We woke at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Moûtiers. Luckily, the train station was just down the street from our hotel. Chocolate croissants in our stomachs, we boarded the train. The cars were very nice compared to some Amtrak train cars I've experienced here in the USA. Our train was clean, it was well lit, and it looked relatively new. It even had sets of power outlets on the walls. There were sets of two seats facing each other as well as regularly arranged ones. The cars were fairly empty and later we learned why...
Even seats for our bags!
Photo Credit: Me
Apparently some type of vandalism started to delay the afternoon trains. Most of the travelers that day decided to take trains that were not at dawn (like us) and wait until a more reasonable hour. Unfortunate for them, most travelers were delayed up to 5 or 6 hours due to the train tracks being shut down. We saw on the news that 40,000 travelers were delayed...coincidence or fate!
I used my Kindle, iPhone, and Camera to entertain me for the 2+ hour ride. Below is a video I shot of the French countryside:
The train made a few stops before actually reaching Moutiers (it was not an express). We almost missed our stop as we kept dozing off and waking up. All of a sudden I woke up looked around and Jason said something like "Oh this is us, get off, get off!" Grabbing our luggage we jump off the train car. Hours until our next form of transportation, we hoped and prayed there was some sort of bag check or place to store our luggage...and there was for just 1 Euro per bag! Our bus didn't leave until the afternoon so we decided to explore the town, grab some lunch, and do a little grocery shopping before heading up the mountain.
Photo Credit: R. Bradley
With some vin chaud (hot wine), we visit the local tourism office and a church near the center of town. For lunch we headed back to the cafe where we purchased the wine. Jason suggested the plate-of-the-day which was a local dish called Tartiflette. It was quite delicious and we actually decided to make our own for dinner on the slopes. As with dinner in Lyon, our lunch was a kind of fixed menu that came with a desert. Jason chose the Apple tart and I got some praise from Jason after saying "me too" in French when the owner asked what I would like to have :) The owner also said that snow was on the way for us....hooray! And I did remember food pictures this meal!
Tartiflette with Salad
Photo Credit: Me
Apple Tart = Noms
Photo Credit: Me
Still with a couple hours to kill we stop in at a local bar to have a drink. I notice that all the beers are from Belgium. Beers in our belly, we are off once again. Closer to the train station was the grocery store. We decide to pick up some items that would be either expensive at the mountain supermarkets or hard to find. I'm sure most of you have been grocery shopping before and overseas it isn't really different except that they don't bag your groceries for you. They did have some boxes available at the door though. We got cheese, lunch meat, chips, Nutella, cookies, bread, and a couple other items. See the haul below:
The Haul
Photo Credit: Me
All that is left is a bus ride up to our condo for the week. I can't wait! Except the buses are also delayed due to the trains. Luckily, Jason speaks fluent French and found a really friendly driver that was willing to drop us pretty much anywhere. Look at all the seats:
Photo Credit: Me
Want to see our condo slope-side? It's coming in the next post. ~
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