White Horses of the Camargue |
The previous section of the narrative saw my travelling
companion, Nick and I boarding a west-bound train at Marseille station. This
would have been mid-morning. We had a lengthy journey ahead of us which would
involve several changes of train before reaching our planned halt at the resort
town of Benidorm, on Spain’s
Costa Blanca.
Our train hugged the Mediterranean coast for some distance,
before veering off inland slightly, as we passed through the area known as the Camargue.
This area lies between the two arms of the River Rhône, and is Western
Europe's largest river
delta. It comprises large salt-water
lagoons, which are cut
off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes.
It is home to the famous breed of White Camargue Horses, and as we travelled
through this region, the hazy sunshine peering through the mists, reminded me
of the children’s TV programme, White Horses. My sister, being three years
younger than me, was a fan of this series, but all I remember today about the
programme was its theme song, performed by a singer called Jacky (real name Jackie Lee).
Border at Cerbère - http://transpressnz.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/.html |
As the morning turned into afternoon and then became early
evening, we reached the French-Spanish border at the town of Cerbère. A change of train was essential here, as the Spanish Railways operate over tracks with a wider-gauge to the rest
of Europe. I don’t know whether this was a result of Spain’s
isolation from the rest of Western Europe because of its
quasi-fascist regime, or whether it was a simple matter of economics, but due
to the incompatibility of the rail networks, there were no cross-border trains.
The change of train gave us a chance to stretch our legs,
before boarding a local service bound for the next stop on our itinerary, the
city of Barcelona; capital of the Catalan region of Spain; not that this area
enjoyed the same degree of autonomy it has today. Generalissimo Franco, had put
paid to that when his Nationalist armies had crushed Spain’s
democratically elected Republican government in 1938, at the end of the Spanish
Civil War. Franco’s Spain
was very different to the country visited today, by thousands of British
tourists; although as events were to prove, the Spanish dictator had only a
year or so to live. We, of course, were oblivious to this and I have to confess
I knew very little at the time of Spain’s
troubled past.
I mentioned that we had boarded a local train, and it was
just that – very local and stopping at every small village and hamlet along the
way. It was also staggeringly uncomfortable, with hard seats with no head
support. Along the way we caught glimpses of Spain’s
northern Mediterranean coast, but by the time we arrived at Barcelona’s
Estacio de França station, it was dark.
Estacio de França - Barcelona |
I revisited the station, during my stay in the city, last March,
and wrote about it here. At the time it was Barcelona’s main station, but during the intervening 40
years, a new station has been constructed on the other side of the city,
allowing through trains to cross the town, by means of tunnels below the
streets. As mentioned in my article, we had trouble boarding what was a very
over-crowded train, and only managed to jump on board at the last minute. I
don’t remember too much of our journey, apart from having to sit in the
corridor for part of the duration.
Sometime the following day, we arrived in Valencia, after
travelling through the night. This involved a further change of train, but not
before we had ventured into the city to stock up on provisions (bread, water,
cheese and tomatoes). Our next train took us high up into the mountains behind
the city, as we travelled towards Alicante; our next destination.
It was early evening by the time we arrived and we were
supposed to be taking a train on the narrow-gauge railway (FGV) which runs back
along the coast to Benidorm. This railway was privately-owned, so was not
covered by our Interrail ticket, so after unsuccessfully trying to locate the
station, we decided to take a bus instead. Either way we would have needed to
pay, and as it turned out the bus was by far the better option.
Benidorm - a lot more built upthan it was in 1975 |
It was dark when we arrived in Benidorm, and after hunting
around, unsuccessfully as it happened, for a campsite, we headed for the beach.
A group of pedalos tied up close to the waterline seemed a good place to lay
out our sleeping bags and get some shut-eye, especially as my friend pointed
out that with a rise and fall in the tide, of no more than four feet, in the
Mediterranean, the risk of us getting washed away was pretty minimal.
Before bedding down for the night we got chatting to a group
of revellers who were walking along the beach. It was just as well we did,
because shortly after a couple of Guardia Civil officers came strolling in the
opposite direction and told us to “clear off”. Had we been curled up in our
sleeping bags, I have no doubt we’d have received not just a rude awakening, but
probably a night in the cells as well for vagrancy!
We managed to get our heads down, for a short while, on a hillside
overlooking the sea, on the edge of town, and then come daylight, found a
suitable campsite. I mentioned in the previous post that I had a girlfriend who
was working in Benidorm. Like my companion Nick’s girlfriend, she was taking a
degree in modern languages at the same university as us, and was spending six
months in Spain as part of the course. She had landed a position as
receptionist in a German-owned hotel.
From memory I believe we stayed for three nights in the
town. I spent as much time as I could with my lady friend, when she wasn’t
working and she kindly treated Nick and I to the odd meal, after taking pity on
our slightly emancipated state caused by the paucity of our diet. Apart from my
brief stop in Cologne, I probably
consumed more beer there on any other portion of the trip. My girlfriend had to
work one night, so I accompanied Nick to one of Benidorm’s many clubs – there
were people handing out free tickets all along the seafront, and once inside
the beer was free as well. We met a couple of rather attractive Dutch girls
that evening, and whilst I don’t remember their names, I do remember us ending
up on the beach. I will leave the rest to your imagination.
It was a sad goodbye when we departed the resort, as I was
still rather “loved up”. I must have also been rather tired as I slept for much
of the rail journey back through Spain
to the French border. Once in France, we caught a fast train to Paris. Time was
now close to running out on our month-long Interrail passes, but there was
still sufficient left for us to enjoy a few days in the French capital.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en |
After checking the ferry times, I sent a telegram (remember
them?), to my parents, informing them of my planned arrival in Folkestone the
following day. I said farewell to Nick, who was catching a later sailing, in
order to squeeze in some last minute sight-seeing, and made my way to the Gare
du Nord. I then took the train to Boulogne,
and boarded the ferry. When I disembarked at Folkestone, my mother was waiting
to meet me, along with a friend she had persuaded to drive her there in order
to collect me. I think that after a month’s absence, with
only the occasional post card home, she actually seemed rather relieved to see
me!
Some background information:
Some background information:
My friend and I used the Interrail ticket to make our
roughly circular journey around the continent, by train. The “ticket” came in
the form of a small booklet, which was really more of a “pass”. There were
various boxes to fill in and have validated. The idea was you entered both your
departure and arrival destinations in the appropriate boxes, and then presented
your “pass” at the ticket office, for it to be officially stamped, or
“validated”.
In order to allow flexibility, it was preferable to complete
each stage, one step at a time, and then to get the ticket validated at major
railway stations; rather than at small, isolated rural locations. This was
common sense really, and we had no problems whatsoever. When a ticket collector
appeared on the train, you just showed him or her pass and all was ok. Back in
those pre-Schengen Agreement days, there were of course border checks, where
passports had to be shown as well; but again these presented no problems.
Today an Interrail ticket allows rail travel in up to 30
European countries, and offers far greater flexibility than it did 40 years
ago. For example, you can limit your travel to 7, 15 or 22 days within the
month, or you can travel every day during that period. Tickets are priced
accordingly. You can also purchase a ticket for a single European country, which allows up to 8 days travel
within a month; thereby offering an excellent way of journeying around a specific
country, with the opportunity of spending several days in a number of different
locations. You can discover more here.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that back in 1975, there was
an upper age limit restriction of 26 years old, on Interrail availability. This
was later raised to 29, and has now been abolished altogether. With this in
mind, and with retirement looming in four to five years time, I might just buy
another Interrail ticket and head off on another journey of discovery!