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Home » Destinations » Europe » Spain

The Trains To Spain

Modified: May 31, 2019 · Published: Jan 25, 2009 by Dave Lee |

Seb and Magali see me off at Gare St Jean

 

12:45 pm

I'm on the 7.5 hours train to Barcelona via Narbonne in southeast France.

The weather has turned, the sky now gray and cloudy. We all slept in this morning.

I showered around 10 am, enjoyed a croissant, indulged in another pastry, champagne, and white chocolate mousse, and sipped hot chocolate.

Would life ever be so tasty at home?

Checked e-mail, packed up, and was driven to Gare St. Jean by Magali and Seb, the former whose driving resembles that of a Formula-1 race car driver.

They both helped me collect my ticket, and saw me to the proper coach, number 14, seat 48.

While not a TGV, it is a clean, comfortable, and spacious train.

Passing vineyards, the region is beautiful. I will be back to Bordeaux, and France, for sure.

The train

 

4:42 pm

My first train was delayed 20-30 minutes so I missed my Barcelona connection in Narbonne.

I have one hour and forty-minute wait, plus another changeover. I'll be arriving at 11 pm instead of 8 pm.

Hopefully, the hostel has a 24-hour reception.

My packed lunch - 4 ham/cheese sandwiches, apple, Bordeaux cake, apple pie, and a soda

 

7:36 pm

Left Narbonne at 6:18 pm and am speeding in a southerly direction, the darkness obscuring any potential views of the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain.

Finished the second of four ham and cheese sandwiches Magali's mom had made for my journey, and " Dark Star Safari."

Theroux was robbed in Jo'burg at the end, and suffering from intestinal parasites for months after his return home.

He seemed to struggle with the ending of his trip the same way I am.

Vital travel supplies - coffee and an mp3 player

 

8:52 pm

Off and running on the so far bumpy train to Barcelona, two hours further south!

 

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About Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 68 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.

Comments

  1. Suzanne says

    January 31, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Dear Dave: You Rockzzz man, keep going on, good luck.
    Waiting more excited sharings from you :cool:

  2. Train tickets europe says

    May 23, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    Interesting reading this train travel to Spain. Next time perhaps you should consider high speed trains :-)

  3. Jacob says

    September 24, 2012 at 10:36 am

    Once you get to Spain you'll probably need somewhere decent to stay. We visited many, many campsites on the Iberian Peninsula and wrote about the best ones here:

    Enjoy your travels.

Dave at Ahu Ko Te Riku on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile.

Hi, I'm Dave

Editor in Chief

I've been writing about adventure travel on Go Backpacking since 2007. I've visited 68 countries.

Read more about Dave.

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