I need some direction

Took some time out this morning to go into central London so that I could visit the Rail Europe Offices and talk to a real person about my options regarding travel in France, yes, this is a follow on from yesterdays post...or was it a rant?

Anyhow, found it no problem and there were no queues, yes, this was going my way. Ten minutes later and it was all over and I had little more info than when I'd looked on the net. You can't book tickets until 90 days before you travel but that also means that you can't see the timetables or get an idea of costs of some routes.

I needed to know about local buses as from Cahors to Rodez there are no trains but of course Rail Europe can't tell you anything about that. So, they helpfully said 'you need to go to the French Tourist office, they'll be able to tell you'.


Off I went, onto the tube again, off the tube again, along High Holborn (thank goodness I'd had the forethought to get the address for them before leaving home) and then into some anonymous building with no sign at all indicating this is what I wanted until I got in. Even then, the person at reception was rather abrupt. Up in the lift and then there were two doors, both of which you had to ring bells to get through. I wasn't feeling very welcomed or wanted and the fact that the gentleman met me just as I stepped over the threshold and had no intention of letting me go further, did not help.

I just about managed to tell him what I needed and he rather smugly responded that all information regarding local buses could only be got in France from the local tourist office!

Waste of time? Yes and no. I know I've tried as hard as I could and in an hour or so I'll sit down and compare what I have and chances are, we'll fly.