Train Tripping out of Rodez

Gare de Rodez, 6:15

Brive-la-Gaillarde is about a two and a half hour drive from Rodez, and when I had to go there for work recently, my manager was surprised that I requested to travel by train. 

She assured me there would be a work car available for me. But between driving alone for five hours and -- for once --  being able to take a train with schedules that actually worked out with my professional obligations, the choice was easy.

First, I could read or work on the train, which I told her.

Second, I'm not that crazy about driving five hours alone, mainly in the dark, in the dead of winter, which I also mentioned.

Finally, I'm a secret train/train station geek...which got left out of the conversation.

In motion in Corrèze

A lot of my American friends imagine that in this very specific place they call "Europe," people are always taking trains and that you can get about anywhere on them. This is not necessarily true in France, and certainly not true in much of the South of France.

From Rodez, you can take the train to Toulouse via Albi; you can take it to Paris by way of Brive-la-Gaillarde; and there are a few stray trains to Millau that I have never heard of anyone taking.  And that is about it. 

The trains stop in various towns and villages along the way, but these aren't necessarily places tourists or inhabitants regularly go.

Of course from Toulouse, Brive, or Paris you can move on to other cities, but that often means pretty long trips -- so most of my friends and acquaintances are in the habit of driving or, if routes and finances permit, flying around France.

Just a weird shot of the sort of weird place you can only see from a train

I often read articles about cutbacks in train services from French town X to French city Y, and I know the cherished Rodez-Paris/Paris-Rodez night train, which allows us to optimize our weekends in la Capitale, is under recurring threats -- although it is usually packed when I'm on it.

But the SNCF seems to be making efforts to combine services to make more cities accessible. For example, when I first moved here, it was nearly impossible to get from Rodez to Lyon -- a 4-hour drive -- by train. 

Now, by taking a regional train to Millau, a bus to Montpellier, and then hopping on the TGV, it can be done in 6 hours -- something I actually might consider.

At any rate, I hope I continue to have chances to take the train in France: for the photo opportunities, and also to kindle my memories of Europass days.

  

L'hiver à la Gare de Rodez

It was freezing and snowy all over France last week -- even on the Riviera, where snowfall in Provence and the Marseille region stranded thousands of travellers and commuters.

Here in Rodez, we got only a few centimeters of the white stuff on Wednesday, but they came at the worst possible time -- between five and seven pm, right as employees were leaving work AND as alarmed shoppers, who had come into Rodez for the first day of the official winter sales, decided to flee the town center.

That evening, it took me an hour and twenty minutes to do my usual twenty-minute commute, but at least I didn't end up in a field as I had a few years back when the area was struck by an evening snowstorm.

The next day, I didn't have class, so I decided not to risk early morning driving and to go into work a little late -- at least in daylight hours. Since I was in no rush, I stopped to take a few shots of the ever-fascinating Rodez train station.

This is one of my favorite places in Rodez. I hope it will never be subject to a smart modern renovation.

Train Tripping

I think in another life, one where I couldn't have turned into a blogging geek, I might have become a train geek. A really fun part of my day trip to Albi a week ago was simply taking the train there from Rodez.

The Rodez-Albi-Toulouse line is part of the ter regional network, and some of its trains are pretty spiffy:

But somehow I generally don't get put on those models. I took to the rails last week in this:

Suffice to say I'm glad I didn't spring for the above first class compartment.

I imagine trains like this one have a few technical problems, and before leaving Rodez, I got a glimpse of what must be a sort of train ambulance -- SECO-RAIL!

Actually, my second-class car was pleasant enough, although I suspect the SNCF will be rethinking their color scheme when they get around to replacing this set of older regional trains:

The mustard-yellow seats do get a little hard on the eyes, which is why I like to catch bits of the smaller gares along the way:

This weekend I'm off for another little trip: to the Ariège department to see friends. It will be a family car trip though, so don't worry -- I won't bore you with more railway shots.

Bon weekend de Pentecôte!