We left Venice in the mists of early morning. As we approached the mainland, we passed a shipyard or dry dock where we could see a cruise ship being manufactured. That must be some undertaking! The train took us to Milano, where we changed trains for one bound for Torino. While waiting to board our bus in Milano, we watched a couple of guys using long-handled brushes with hose connections to wash the windows on the engine. We arrived in Torino, then had to locate a bus for Lyon. Apparently there is a major renovation going on to the train lines between Torino and Lyon and there are no trains currently traveling between these two cities. We ate a tasteless lunch in the train station, then went in search of the bus, which necessitated a short metro ride out to the Susa stop, then it was a matter of waiting for the bus to show up. When we got on, we had no ticket, only an on-line reservation number. This did not make the driver happy, and he instructed us to get off at Chambery, the first stop in France, and get out ticket there.
Roger and I had seats across the aisle from one another. Each of us had a young English-speaking seat companion, so we stayed entertained for the entire trip. My seat companion is a native of El Salvador, but she spent a couple of years in her childhood in the States because her father was working on his master’s degree in Illinois. She returned there later for college, and is only a few classes away from her own master’s degree. She put it on hold, however, as she had an opportunity to come and study business in Grenoble, France. In between discussions with our seatmates, we enjoyed views of the snowcapped Italian and French alps, which were gorgeous. The mountains which were not snowcapped revealed fascinating rock formations.
Upon our arrival in Chambery (the only stop before Lyon), Roger disembarked and went into the train station. He was back in a few moments with the tickets, which made the driver happy. Buying them was just a matter of entering his confirmation number into a machine and instructing it to print out the tickets. We sat together on the remaining 30 minutes or so of our trip, arriving in Lyon in plenty of time to catch our high-speed TGV train to Montpellier. While in the train station, we noticed several military personnel on duty - pacing about, guns over their shoulders, alert. It was SO good to arrive in Montpellier and make that final trek home.
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