Two days ago, I traveled from my wife's house in Pécs, Hungary, to our family house in Breil, France.
I left my wife at 6:15 AM and I arrived at the house in France at 10:30 PM. For more than 14 hours of travel, I used one airplane, two trains, one minibus, and two cars.
05:35 AM: Wake up, Vincent!
I woke up 40 minutes before leaving and had breakfast.
I had ordered a shuttle to take me from Pécs directly to Budapest International Airport.
As this year, for the first time, I am leaving my French car in Pécs, near the house of my wife's mother, I had to go there, and this is where the shuttle minibus peaked me up at 7 AM.
Minibus to Budapest Airport
The shuttle company is called Travel4You. It uses minibusses where 8 people can travel in addition to the driver.
Source: Google.
We were 6 travelers in the minibus when we left Pécs. I was picked up the first at 7:00 AM, then we made 4 other stops to pick up the other 5 travelers. We left Pécs around 8 AM.
We have been using this shuttle many times in the past. It is very convenient as you go directly to the airport, instead of taking a bus, then a train, then another bus.
The price of 20,000 Hungarian forints is reasonable: around 50 Euros or 56 US dollars.
We arrived at the Budapest airport at 11 AM.
Airplane to Paris Airport
Source: Google Maps
As my airplane to Paris was supposed to depart at 12:50, I had plenty of time to check-in.
I had hoped to keep my suitcase in the cabin, but because the flight was full and my suitcase was a little too heavy (14 kilos, when the limit is 12 kilos), I could not. So, my suitcase was checked and I carried my computer in a small bag. This would have consequences later for the duration of the trip.
The airplane was one hour late, so we left Pécs at 1:50 AM and arrived in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 4:10 PM. Then, of course, I had to wait for 45 minutes to get my suitcase.
Originally I had thought to go to Paris by train and subway, then take a train to go to Saumur where my eldest brother Philippe would drive me to our family house.
But, I discovered that I could take a train directly from the station located at the airport.
Trains to Saumur station
I had to take two trains: one TGV to the Saint-Pierre-des-Corps station, then a regular train to Saumur.
TGV means Train à Grande Vitesse (high-speed train). There have been TGV trains in France since 1981.
The TGV was on time, and we arrived in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps at 8:09 PM.
The next train to Saumur was supposed to leave Saint-Pierre-des-Corps at 8:29 PM, but it was 40 minutes late. I was able to phone Philippe so that he would not wait for 40 minutes at the Saumur station.
I finally arrived in Saumur a little after 10 PM.
Car to our family house, "The Abbey"
Philippe was waiting for me with his car, and 30 minutes later we were at our family house, where Phulippe lives alone.
This big house was originally a priory for nuns built in the XIIth century, this is why we call it "L'Abbaye" (the Abbey). My parents bought it in 1963. I will do a post about the house soon.
Fifteen minutes after our arrival, I was in bed, after more than 14 hours of travel.
There were three reasons why the trip was so long: the plane was late in Pécs, I had to check my suitcase, and the train to Saumur was also late.
I am going back to British Columbia next Saturday. I hope that there will be no such delays.
-- Vincent Celier
