June 18 - Travel Day to Monterosso

Travel days are always difficult and stressful, especially in foreign countries, because it is too difficult to predict what's going to happen next. It is the only time during a vacation where you must observe some semblance of a schedule and meet deadlines (as if you were at work) or you end up extending your stay, which may or may not be a good thing. Today we leave for the station where we will pick up our overnight train to Milan. We have all day to find the station so I'm not too worried we'll find it.

Before going to the train station we manage a few more stops in Paris, including a tour through the Hotel Invalides and Napoleon tomb. That was pretty interesting. In addition, we dashed over to view the Paris Opera House, the sight which inspired "The Phantom of the Opera". This was a stunningly beautiful building that hits you with its gorgeous facade the minute you exit the stairway from the Metro stop. We walked through the lobby for a while but could not get into the theater as the last tour had left moments ago. We were disappointed but glad that at least we got to see the building.

Later on that day we went to pick up our bags and head to the train station. Things when pretty smooth so far as we found the subway stop on the Metro and was told that the train station, for the overnights to Italy, was within walking steps of our subway stop. However, we were told the wrong direction and lost almost an hour. Finally, I went and found someone who could speak English and got us back on track. We still had plenty of time but spent almost 2 hours dragging luggage through a strange Paris neighborhood to find the train.

The train ride was a great move and I'm glad to spent the extra money to take the overnight. Rolling through the French countryside was a real treat. The lush green hills, the bucolic villages, and stunning scenery was unforgettable. In addition, we were enjoying a fantastic meal in the dining car with two very lovely French ladies from Paris who were traveling to Venice. Both were in their late 50s or early 60s and were a delight to converse with as all four of us dined together. They offered a glimpse of life in Paris while we talked about America and our family. They encouraged us to return to France and travel the rural regions by rental car and stopping randomly in any village at night to stay. As we were enjoying enjoying the evening coffee and the final moments of dinner, dusk had set in on the French country side as we gazed out over the farmlands with their rustic old farmhouses and tiny, but abundant, gardens. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and retired to the room while our porter had prepared our beds for the evening. The car was quite hot and sleep was difficult but we managed to get a few hours of shut eye before we were awakened by the porter with expresso and croissant at 4:30AM. We were only 30 minutes outside of Milan and it was time to get ready. After quickly changing and repacking we were ready to venture off.

We pulled into Milan around 5:15AM. We stepped off of the train with our luggage expecting to see a more modern train station. Instead, it seemed like we stepped back in time as we entered a station whose atmosphere and architecture never really left WWI era. The entire depot was constructed of rusty and green steel beams and frames connected by large glass panels that were semi-translucent and seem to cast an erie glow throughout the station. It was kind of nice but a bit disconcerting because few signs were in English and we had two objectives that had to be met. The first was finding the restroom and the next was finding our train to La Spezia which, by my estimation, would take us to our next stop of Monterosso in Cinque Terra. After asking around in my broken Italian where the WC were we found the toilets, which required a few coins, and found blessed relief. Afterwards the shops started opening up and so I sipped on an espresso while Fran had some tea and pastry. We found our train platform, boarded on quickly, and we were on our way to the Italian Riveria.