The Train of the Pines
The “Little Train of Provence” found again!
5-24-05
“Hello
Gerhard? How are you?”
“Just
fine, thank you, and you?” he responded
to George
The two friends had decided to meet at
the Roissy Airport, just when the flight from Washington was to arrive.
Gerhard had been at Paris since the day
before in order to take the French high-speed train, the TGV, to Nice.
11:24
a.m.: “Le TGV à destination de Nice ……” the
voice of the loudspeaker got almost lost in the shrieking of the brakes ; the majestic blue-grey frame entered. Car #3 – Seats #32 & #33 – there was
hardly enough time to settle down and already the TGV accelerated to reach its
cruising speed of 300 km/hr, being about 200 m/hr. George was surprised and impressed. It was the first time that he traveled that
fast.
“Ah, the French, after all, what a
technology and what know-how” he said to Gerhard.
But that one, less impressed, told him
that Siemens, with the ICE-trains, had surpassed all this.
The stations passed by: Macon, Valence, Avignon. It was time to move to the “Voiture-Bar”,
just being the next car over. There,
they ordered a ham-and-butter sandwich and a bottle of “Côtes du Rhône” wine. George did not understand well. Gerhard spoke to him about the Rhone Valley,
the river and its pebbles. But where was
the “Côte”? And then he thought that he
had also spoken to him about the “Rhein-Gold”.
All this became a little confused in
his mind; but, already, the TGV dove into the grand tunnel of Marseille and
slowed down. At the exit, the train
weaved its way through the maze of the switchyard. Then it began to resume its speed, now as a
“Senator Train”, because by now it was on a classic track limited to 120 km/hr
(about 80 m/hr) only.
The stations of La Ciotat, Bandol. The Great Blue, the Mediterranean, had
appeared to their amazed eyes. After a
short stop at St. Raphaël came the ecstasy as the TGV coiled through the curves
of the massive red Esterel Mountains while skirting the intense blue of the sea
with its small whitecaps in the coves.
In the distance, some sailing boats kept their balance …. Then came
Cannes, Antibes, and Nice at 17:44 h.
The two friends went to the hotel “West
End” on the “Promenade des Anglais”, built under king Louis-Philippe, where the
restaurant “Le Siècle” had retained its atmosphere of the “Belle Epoque”. The night had enveloped them in its dark
cover and they dreamed to be the “kings of France”.
«Schnell !
Schnell ! » repeated Gerhard in his
mind while walking swiftly. That was the
way whenever he thought to be late.
George was amused to see him excited since they still had enough
time. The motor coach would not leave
until 9:00 h and it was a small delight to look at the shop windows of the Jean
Médecin Avenue.
The
sun was warm at this beginning of June and the trees spent some pleasant shade.
Finally, the “Gare du Sud” appeared, a
modern building without charm. There was
ticket window, the platform.
And
there it was, a nice little motor coach in red and grey, with a trailer, softly
rumbling. This equipment reminded
Gerhard of the famous “Schienenbus” of the Black Forest.
“Schön,
sehr schön”, called out the German.
”Really
beautiful it is, your „Zug“ of the Pines!“ answered the lightly mocking
American.
They
sat down comfortably in front and, already, the whistle announced the
departure.
At
low speed, the motor coach pulled carefully forward to cross the Boulevard
Gambetta where the automobilists ranted against this “vehicle of another
age”. Then it accelerated as it quickly
rode up to an elevation above the Russian Church and the “Lycée du Parc
Impérial”. After a short tunnel, the
convoy let itself glide at the dizzying speed of 50 kms/hr (35 m/h) into the
Var valley while swaying along on the tracks.
The
river loafed along between the pebble shores, once to the right, once to the
left. Soon the Mescla Gorge was reached,
the space became narrow and the two friends asked themselves how the motor
coach could squeeze through all those rocks, contorting itself
in the curves and counter curves. To
their great surprise, the train suddenly dove into a tunnel to reappear an
instant later at the level of what now was a torrent of grey and turquoise
water. The “pin-pon”
resonated along the rocky walls and the echo sent it back as a joyful “good
morning”. Gerhard felt like in heaven
and George said to himself that it would be only in France that one could find
such a “voyage through time”.
It
was just a little after ten o’clock when the train stopped in the station of Puget-Théniers.
The two friends quickly stepped
out. And there, on the other track,
Gerhard could not believe his eyes. It
was there, the “Pinguely”, gleaming in its green dress and red filaments. It puffed softly, the steam wafting here and
there, a light grey smoke arose from the smokestack with a good coal
fragrance. Behind it, the small grey
baggage car and the three small cars as from the “Wild West”. That was really “wunderbar” and “wonderful”!
The
whistle of the station master was heard, it was time to reach the platform.
The
locomotive began to spit out the steam and abundant smoke rose into the blue
sky.
“Tac-tac”
made the wheels as they passed the switches before passing the level crossing
and traversing the Var over the great metallic cage bridge. Without noticing one reached speed – 25, then
35 kms/hr (about 22 m/h), but not beyond.
