Plane, Train, Car, Bus & Taxi: Our 12-Hour Journey from Napoli to Nîmes!
It looks so close on the map!
It looks so close on the map! France and Italy are neighbors. They’re both in the EU and the Schengen Area, so there usually aren’t any lines for passport control or customs when traveling from one to the other. Travel should be a breeze, right? We’ll be there before we know it!
Wrong. With no direct flights available, it took over 12 hours of travel to journey yesterday from Sorrento, Italy to Bellegarde, a little village in the south of France (near Nîmes & Marseille) where we are currently staying in a beautiful house we’ve rented.
Here’s how yesterday’s travel day played out:
Journey #1: Car! We started at 7am, traveling by rental car (our dear friend Alan was driving) from Sorrento to Naples, Italy. Sunday morning, no rush hour, and it only took about 45 minutes (though it took almost that long to return the rental car).
Journey #2: Plane! Alan’s flight home left several hours before ours, so we had a rather long wait at the Naples airport. (Which apparently has two bathrooms for the entire airport, each located down six flights of stairs in an area with no air conditioning.) Ryan Elston finished reading his first book of the journey while we waited. Then our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. We finally traveled by plane from Naples to Marseille. The flight was roughly an hour and 45 minutes, but because we were in the leprechaun-sized seats of RyanAir (aka the only airline in history that doesn’t even provide water!), it felt like five hours. The irony is not lost on us that we both share a first name with our least favorite airline.
Journey #3: Bus! We arrived at the Marseille airport, picked up our bags and then went by bus from the Marseille airport to the Marseille train station. Just 30 minutes though it seems that all roads to Marseille are 90% potholes. “Fasten your seatbelts . . .” As his e-reader shook violently whilst the bus hurtled over each precipitous bump, Ryan Elston finished reading his second book of the journey.
Journey #4: Train! We then hunkered down at the French version of Carl’s Jr. (?!?) for a rather long wait at the train station. And before you ask – no, we did not eat any of the fast food at Carl’s Jr. But they had tables with electrical outlets to recharge Ryan Wildstar’s phone and laptop, and no one working there seemed bothered that we never purchased anything. Ryan Wildstar bought a bag of groceries from the supermarket across the street, while Ryan Elston waited with the luggage and saw a delightful quartet of steampunk Goths in full mime makeup and clockwork Victorian cosplay gear. Then our train was delayed. And they only announced our platform approximately 20 seconds before the train departed, which gave us about 15 seconds to scramble to our seats with our nine items of luggage and groceries. We never made it to our actual assigned seats, but at least we had a relatively comfortable hour-long journey by train from Marseille to Nîmes. Meanwhile, Ryan Elston finished reading his third and final book of the journey.
Journey #5: Taxi! We then traveled by taxi (30 minutes) from Nîmes to our little village of Bellegarde. For a relatively small village, traffic here was unusually heavy due to a local festival with a giant carnival and something involving humans interacting with live bulls. The taxi had to stop three times to let ambulances drive past. Hopefully the bulls were okay.
Arrival! We then arrived here at our fabulous little house just after 7pm! 12 hours of travel! And it looks so close on the map!
Naturally, we were exhausted from our journey by plane, train, car, bus and taxi. Fortunately, this house is *amazing*! Luxury! Modern! Stylish! Perhaps one of the best places we've ever stayed in! It's seriously spectacular in every way. The owner's mother, Christiane, checked us in and she was absolutely lovely and welcoming. Since it was Sunday, we weren’t sure if any restaurants or markets would still be open when we arrived. Very graciously, Christiane double-checked with the little bistro across the street to make sure their kitchen would still be open for dinner when we arrived and reserved us a table.
It was the perfect landing for two Epicurean vagabonds. Totally charming! Fabulous food and everyone was so friendly. Amazing local wines and delicious local fare. Paintings, sculptures and photos of bulls adorned the walls. (Had we suddenly found ourselves in Ancient Crete? Was that a soccer stadium or the local labyrinth?) There also happened to be a big rugby game playing on their large-screen TV (the World Rugby Cup . . . who knew?) and I think we met half the village! Quaint and unpretentious and quite entertaining. (We can now officially say we have watched a rugby match and cheered along with the locals of every age.)
After our hearty meal, we returned to our beautiful little house to relax, listen to music, enjoy a glass of wine and a cheese plate, and watch some long-awaited British TV before bed. What a day! To quote the immortal words of Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, after listening to her boyfriend’s renditions of music by bands like Boston, Kansas, America, Europe, Asia . . .
"Hopefully the bulls were okay."
Yes, the travel part of travel sucks. But you are now tucked in your lovely little home in the south of France for the winter!
You keep saying you don’t know how you’re going to keep doing this, but you just keep doing it! So cheers to that!