Today felt like a lucky day! The national strike did not affect our train from Paris to Bordeaux. The weather was perfect for walking around Montparnasse to fill the time between our hotel check-out and train departure. And when we got off the train our dear friends Sally and Lloyd were waiting to greet us.

We had no trouble hauling our luggage the half-mile route from our hotel to the station. Most of the time we walked on a pedestrian-only path that ran through the market area.

Although today was a national strike day in Paris, we saw no disruption in front of the station. The only sign of organized action was a small group of firefighters in front of the station.

Strikes are pretty common in France, and no one seemed to be paying much attention to the group. I don’t know if the soldiers patrolling in front of the station are always there or were there due to the strike.

Whenever I am in a European train station, I remember how much I love train travel in Europe. Getting on and off is so fast, and the seats are larger and more comfortable than airplane seats.

After a quick lunch in the station, we watched the monitor to see our platform number. About fifteen minutes before departure, the platform number appeared. We walked to the platform, scanned our tickets, boarded the train, stowed our luggage and found our seats. The whole process took about five minutes.

Welcome to Bordeaux

After a smooth trip, our train arrived in Bordeaux right on schedule. As we carried our luggage up the stairs, I was so happy we had packed as lightly as we could. Traveling light is still a work in progress.

What a treat to see our dear friends, who now call Bordeaux home, there to meet us.

We took the tram back to their home, enjoyed a wonderful cheese and wine feast, and stayed up way too late catching up.

After two years of not leaving the US, we are excited to visit two of our favorite places in the world-France and Italy. And we are extra excited to see our dear friends who moved to Bordeaux and our good friend and travel buddy’s new vacation home in Montepulciano.

This is going to be one of those planes, trains and automobiles kind of trip, so we are packing as light as possible. Our days of lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairs are behind us.

First A Quick Stop in Paris

After driving to Miami to get a non-stop flight, we arrived in Paris the next morning. Planning for possible flight delays, we decided to spend one night in Paris before catching the high-speed train to visit our friends in Bordeaux. Even a short stop in Paris is a bonus.

Paul found a great hotel, Hotel Le Royal, that is close enough to Gare Montparnasse that we can walk there. Our delightful (and so patient with my French) taxi driver told us the best walking route to take.

An Unexpected Tour of Montparnasse

Our hotel room wasn’t ready, so we took a trial walk to the train station. The taxi driver and I conversed in French, and I thought I understood his directions. Well, I didn’t. I missed one important part, and we turned one street too soon.

One wrong turn led us on a lovely tour of some Montparnasse sights. The biggest delight was discovering the Montparnasse Cemetery.

We enjoy visiting cemeteries in different cities, and the Montparnasse Cemetery was a beautiful, calm oasis in the middle of a busy part of Paris. I love reading what is on the grave markers. A montage of movie shots covering one marker caught my eye. When I got closer I read the engraving and learned the person buried there had been very involved with the history of French cinema.

We passed an historical marker on a school that noted students had been deported from there between 1942 and 1944 because they were Jewish. It was an especially somber moment because school children were outside eating lunch as we read the marker.

We finally found Gare Montparnasse and walked back to our hotel. I used Google Maps the entire route, so we should be able to walk directly there tomorrow.

After a simple dinner at a bistro near our hotel we walked our route one more time. It was a beautiful Paris evening and we enjoyed feeling like part of the Paris life all around us.

Now, fingers crossed the planned transportation strike tomorrow doesn’t affect our travel to Bordeaux.