Gerhard
and George, their noses at the window, observed the scenery – so rocky, so
dry. This river had so little
water. That was not Arizona, but with
lots of imagination ……….
The
train stopped at the Entrevaux station, a small medieval city at the gates of Italy. That was at least what George believed, based
on the fact that on the fortifications was written “Gate of Italy”. Gerhard felt obligated to explain to him that
this region, as little as Nice, was ever Italian, having been a dependence of
the Kingdom of Savoy and Sardinia.
The convoy left again, now attacking
the long ramp that would lead it to Annot. The engineer gave it all the power the engine
contained and slowly, from curves to viaducts, from tunnels to dizzying
ravines, in the middle of the firs, the train moved up at its friendly pace.
The two friends had gotten up to move
to the left side in order to better see the valley that became deeper and
deeper in their view – they could not talk any longer. An eagle soared high above them in the
sunlight in search of some prey.
A swallow followed their course for a
moment, at least they thought so.
They were now on the high viaduct of “Coulomp”. All the
way down below, a thin line of silver traced out a path in the rocks and in meager
vegetation.
Then the rocks, the “”grit of Annot”,
seized the “Train of the Pines” that reached the end of its voyage and let
itself glide along the station’s platform.
It was almost midday, one hour to
travel 25 kms (about 16 miles)! But this voyage, what excitement to have
found again the “tortillard”, the everywhere stopping
train of times past! Gerhard was really happy. He did not know how to thank
George. He talked to the train’s engineer, then to the station chief. That one took his photo in front of the
locomotive, then with George, then in front of the cars.
They enquired about lunch – there was
all they ever wanted at the buffet: Pate, ham, cheese, bread, and wine.
They sat down in the sun under an
umbrella to regain their strength, because they learned that on the other side
of the station a delightful stroll expected them.
“Lets go”, said George. The two friends began their little walk. There, a sign intrigued them, indicating “The
King’s Room”. Was there somewhere a
castle or a palace with a king?
The path led in serpentines through the
rocks and the trees. The air was sweet,
the shade was light, and our “valiant fighters” went to attack the unknown. A level area of a rock allowed them to admire
the already distant village, but there was not time to tarry.
At a bend of the trail, suddenly an
enormous rock almost blocked their path; it was grey-black.
On its side, they discovered a small
sign with an arrow in the direction of a small opening. There it was
written: “Room of the King”! Where
was then the big portal, they asked themselves ? But, by all indications, this was it.
It took them a while to decide to
crouch down and enter on all fours with hesitation, but their curiosity
prevailed. How dark it was! But slowly their eyes became accustomed.
Two large rock faces stood opposite to
each other, only separated on top by an opening that allowed to
see the sky.
And then, there really was a bed, in fact
a flat rock that made it appear so. That
was really unbelievable!
“Hello, Ho-Ho”,
and the hall resonated with en echo. What an amusement! Then
they photographed themselves in order to show this location to their friends.
But it was already time to get out and
to return to take the train, again.
“You know”, said Gerhard to George”, “I
saw the steam powered train, but not the blue and grey motor coach of the
“Train of the Côte”. When I talked to
the railway-men, I learned that I could find it somewhere in France.”
“Oh! Really? But where?” asked George.
« Well, that’s another story!”, answered Gerhard – but George, in spite of his
insistence, could not find out more.
Resigned, he realized that the continuation would find itself in the
next and last part of these stories.
They arrived at the station at the same
time as the train and a cloud of steam enveloped them. Their silhouettes blurred under the amazed
eyes of the other travelers.
3 Décembre 2004
Pierre Decey
Note de
l’auteur :
ANNOT (Alpes
de Hte Provence) - Altitude 708 m - est située à 80 kms
de Nice et desservie par 4 aller-retour avec les autorails des « Chemins
de Fer de Provence », sur la ligne Nice <-> Digne.
Il faut
compter 1 h 45 de trajet.
Certains
dimanches d’été un train à vapeur d’époque, le fameux « Train des
Pignes » est mis en route sur le trajet : Puget-Téniers
<-> Entrevaux <-> Annot et retour. Il faut réserver plusieurs
semaines à
l’avance tant le succès est grand.
Il y a un
bon, mais simple, hôtel-restaurant « L’Avenue » en descendant de la gare.
Menus à 15
et 23 € - 11 chambres à 51 et 62 €.
Quant à la
« Chambre du Roi » elle existe réellement sur le circuit forestier
des « Grès d’Annot ».
Durée 2 h
30 - Etre équipé de chaussures de montagne, vêtements de sport confortables,
sacs à dos avec
pique-nique et bouteille d’eau (1 L et demi par
personne) ; lunettes de soleil et chapeau ou casquette.
Référence : Petit livre =
75 randonnées pédestres ; page 65
« Entre Digne et
Nice avec le Train des Pignes ».
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