoon and when I told him that my train delays meant I wouldn't get there until after 8:00 p.m. he told me the code for the front door and told me the that my room would be unlocked, with the key inside. All was as he had indicated.
All in all, a long day. And a reminder of why I try not to wait and travel on the day of a match if I can help it.
...doug
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