Moof!Nov 18

On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail

And it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for… it’s #TGVTuesday! My last proper one this year…

Yup, that’s right, I’m taking not one, but two long distance TGV Euroduplexes today: from Karlsruhe to Paris Est and then Paris Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants.

Today’s itinerary: https://trainlog.me/public/trip/536232,536234

And, of course it couldn’t be a proper rail travel day in Germany without being Bahned. In this case, this particular train arrived at Karlsruhe with a 33 minute delay.

This train is scheduled to be coupled onto another TGV at Strasbourg, and apparently it will be coupled onto another train there, according to the announcement we’ve just had. I’m just wondering if we’ve made the other half of this train late, or whether we’ll be joined to another one instead…

I guess I’ll find out in about an hour.

In the meantime, time to sit back, recline the chair and listen to Synthwave as the landscape speeds by…

Show threadMoof!Nov 18

Mesdames, Messieurs, je commence cette annonce en Français par-ce que nous sommes déjà en France. Mais ne vous inquiétez pas, je ferais la même annonce en allemand tout de suite...

#CrossBorderRail #TGVTuesday

Show threadMoof!Nov 18

Of course, #TGVTuesday is not only marked by the wonderful sound of Synthwave, but also by the SNCF Jingle, which has subtly different versions depending on which type of train you're on, or whether you're on a platform.

These four notes in all its variants are instantly recognisable to anyone who has travelled through France by train. It was created in 2005 by Sixième Son, a French Audio Branding agency that has a whole load of other audio brands to its name - you can find many of them on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sixieme-son

There's also an official long version: https://song.link/y/VKJCELWVrCo

This sound is well-known enough that it's been sampled and remixed many times. The most famous version is the inclusion by fomer Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour in his 2015 single Rattle That Lock: https://song.link/y/L1v7hXEQhsQ

But you can find many remixes on your favourite music platform...

Sixième Son

Sixième Son is a global sonic branding agency that creates long-lasting sonic identities, designs sonic signals, and provides soundscapes for environmental brand experiences. Sixième Son’s in-house

SoundCloud
Show threadMoof!Nov 18

This SNCF Jingle post is brought to you by a massive delay whilst stuck at Strasbourg Station. Having previously been Bahned this morning on the german side of this trip, we've now been thoroughly Chemin de Ferred. Apparently a train that was ahead of us on the high speed line has broken down, and they had to work out what to do about it.

From what I've been able to gather, we've moved onto single track operation on the LGV leading out of Strasbourg. #TGVTuesday

Show threadMoof!

...And we've just overtaken the stuck TGV.

High Speed Lines have regular sidings along the route that are basically stopping points that can be used for when this sort of thing happens, or to park maintenance vehicles when they need to get out of the way. There are also regularly spaced points that allow the train to change tracks, and either run alongside or overtake another train, something that is useful when you have trains with different max speeds taking the same line.

In this case, we slowed down, changed tracks, and then honked as we approached and overtook the stuck train. We're now speeding up and heading back to our 300km/h line speed.

Anyway, I'm now running 67 minutes late, which means that my lunch reservation in the beautiful Le Train Bleu restaurant at Gare de Lyon, will have to be cancelled, and I'll have to make do with something a lot less appealing, but faster, at the less ornate parts of the station.

https://www.seat61.com/train-bleu-restaurant.htm

#TGVTuesday

The famous Train Bleu restaurant at Paris Gare de Lyon

A special place for lunch before catching your train to the South of France, Italy, Switzerland or Spain.

Nov 18 at 11:22amWeb
Show threadMoof!Nov 18
The Cloudflare outage stopped me from posting this #TGVTuesday lens flare.
Show threadMoof!Nov 18

I made it to Paris at 13:44, 73 minutes after I was supposed to. I had 57 minutes to change from Gare de l'Est to Gare de Lyon, and that barely game me enough time to navigate the metro system, including a change in train, and to grab something to eat on the train, which sadly was Chez McDó - a known quantity when travelling is generally a good thing - before heading to the platform to get on the next TGV to Barcelona. I am sat in a single chair with a table, and on the other side of the passage is an adorable puppy accompanying a young french couple.

Cloudflare outage notwithstanding, coverage on this line is dicey at best. Which is really quite something to say when this train line was the poster boy for your entire high speed effort.

I also suspect the reason the onboard wifi kept timing out may have been cloudflare related. Though it's not always been great, it's never been *this* bad before.

SoI spent much of it working offline on the #ICEAgeChallenge

#TGVTuesday

Show threadMoof!Nov 18

…and, thanks to the terrible coverage between Perpignan and Barcelona, where for practical purposes you are offline, I sat down and brainstormed more stuff for #ICEAgeChallenge, and basically enjoyed a comfy chair and a desk and Synthwave on the headphones.

I arrived at Barcelona more or less on time, and… that’s it for this trip.

It’s my penultimate big trip of the year. I am still trying to decide what to for part of the next one, so more information will be coming soon.

That being said, if you have suggestions for what to do between the 8th and 11th December within a day’s high speed travel of Germany, or you want to meet up… feel free to reach out!

Show threadMoof!Nov 18

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour (voyage, voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l'espace (TGV) Inouï de l'amour

#TGVTuesday