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.