Vichy - finally!

Friday June 3, 2011                         Day 338

We arose early again, repacked our bag, refilled the water, and headed for the train station, where we took the early train to Nimes – the one that leaves at 7:05 instead of the faster train that leaves at 7:20. We arrived in Nime without incident and were sitting on the platform awaiting our train to Clermont-Ferrand when the TGV train came through. We could have taken that train from Montpellier, but it is the one which was late yesterday and we didn’t want to rely on it – there is only a 10-minute window to make the connection.

Our train north and west was a single-car train with huge windows to accommodate sight-seeing. We were on a 5-hour trip through a very scenic part of France.

We settled into our seats and began to watch the scenery. We hadn’t been on the train for 20 minutes when suddenly a bottle of water dropped from above into Roger’s lap. It was perfectly placed, and for an instant I had a sudden vision of a bottle of water dropping into each passenger’s lap from an overhead compartment, sort of like those oxygen masks on airplanes. As a result, took me several minutes to stop laughing and wipe the tears from my eyes. It turns out that the water bottle we put into the net bottle holder on the side of the suitcase had worked its way loose during our travels and dropped out of the holder.

The trip was beautiful – we traveled along the Allier river for most of the trip, going through mountains, picturesque villages and wonderful scenery. We saw fly fishermen plying the waters in several places. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get much in the way of photos when one is riding on a moving train. When we arrived in Clermont-Ferrand, our train to Vichy was waiting in the station and we boarded promptly. It was a full train, and Vichy was the second stop, so we were there in only 20 minutes.

Upon our arrival, the first thing we did was get some lunch, it being almost 2:00 p.m. by this time. Then we set out for the office of tourism and the touristic train, which gave us a quick view of Vichy. The city was the seat of the French government during the German occupation of WWII. It is known primarily for its numerous warm springs, billing itself as a spa town. It is quite picturesque, full of parks and promenades. It is an old money town and is full of expensive shops.

We enjoyed the charm of Vichy for a couple of hours, then dropped into a tea shop for a pot of tea each. We bought some chocolates to eat later and headed back to the station to catch the train to Lyon. Here, we checked into our hotel, then went across the street for an Italian dinner, then returned to the hotel and sacked out.