There's a quote I love about French trains from the author Virginie Despentes.
"Il y a une ambiance propre aux voyages ferroviaires, une résignation collective à ne pas etre dérangé pendant plusieurs heures, une transition heureuse entre deux situations."
This was about long distance trains of course, but your bit about the train clearing out at the end of the line made me think of that.
And thank you for the quote- Despentes is so precise here, it is exactly that: "...une transition heureuse entre deux situations". It's a rarer feeling on a subway journey, but it can happen there too.
This is the perfect example of a delight, something that is used every day and is so easy to take for granted. Compared to those in this country, the trains and the subway trains in France are wonderful and I so enjoyed reading your piece.
I've only had experience with London subway that I found to be very efficient. :) I will say that the trains in France are generally pretty good :) and I do like train journeys a lot ( more than airplane ones).
Thank you for featuring Dacha!
There's a quote I love about French trains from the author Virginie Despentes.
"Il y a une ambiance propre aux voyages ferroviaires, une résignation collective à ne pas etre dérangé pendant plusieurs heures, une transition heureuse entre deux situations."
This was about long distance trains of course, but your bit about the train clearing out at the end of the line made me think of that.
Thank you Phineas.
And thank you for the quote- Despentes is so precise here, it is exactly that: "...une transition heureuse entre deux situations". It's a rarer feeling on a subway journey, but it can happen there too.
This is the perfect example of a delight, something that is used every day and is so easy to take for granted. Compared to those in this country, the trains and the subway trains in France are wonderful and I so enjoyed reading your piece.
Thank you Deborah!
I've only had experience with London subway that I found to be very efficient. :) I will say that the trains in France are generally pretty good :) and I do like train journeys a lot ( more than airplane ones).