Lirou

Sunday 17th July
Barcelona Sants- Valence- Chambery Challes Les Eaux - Milan

We set out on the Barcelona Sants to Valence train at 8:15 am, leaving the 'sea' city behind. The taxi arrived at 7.30 am outside the hostel for the 15 minute drive. We pass by dozens of shuttered shop fronts decorated with grafitti, all-nighters returning from an evening of clubbing. There are the children's playgrounds and embedded trampoline patches empty ready for a day of bouncing on.

The train is going back the way we came, so it's going back up through France. The seats have an interior like a 1970' s coach: all orange and velvety. It has a lovely buffet bar that you can walk around in and look at the scenery whilst you drink your coffee. We haven't had breakfast so I get the kids a doughnut and croissant.

We've got a connecting train from Valence to Chambery Challeses les Eaux at 13.23. We arrive in time at Valence and walk over the concourse to the platform but the train to Chambery is late and then more late. Our connecting train to Milan is at 15.44 so we know we've probably missed it.

We haven't had lunch and I can hear my kids tummys rumbling. Our fellow travellers are mumbling the usual disgruntled dialogue that go with late trains. I look next to me and there's a group of young people running some sort of tour with a small group of younger people. I ask one man dressed in a green tshirt who speaks perfect English, he says: the train is 30 minutes late as its got stuck. So I think ill risk running to get some sandwiches. But by the time I get to the counter Stanley has followed me up to tell me the train is coming in!

The train carries us over the southern region of France with small gijts and fields of sunflowers, cypress trees and looming mountains in the distance.

We wait 2 hours for the next train at Chambery. We catch our third and final train to Milan which will take four hours. We dont have a reservation for this train so we sit in the vestibule area which has handy small table area. After some confused tetris style lugging of rucksacks we settle down. Then after 40 minutes three French customs people with bullet proof vests appear with a sniffer dog (a black labarador called Max). After questioning a young man about his silver suitcase they go up and down the carriage checking random people. After realising there's nothing juicy to find Max the dog slumps to the ground in the heat.

There's lot of passport checks by policeman with firearms in their belts or border agency staff which is a bit intimidating but adds to the experience and entertainment that breaks up the long journey.

We've travelled through three countries and at one point everyone apart from us is speaking all three. Its a Sunday so there are teary lovers kissing their farewells. Families hugging. Maybe it's an end of a holiday or the beginning of a new one?

The first stop in Italy is Turin so a lot of people get off. Then we finally nab some seats taking us into the night of Milan-Garibaldi train station.

We've been travelling for over 12 hours and it's nearly 10pm, we've mastered the quick metro buying ticket technique and set off to the east of the city called Lamberate. Its a short walk by the side of train line and tenement houses with poor lighting. I'm really tired but alert to that fact it's probably not the best place to be wandering about so we quicken our pace under a pedestrian tunnel to the lights of Mio hostel on the right for our 'pit stop' sleep for one night before going to Venice tomorrow.Read more