Part 3 Day 16 Pau to Paris

Since there are only two daily trains from Pau to Paris, we took the early one since the latter would result in arriving at nearly midnight--not good if I had to be up early the next day (Monday) to receive the repairman for the reinstallation/upgrade to my phone/Internet/tv service.

It had been a busy day yesterday (Saturday). I had worried about the weather as a thunderstorm had been predicted, but it never materialized. We had discovered the navette (a huge help in getting around), taken the funicular, visited the Eglise Saint-Jacques, seen the Pyrénées from the Blvd des Pyrénées, took a tour of the Château de Pau, and ridden Le Petit Train around the city to see the gardens and fancy houses of the wealthy expats who had come to the town in the 1930s. 

 

We had seen a bit of the vibrancy of the place--we witnessed an ecology demonstration/protest, walked through a small marche (mostly shoes and clothing), seen artists scattered throughout the city painting during a 3-day weekend competition, and, in the wee hours of the morning, heard university students partying before the start of classes next week. 

Heading back to Paris went smoothly, though.  Although the navette wasn't running on Sundays and the funicular (which connected the town above to the train station below) didn't start until after our train left, we found a congenial cabbie with reasonable rates...

Our E-tickets were checked on the train, no one asked for our passes sanitaire (Judy's still had not come), and, although crowded, as it is the weekend, there were no lines, no hassles. 

As I indicated, tomorrow will be a busy day for me. If all goes well, my internet service will be upgraded in the morning and my water meter replaced in the afternoon. Back to reality, I'm afraid... 

It has been a lovely holiday...