I was worried as I could not get a reservation for this train, but they are not mandatory, and I seem to have found a spot after a bit of hunting.
There’s also spare foldaway seats by the door, which will do at a pinch.
It’s a thoroughly unsuitable train for the 4 and a half hour journey it’s on, down from Nancy all the way to Lyon Perrache. It’s got narrow, uncomfortable, seats, not enough luggage space for everyone travelling on this train, entirely walk-through and open plan, and not every seat has a table to use. If feels like we are stuffed into this train like sardines. It was particularly noticeable that the TER to Paris has first class seating but this train doesn’t.
On the upside, the windows are large and views are pretty.
When I originally planned this trip, I had a whole route planned out today involving going to Paris, Angoulême, and Bordeaux, and then another day of travel to the Hendaye crossing in Spain and onwards to Donostia-San Sebastian and Vitoria/Gasteiz, followed by a train to Vigo.
And then I realised that I had forgotten one of my rules of travelling: take breaks.
Travelling is tiring. A new location every day takes its toll. Even just sitting on a train has the stimulation of constantly changing scenery, the movement of the train as it travels, and the noise of the people around you all adds up. The feeling that you are travelling and have to have a new experience because you are somewhere new and you might never return doesn’t quite leave your mind. You are in a mixture of liminal space and overstimulation, and your body and brain needs a rest.
And by rest I mean: not planning anything. No travel, stay an extra night where you are. Don’t go sightseeing. Sit around in the hotel if that’s what you want to do, or maybe by the local river, or in a cafe. Do some of the admin you’ve been putting off, catch up on fedi. But allow yourself to separate yourself from the stress of travelling. It’s ok not to do anything in particular.
I do tend to combine that with washing, as it then makes the day feel a little productive.
I tend to need one of those a week. I haven’t had one since leaving Wednesday last, and my body is complaining.
Add to that the fact that very little of the sightseeing I had planned for this trip actually happened, due to a variety of reasons, and I was feeling jaded.
I knew that I was not going to enjoy the next few days without a break. And I couldn’t really work out a way to plan that break into my schedule.
It would have been three days of heavy travel, too. Not two-three hours on an ICE to the next destination. And I’d have felt like I needed to take it all in. In the right circumstances it would have been fun. But I was not in the mood to enjoy it.
So, knowing the warning signs, and having learned my lesson from previous times I’ve felt like this, I cut it short. I am heading home. I am going to spend Sunday doing very little at all. If I take the train on Monday, it’ll be the same train I was going to pick up in Vitoria/Gasteiz, just… earlier in the day.
I might just decompress and fly straight to Porto on Wednesday.
But yes, today is liminal space day, and the nice comfy AVE that is the closest I get to a well-known comforting ride. Then I’m taking a break.
