Sunny Cannes to Gray Paris

Our last morning in Cannes starts with our usual coissants and coffee on the terrace overlooking the sea.  A bit hurried today since we have a 10 am train to catch for Paris.  Dennis and I are alone since J &  P are staying to winterize the boat and close up the apartment.   We head for the station with one last look at La Coisette ( road along the beach front of Cannes).  We go through the usual mess of not having the ticket machine accept our MasterCard for some reason and have to stand in line to get out tickets.  Fortunately the train in 20 mins late ..... amazing... late. a TGV! Philippe tells us that if a train is an hour late, you can get a coupon for a free ticket.  Ours however, is only half and hour late so no freebee.  

We settle into our seats and the quiet and smooth as well as fast ride begins.   It is a beautiful trip and the changes in scenery are dramatic and typical of the variety of the land in France.  We begin by being just on the edge of the sea.  On one side the train, tracks press against steeply rising mountains which drop right down to the sea.  We are just on the edge and can see the sea churning against the rock outcroppings.  It is like this between Nice and St. Raphael where the land flattens out ever so slightly.  We pass through scrubby pine forests and port towns until we reach Marsailles where the train turns inland into Provence.  First we encounter the dry rugged hills with small isolated houses, small gardens and olive or wine groves.  There are fields of tall brown sunflowers, waiting to be harvested for seeds.Soon the terrain becomes hillier and greener.  After Avignon, the greeness and lushness of the fields are in contrast to the earlier dry scrubby ones.  Finally the fields become larger and are wide expanses both of harvested corn and wheat.  The green fields are dotted with white cows, horses and sheep as well as more defined roads and communities along the way of the TVG.  After about 5 hours we enter Paris.  The contrast of the sunny skies of the South and the gray ones of Paris are notable.  Instead of "gai" Paris, its gray Paris!

Feeling like old pros in getting around Paris we head for the #63 bus out of Gare de Lyon.  After waiting a bit we think we may be at the stop where the line ends, not where it begins so we start walking to check it out only to find the bus is cancelled until 10pm tonight because of a Techno Parade!   So, back to the station, find a metro map and find the way to get home underground.  That takes a while but works well although its a long walk from the RER station to the apartment.  However, we arrive safe and sound, and prepare for one last day in Paris tomorrow.