On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail
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It is impossible to overstate just how pretty the marshes and lakes around Leucate, Bages and Sigéan are. I genuinely feel privileged to be able to travel past them every time I head North. And it’s extra special knowing that part of the way through the Étangs de Ayrolle et de Sigéan is railway-only, and knowing most car drivers will ever cross it.
It’s a 2 hour train from Barcelona. If you’re in the are, it’s well worth taking the morning train, having lunch at Narbonne, and then taking the one of the afternoon trains back.
If you come during the right season, there are even flocks of Flamingoes there. Sadly none today.
No photos can do the region justice, but have a few.
This train is encouraging me to subscribe to TGV InOui's socials “pour plus des surprises!”
I generally don't like the sort of surprises TGV InOui give me. So I think I'll avoid subscribing.
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This train is encouraging me to subscribe to TGV InOui's socials “pour plus des surprises!”
I generally don't like the sort of surprises TGV InOui give me. So I think I'll avoid subscribing.
"Monsieur, Parlez-vous français ?
Grace a vos cheveux je ne me perde pas. Ça fais trois fois que je me leve pour aller au bistrot, et comme ça je sais quand j’arrive a ma siège…”
CW: Selfie
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"Monsieur, Parlez-vous français ?
Grace a vos cheveux je ne me perde pas. Ça fais trois fois que je me leve pour aller au bistrot, et comme ça je sais quand j’arrive a ma siège…”
CW: Selfie
Made it to Paris Gare de Lyon.
I am here often enough that I have started to recognise landmarks in the station, but not often enough to actually be able to navigate it without getting lost and asking for help a couple of times. It’s big, and very confusing.
Later today there’s a bit of sightseeing I want to do, but for the moment, I’m heading to the nearby town of Saint-Dénis (which is basically part of the Paris Metropolitan area) and dumping my bags at my hotel for the night.
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Made it to Paris Gare de Lyon.
I am here often enough that I have started to recognise landmarks in the station, but not often enough to actually be able to navigate it without getting lost and asking for help a couple of times. It’s big, and very confusing.
Later today there’s a bit of sightseeing I want to do, but for the moment, I’m heading to the nearby town of Saint-Dénis (which is basically part of the Paris Metropolitan area) and dumping my bags at my hotel for the night.
And this does mean I get take a Tram, a first for me in Île-de-France. And it even has trans flag colours… or that’s what the rear light looks like in this light
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And this does mean I get take a Tram, a first for me in Île-de-France. And it even has trans flag colours… or that’s what the rear light looks like in this light
Paris is known for its monuments: the Eiffel Tower, the Triumphal Arch, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris.
It’s also known for its museums: the Louvre, Orsay, Picasso, Rodin…
But I’m not here for all that.
Today’s adventure starts with a lady called Amelia. Well, really it starts with a man known as Piotr Kozlowski. But before I tell you more, I need to get from Saint-Dénis back to the centre of Paris…
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Paris is known for its monuments: the Eiffel Tower, the Triumphal Arch, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris.
It’s also known for its museums: the Louvre, Orsay, Picasso, Rodin…
But I’m not here for all that.
Today’s adventure starts with a lady called Amelia. Well, really it starts with a man known as Piotr Kozlowski. But before I tell you more, I need to get from Saint-Dénis back to the centre of Paris…
Are you tired of your current life? The responsibilities, never having a moment to yourself, the constant demands in your time by your commitments, and from the people, oh, the people.
Maybe you have a cheating spouse, maybe you are a cheating spouse, maybe you’re in trouble with the police for entirely legitimate reasons, maybe you’re a comedian who just isn’t funny anymore, maybe you’ve set up an online cult and have talked them into firing you from a cannon into a parallel universe…
Whatever your need, if you have the money, and the challenge is interesting enough, then the Amelia Project can help you fake your death, and find another much more peaceful life. They are, after all, the best in the business.
All you need to do is call the number, leave a message, and they’ll get back to you as soon as they can. A new life awaits.
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Are you tired of your current life? The responsibilities, never having a moment to yourself, the constant demands in your time by your commitments, and from the people, oh, the people.
Maybe you have a cheating spouse, maybe you are a cheating spouse, maybe you’re in trouble with the police for entirely legitimate reasons, maybe you’re a comedian who just isn’t funny anymore, maybe you’ve set up an online cult and have talked them into firing you from a cannon into a parallel universe…
Whatever your need, if you have the money, and the challenge is interesting enough, then the Amelia Project can help you fake your death, and find another much more peaceful life. They are, after all, the best in the business.
