Jumping trains in the Basque country

Trip Start Apr 08, 2007
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Trip End Oct 01, 2007


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Flag of France  ,
Sunday, May 6, 2007

We're in the middle of the long trek back from Sevilla to Paris now. With the hotel train being so outrageously pricey, we opted for the standard couchette route on the return trip. The one significant difference is that it isn't direct - it demands a change in the town of Hendaye, just across the border into France. Since we had to start from Sevilla this morning, it's meant one long day of train travel. Nothing to do about it though; we just have to occupy our time while watching the scenery go by.

That scenery itself was rather redundant for a good part of the trip, in fact. Most of central Spain is the same semi-arid, Mediterranean landscape of scrubby trees and rocky, rolling hills. Somewhere around Pamplona it started to change though, marking the transition to the Pyrenees. From there it turned much more scenic, with small towns hugging the foot of lush, green mountains. It also became considerably more overcast, and dark clouds loomed threateningly over the tops of the hills and leaving the horizon hazy and indistinct.

So we arrived then here in Hendaye at about 7:45 in the evening. Not a whole lot to say about the place itself, it being an unexciting little border town. Hungry from an afternoon spent on the train, we grabbed a rather bad dinner at a brasserie across the road (microwaved croque monsieur.....yum). The waiting area is busy with French hikers returning from a weekend break and a portly, but friendly Uruguayan backpacker that keeps wandering around back and forth. Our train out is at 10:37, and then it's onward to Paris on an eight and a half hour trip. Looking forward to sleep; let's hope the night is restful enough.
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