Don't Mess with the Swiss

Well I have much to report on my grand adventure out east, but since I'm dropping with fatigue, I will start with the end of the trip.

So today was my big presentation in the research seminar, scheduled for 6 pm. I had already booked my train tickets at the time of accepting the date change, and I was scheduled to arrive back in Paris around 2:30 this afternoon. So I figured 3 1/2 hours to get home, get changed, and generally get in the mindset was reasonable.

Anyway, I got to the train station this morning and got all set up at my departure point, and the train rolled into the station. I realized right away that this was a special train because it was totally Swiss. It was a TGV (high-speed train) connecting Basel to Paris, and the decorations on the engine and outsides of the cars was all Swiss.

To make it even more obvious that the Swiss know how to do things right, we quite literally had our own steward in our car! He got out at the station to personally welcome us on board, then a little while later when he came to take our tickets, he apologized for waking me up! I had dozed off with the ticket in my hand, so he woke me up when he pulled it out of my hand to stamp it (he was even trying not to bother me!). But it was good he woke me up, since I was supposed to be reviewing for my presentation anyway, hahaha. Then he came through with beverage and snack service, just like on an airplane!!! For a fee, of course, the Swiss are nothing if not good at finding ways to take your money. But they even had gourmet teas, so I was impressed.

So there I was feeling rather smug about my Swiss train experience...when the train eased into a total stop. Then it inched forward to a station in the middle of nowhere France called Meuse, and there we sat. A few minutes later the conductor came on to say that all train traffic was indefinitely stopped because there had been a suicide on the tracks somewhere ahead of us. They opened the doors at this little station and said we could all head out if we wanted. Since it was rather warm out I went out to get some air, and our personal steward said that he didn't know much more, other than that these kinds of delays often take 4 hours.

At that point I figured my chances of making it to my presentation were rather low, so I started going through my address book until I found a friend near a computer who could email the prof and let him know (he knew I was traveling and that this was a risk, so I wasn't exceptionally concerned). She sent him a note and he called and was quite nice about it, said he'd mumble along until I got there (haha).

We ended up hanging out in the countryside near Meuse for over an hour. I took pics that I haven't pulled off my camera yet, but it's basically just of a train in the middle of nowhere, haha.

Anyway, after a while I went back on the train and started writing postcards (haha), since I also didn't see the point of practicing my presentation until it was certain I'd actually make it back on time. Eventually the conductor came on and was like, "ok, we've been cleared to start moving again." What I thought was pretty funny was that it seemed like only seconds later, the doors were closed and the train was zipping along. Don't mess with the Swiss and their efficiency, I sure hope we didn't leave anyone behind! I genuinely think that if someone had wandered off to pee in the bushes or whatever (which was totally unnecessary, the bathrooms on the train were fine), they wouldn't have made it back. That's how fast the announcement was and subsequent departure. Seriously no messing around. But the upside was that in no time we were putting the "GV" (grande vitesse = high speed) in TGV. Talk about no joke.

We made it into Paris around 4:30, so in the end it was just 2 hours late. The problem was the damned rush hour traffic, since my cab ride took forever and cost a fortune. So I didn't get back to my room until after 5, at which point I just had enough time to throw on a new shirt, whip out my presentation, and head back out. I'm glad I made it though, much happier to have it out of the way. Even if I barely had a voice.

Now I'm thoroughly exhausted and ready to collapse, but there's a salsa band playing outside my window. I have no idea why and am too lazy to go investigate.