Nice: a long shot, or just a long trip?

It was a long way to Nice, and not just in kilometers. I woke up at 5:15 to make an early morning train that would get me to Nice with just one transfer and all high-speed trains. I got to the train station and was told that because of strikes the only trains running to France go to Paris. Yes there are trains listed as being unaffected by the strike, but she assured me they actually are not running. Hmm, seems like that would be good information to post somewhere?

So I walked a few kms through pre-dawn Geneva in search of the bus station. There’s a bus going to Nice, but it leaves in four hours, I have to change three times, buy a new ticket half-way for some reason (controllage she says?), and I arrive at night. Thankfully I had a pocketful of Francs from the prize money so I could afford to blow a little on a few cappuccinos and chocolate croissants while passing time watching all my stuff and trying to not fall asleep. And to add insult to injury, I heard about five times on the radio that trains to Paris are the only ones running from Switzerland, and today is the first day at that. Another example of the insular existence that is bike racing.

The buses were pretty good and to my pleasant surprise it was extremely easy to carry a bike plus a big suitcase. Short trips within Europe by plane are by far the worst and it’s nearly impossible to avoid oversize fees that exceed the cost of the ticket. Trains have worked well, but you have to move really quickly and usually scout around on the cars for a place to stash your stuff. Except for taking a long time, buses seem to win on overall simplicity and definitely on cost.

There are some downsides however. The biggest one this trip was simply time; the route from Geneva to Nice goes through numerous mountain passes, so the whole trip was on small, twisty roads. Because of that the drivers locked the bathrooms and kept everyone seated the whole time. And because of the strike and the sudden influx of bus traffic, all the buses were late. The net result is that you can’t pee while in transit, nor can you go at the stations because everyone is running around to make their connections. I think it’s fine for your average chronically dehydrated Euro (remember, water costs more here than gas, and even that is pushing $8 /gallon), but it wasn’t working for me. About halfway through my first long bus ride I thought I was going to explode, and finally just pulled my coat over my lap and filled a liter water bottle right then and there. Thankfully during one of my transfers I had the foresight to pour it out, because sure enough I had the same problem (and same solution) on the next bus. I’m pretty sure no one noticed, except at one point I did have to remove my liter of pee from the seat next to me so two lovely French girls could sit down. They gave me and my mysterious bottle of ice tea a funny look and probably against better judgment decided to sit there anyway.

There were quite a few more tribulations along the way, including not having any food and eating little packets of peanut butter I pinched from the hotel breakfast in Alkmaar a few weeks ago. But what it all comes down to is that after 17hrs in transit and about an hour of wandering around Nice in the dark to find this place, I’m here, the apartment is incredible, and there is a boardwalk with palm trees. I’ve also managed to take care of quite a few shop items, including getting a new cell phone chip (my number is below), finding a grocery store, buying a dictionary, signing up for French lessons, finding free internet, and doing a whole bunch of laundry. This was a pretty dry post but once I get settled enough to start running amock things are going to get interesting… and once Dan get’s here in a few weeks things will be completely out of control.

My new address:

Adrian Hegyvary
C/O Csepreghy
11 Rue Alberti
Nice, France
06000

And cell (including country code):
+33 06 42 74 5132