To Milan? Nathan

My train to Nice was full, so I wandered around trying to find accommodations near Barcelona Sants. The advance ticket guy told me how to get to Milan but the train didn’t leave until tomorrow. Hostels were also full so I ended up giving up and checking into a nice hotel. Just somewhere to sleep and shower after one hell of a night in Pamplona and a hell of a night in Barcelona (good and bad hell respectively). In the morning, I went to the station and caught the train to Cerbere on the French side of the French/Spanish border. I met Natalie, Ottilie, and Katie from London and Otto and Sam from Indianapolis and we were chilling in Cerbere waiting for a train to Montpellier. Katie was nice enough to watch the bags while the rest of us went into town to grab lunch.

Cerbere is a very pretty town on the coast at the edge of the mountains. The Mediterranean is clear and the temperature wasn’t so bad either. It was nice to walk around considering all the train sitting I’m working on currently. I’d be more inclined to move on the Spanish side of the border in Portbou though.

We all have our stories and destinations, but we’re collaborating on traveling. Despite RENFE’s advice, I think I’ll get off with them in Montpellier and ask the SNCF to get me to Milan. Worst case, I’ll follow around with them until I can get to Milan. Complicating this is a strike on the Italian Railways. Hopefully I can get on a French train to Milan instead of an Italian train to Milan.

I made the mistake of staying on to Avignon instead of getting off at Nimes. Apparently my map isn't updated well and the TGVs from Nimes don't go through Milan. Oh well, looks like I had to go to Nice then. I reserved my tickets to Nice and Milan and joined my new friends on the train. They got off at Aix-en-Provence and I continued to Marseille where I caught a connecting train to Nice. By then I was exhausted even though I had done nothing all day long. Luckily I found a hotel in Nice that had a dorm room for 26 euros, great for last minute. Unluckily, they made a mistake and I was considered overbooked. The highlight of the story is that they gave me a private room for the night for their error. I slept well.

Lastly, the French still believe in Looney Tunes, although unfortunately they're in French. The voice overs do sound nearly authentic though. Daffy spits, Porky stutters, and Bugs Bunny sounds like a French Bugs Bunny. It is a good morning.