All you need to do is call the number, leave a message, and they’ll get back to you as soon as they can. A new life awaits.
There’s always time for a story…
The Amelia project podcast has been a companion in my life for the past couple of years. It’s an comedic fiction podcast that explores the life of the core members of the organisation: the Interviewer, his office manager, Alvina, Joey and Salvatore, the muscle men of incredible hidden talents, and Koslowski the surgeon. Oh, and the guest of the week who explains why they want a new life, with some wonderfully imaginative plot lines written by Phillip Thorne and Øystein Ulsberg Brager
There’s 97 episodes, and a whole host of extras available to Patreon subscribers including a 12 deaths of Christmas daily special one year.
You can find out more at https://ameliapodcast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.
One of the recurring tropes in this podcast is the fact that they like to drink hot chocolate, that they get specially shipped in from Les Deux Magots café in Paris, as it is the best in the world. And it turns out that it actually exists!
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There’s always time for a story…
The Amelia project podcast has been a companion in my life for the past couple of years. It’s an comedic fiction podcast that explores the life of the core members of the organisation: the Interviewer, his office manager, Alvina, Joey and Salvatore, the muscle men of incredible hidden talents, and Koslowski the surgeon. Oh, and the guest of the week who explains why they want a new life, with some wonderfully imaginative plot lines written by Phillip Thorne and Øystein Ulsberg Brager
There’s 97 episodes, and a whole host of extras available to Patreon subscribers including a 12 deaths of Christmas daily special one year.
You can find out more at https://ameliapodcast.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.
One of the recurring tropes in this podcast is the fact that they like to drink hot chocolate, that they get specially shipped in from Les Deux Magots café in Paris, as it is the best in the world. And it turns out that it actually exists!
Les Deux Magots cafe itself has a fascinating history, known as the meeting place for authors, poets and artists in the broadest sense of the word for the past 140 years.
Simone de Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and a host of other names you’ll have heard of as “literature”, frequented this café. It’s been the backdrop for a number of 1970s and 1980s art films. It’s maintained its old-school tradition of service and quality, and a place to relax and unwind.
You can sit outside and watch Paris go by near the church of Saint-Germain-des-Près, or enjoy a repas inside the “Salon Historique”, which has photos of some of the people it is famed to have hosted working away here, as well as the statues of the two magicians that it is named after.
Sadly, fame has gone a bit to its head, and the prices are high enough that you’re no longer likely to see an artist of modest means stop in here for an afternoon.
But the hot chocolate? It really is that good!
(CW: drink)
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Les Deux Magots cafe itself has a fascinating history, known as the meeting place for authors, poets and artists in the broadest sense of the word for the past 140 years.
Simone de Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and a host of other names you’ll have heard of as “literature”, frequented this café. It’s been the backdrop for a number of 1970s and 1980s art films. It’s maintained its old-school tradition of service and quality, and a place to relax and unwind.
You can sit outside and watch Paris go by near the church of Saint-Germain-des-Près, or enjoy a repas inside the “Salon Historique”, which has photos of some of the people it is famed to have hosted working away here, as well as the statues of the two magicians that it is named after.
Sadly, fame has gone a bit to its head, and the prices are high enough that you’re no longer likely to see an artist of modest means stop in here for an afternoon.
But the hot chocolate? It really is that good!
(CW: drink)
I’ve been trying to find the time to visit this café every time I go through Paris. When @quixoticgeek asked me to meet her early in the day tomorrow before the game on Friday, I jumped at the chance to finally visit the café and enjoy the hot chocolate in homage to the amazing podcast that has been my guilty pleasure for the past couple of years.
Phillip Thorne came up with the idea of the podcast whilst drinking hot chocolate here, which is why there are constant references to it in the show.
Tonight I’ll take the opportunity to listen to the last two episodes, and round off the story finally. This hot chocolate break seems like a fitting way to bring the story to life, and to an end.
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I’ve been trying to find the time to visit this café every time I go through Paris. When @quixoticgeek asked me to meet her early in the day tomorrow before the game on Friday, I jumped at the chance to finally visit the café and enjoy the hot chocolate in homage to the amazing podcast that has been my guilty pleasure for the past couple of years.
Phillip Thorne came up with the idea of the podcast whilst drinking hot chocolate here, which is why there are constant references to it in the show.
Tonight I’ll take the opportunity to listen to the last two episodes, and round off the story finally. This hot chocolate break seems like a fitting way to bring the story to life, and to an end.
@quixoticgeek Can’t finish the evening without some train geekery. Have some train station pics at Stade de France-Saint-Dénis
