Blog

At half past midnight, I finally leave the McDonald’s, and head to a bar which should close at 3 AM. However, it closed only at 1:45.

I walked back to the sea front and the Oceanographic Museum, and then on the pier. Basically, I spent most of the night slowly walking back most of the path I had done by daylight. There could have been some spots where I could have just sleep quietly, but I was scared to be kicked out by police, out of Monaco.

The city was pretty calm, except for a few party-goers. I didn’t see any police in the end. At least I got some nice night pictures.

I finally reached the beach. By 4:30 AM, I couldn’t take it anymore, and sat there on the gravels. However, there were a couple of catterpillars cleaning the beach or whatever they were doing. I still fell asleep despite their noises just 10 m away. But of course, after only a few minutes, it rained.

I walked back towards the train station and passed in front of the famous Paris-Monte Carlo Casino as sun was rising. I found an open café and asked for a capuccino. Turns out they were closing.

At the station, I quickly fell asleep on a bench. After about an hour, I got something to eat and drink at the Starbuck’s, and hang there for ages in a super comfortable chair. I started to feel better. After a couple hours, I went back to the beach, now that it was daylight, to sleep a bit more.

Finally, it was about time I get my backpack back, after a steep hike up the stairs of Monaco.

Bonjour France!

I’ll be right back!

Bonjour Monaco!

Heading back for the last time to the train station. The first short train is a double decker, however it’s quite full so I’m two seats away from the window, as the Riviera pass by.

To be honest, Monaco was much more pleasant than I expected, although I wouldn’t stay there for too long, even if I had the money.

Bonjour France!

In Nice, I change for a much longer train to Marseille. It’s a very old TER, I didn’t know these ones were still rolling! The big downside of that being that there are no plugs. I have less than 30 % charge on my phone, and the external battery is empty from Monaco. And it still need to survive for eight hours… Hence I put it in battery-saving mode, which also cut the position recording, making for some ugly straight lines on the map. The guy sitting beside me was a typical obnoxious overcomplaining French, and was a total dick with the controller. Uh… Not sure I missed France so much.

I fell asleep for most of the journey. Such a shame, I was really looking forward the Riviera railway. So many wrong decisions. When we reached Marseille, where I only had 15 min to change, I was deep asleep, and got woken up at an awful timing in the sleeping cycle. I was dizzy and disoriented, like suddenly finding myself in a room of mirrors. It’s a miracle I didn’t forget anything in that train.

The next one took me to Nîmes. Still no plugs. The train is fully full, and the guy beside me closed the curtain. Well, that’s it for the Riviera sighting. I feel terribly bad from the harsh waking up.

I found a plug in Nîmes station, and got six much needed percent. The next train’s plugs were not working, of course. So no position recordings, no music, no internet.

This train passed by Narbonne train station, where this silly adventure all began, 140 d ago. The loop is closed, but the book is not. Not yet. Not quite.

When night fell, it revealed an incredible huge full moon, bright yellow from the Sun’s light. When we got near the coast, the moonlight reflecting on the surface of the water was magical.

I finally arrived in Perpignan at 11 PM, and crumbled in the bed.