Day 11 of our Interrail adventure was set to be a travel day. Unfortunately we had left it too late to secure direct TGV tickets out of Italy and into France, and so we were left only with the option of taking a number of local stopper trains through the countryside across the border extending our travel time from just 2 hours 30 minutes to over 4 hours! A bit of a pain but in the end, the scenic route from Turin to Aix les Bains wasn’t all that bad!
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The alarm sounded at 7.00am and following a quick breakfast in the hotel, we hopped aboard the metro to Porta Nuova in time to catch the 08.15 train to Bardonecchia, our first stop on the journey that would take us out of Italy and into France.
The train followed the winding Susa valley for the best part of 50 km taking us from the outskirts of Turin through the verdant lower reaches of valley to the gently rolling hills beyond. As the line slowly climbs the rolling hills morph into mountain peaks, some as high as 3500 metres. The less-hurried pace of the train and the frequent stops, 12 in total, allowed us plenty of time to marvel at Nature and appreciate the sheer beauty of such ‘wild’ landscapes.
The journey lasted approximately 1½ hours and just after 9.45 we pulled into Bardonecchia (Italy), the final stop on this initial stage of our journey. Our connection onwards, to Modane (France) was not scheduled to depart until 10.42, so Jack and I decided we had time to see, at least a little, of the town centre. Known primarily as a ski-resort the town was also popular throughout the summer months as an easily accessible centre for exploring the area, by car, by mountain bike, by foot along the many mountain trails and by horseback.
The next stage, from Bardonecchia to Modane, would see us cross the border into France, passing through the Fréjus tunnel beneath the Pointe du Fréjus (2,932 m) and the Col du Fréjus (2,542 m). With a length of 13.7 km, the journey time was just 18 min and it was not long before we emerged back out into the (French) sunshine. Modane railway station acted simply to transfer from the Trenitalia rolling stock to that of the SNCF so within minutes we were re-seated waiting for the required whistle to be blown, and to get underway again (11.28).
We didn’t have to wait long. From Modane the line took us down the Maurienne valley to Chambery, through some rugged but beautiful countryside. Mountains were visible on both sides of the track, intermittently cut through by cascading water and narrow gorges, the river Arc could be glimpsed winding its way down the valley, and the villages, various industrial sites and the occasional hydro-electric plant all caught the eye and kept the traveller’s attention. The time flew by and before we knew it we were pulling into Chambery (13.00).
A wait of twenty minutes and then it was all a case of all aboard onto our last train of the day to Aix-les-Bains, our destination. Ten minutes later we had arrived, not regretting in the least that we had ‘missed’ our TGV and taken the best part of an extra 2 hours to complete our journey. All we had to do now was find our hotel!
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What do you prefer to do when travelling; get to your destination as quickly as possible or slow down and take the scenic route? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time, V x
