Rain, Clouds, Missed Trains and Silver Linings

Saturday, March 1, 2008 Our plan to was leave for our weekend in Chamonix-Mount Blanc, France on Friday afternoon. We had spent the day making sandwiches, packing snow gear, bedding, etc. Robert arrived home from work around 3:00 and we quickly gathered all of our suitcases and sleds and left for the train station. After the tickets were purchased we proceeded up one set of escalators then down a second set to our gate. We boarded the train, stowed our stuff , and settled in for the ride. About 45 minutes into the scenic trip the conductor comes along to check our tickets. That is when the problem began.

He informed us that our tickets required an overnight stay before reaching our destination. An overnight stay for a four hour trip? Worse than that was that was the news that there were no other connections Friday evening that would allow us to reach Chamonix. We got off the train at the next stop and with great frustration returned to Basel. The ticket agent had made a mistake in the itinerary.

The good part of the delay was that the kids came home and took about half of what they had packed out of their bags. Lugging those heavy bags on and off the train convinced them they would not need to take so much stuff.

So, Saturday morning at 4:30 am the alarm sounded. We left for the train station a second time. With four train changes we never quite had time to get comfortable. The scenery change from northwestern Switzerland traveling southward is dramatic. The mountains and streams gave way to rolling hills and vineyards. As we approached the Swiss/France border the signs went from German to French. Our last two legs were on the French railway.

Have you ever traveled in France? France is nothing like Switzerland. The Swiss trains and buses are on time all the time. The French train will arrive....the printed schedule is used a very loose guideline. It was on the last two legs that the adventure began. The conductor looked at our tickets and instructed us to not get off at the designated stop but two stops down. We did and we boarded the next train with no trouble. The train was a little train that ran on tracks built into the edge of the mountain. At various points along the way announcements were made for the coming stop. No one told us that there are stops in between, but you must request a stop by pushing a button to signal the driver.

Two or three stops past where we should have requested a stop we realized something was wrong. After inquiring of other passengers our fears were confirmed. So we quickly departed the train at the next scheduled stop. A stop with no attendant at the small station. After carefully studying the posted train schedule, it was clear that the next train would not arrive for two hours. That might have been okay if freezing rain had not been falling. Shortly two young men came to check the schedule and understood enough English to understand our conversations. They told us that we could catch the bus that ran every twenty minutes at the top of the hill. Okay, that sounded good.

So, we trudged half a mile up what would be a mountain in Oklahoma in the freezing rain with all of our luggage and two sleds to the bus stop. There was a covered shelter to wait in. That was good since the bus that should run every twenty minutes really doesn't. Next question, have you ever ridden on a bus in France? Don't! It is a frightening experience. I guess until the bus took off Robert and I had forgotten our French bus ride from a few years ago. Even the folks who are seated hold on tightly.

This time we noticed a sign posted behind the driver that said to advise him of the requested stop. Robert did. But he didn't really care. We got off the bus in the village where the apartment was located. Another walking distance of close to a mile. After about 10 minutes, Robert suddenly announced in a panic that he left the apartment directions and address in Basel. We called Haden and he was able to log onto my email account and retrieve the directions. We continued our walk and can you guess what we passed? A bus stop almost directly in front of the building we would be staying in! We could have ridden all the way!!

We finally made it into the adorable little apartment belonging to a business associate of Robert's. He and his wife were kind enough to invite us to stay for the weekend! The view from the living room was of Mount Blanc! Robert took the photo below just at sunrise.

This one was taken mid-morning. Imagine waking up to this! Definitely a silver lining!

More to Come in Part II......