le gare SNCF

I love the trains in Europe.  They are a little expensive if you want to do it the fancy way.  But hey, 10 € Rome-Naples?  As long as the Italians who get on the train with nothing but a deck of cards and a piece of cardboard to play the cards on don't start flirting with you, you're in paradise, and even then, it's not so bad.

This summer I had a train pass.  It was for 2nd class, but I didn't realize it actually said that on the pass until I got on the last train of the summer, and nobody ever said anything, even when they checked.  So I would get by ticket, with a seat and everything, in the first class, on the fastest trains, slide into a huge 1rst class seat, squash my backpack into the one next to it, relax and enjoy the ride.

A picture I took out the train window on the way to Genova.

The trains are amazing.  They leave and arrive exactly on time.  The ride is so smooth, and the view from the window is beautiful.  Forests, fields, once you go around the Italy into the Southern border of France the railroad runs right along the sea.  Sometimes they stop at little towns, and you can observe the town people hustling at the station.  But the train from Avignon to Paris didn't stop a single time.  And in Paris it was cold, and raining when I arrived.  The trains get so cozy, by the end you don't want to get off.