The Longest Sleeper Train in France - Paris to Nice with Intercités de Nuit "Train Bleu"
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 12. 2023
- Bonjour à tous,
Welcome to this new trip report where I will show what's like to travel onboard the Train Bleu, one of the most scenic night train in France... and also, I have a very special relationship with this train... it's great to be back onboard again!
Enjoy, and don't forget to like/leave a comment to help the channel :-)
- TRIP INFORMATION -
Date: SEPTEMBER 2023
Railway company: SNCF
Route : Paris Austerlitz to Nice Ville
Time : Over 12 hours (depends on the day of traveling)
Price : From 59€ in first class
LINK TO THE NEW CHANNEL : Minitrak by Simply Railway / @minitrakbysimplyrailw...
- PATREON PAGE : / simply_railway
- INSTAGRAM - / simply_railway
- X (TWITTER) - / simply_railway
- SIMPLY RAILWAY PRODUCTS : teespring.com/stores/simply-r...
LINK FOR MY BOOK ABOUT NIGHT TRAINS!
- BOOK IN 🇫🇷 : www.fnac.com/a16082670/THIBAU...
- BOOK IN 🇩🇪 : www.dorlingkindersley.de/buch...
Massive thanks to my following Patreon for their help :
Claudio Bickel ; Martin Haynes ; D Austin Horowitz ; Thomas Alfred Roell ; Captain Ginyu ; Andreas Konrad ; Christopher Style ; Dick DeBartolo ; Nicholas Torres ; Nick Reed ; Philippe Branco ; Tom Van Baren ; Ian Earle ; Robin Roemisch ; Michael Romero ; Fin Ross Russell ; Frederic R Merchant ; RAH ; Robyn Jackson ; William George ; John Michael Dornoff ; Trevor Key ; Fabricio ; Linda Vainomae-Hoffmann ; Jeffrey Williams ; Shane Edmonds ; Dave Ferrell ; Bea Dan ; clearingrubble ; Charlie Myers ; Bill ; jpjh ; David Bonet ; Eric Schmidt ; John S Baldyga ; Will Ho ; Sam Couch ; Dennis Field ; Raging_lemons ; Daniel De Marta ; Shawn Morse ; Benny Wong ; Jason Rabinowitz ; Szeming Lau ; Peter ; Dining Car ; Robert Badgett ; Paul Hurst ; Leonard McCants ; Garl Boyd Latham ; TravelBlogger.com ; Jaymar7456 ; Nick Russo ; RJ B ; Parigino 48 ; Magikarp ; James O'Donnell ; Danny Anderson ; Marc van der Lee ; Pierre Bourry ; Mark Schutter ; Jennifer M Zukawski ; Pierre Chevalier ; Caracole ; Tommy Penner ; ursus arctos ; Joe Grubbs ; Matthew Edwards ; Peter Harrison ; Arthur Sievers ; Geogast ; Mind K ; Warren Avis ; Jun Plas ; Per Ove Persson ; Robert Mersereau ; Manuel Sauleda ; Christian Emde ; Nicole ; Bart Nadeau ; Michèle ; Rick ; Mary Ann Bernard ; Surina Brewer ; Patrick J Knapp Jr ; Tom Barton ; George Dover ; Cornelis Kater ; Louis P Sauve ; Kraisorn Sapp ; Lois Johnson ; Raymond Dubois ; Stephen Repetski ; Adam Wickens & Hazel Smith ; David Novak ; Dirk Schultz ; Peter Kelly ; Roy. Parker ; William E Gray ; Tom Graham ; Matias ; The Foxyb ; Killergen ; Fernão Gondin ; Dennis Mabrey ; Mr Maurice ; Ben Owen ;
Michael S Wilhelm ; David Hoyt ; Terry Patterson ; Spencer Brownlee ; m kirby ; Stephane Thienel ; Virginie ; Manuel Guedes-Vieira ; Mats ; Allan Waldron ; Michael Joost ; Edwin Coates ; Hugh Johnson ; Gregoire P ; Severin Durand ; Jay Newman ; Calvin Mangubat ; Orion ; MacLean ; Fred M ; Andrew Oliva ; Myles Freborg ; Maxime Hurtrel ; Sol Miranda Weiner ; Dr Buckton ; Richard Rieben ;
BenG ; Brendan D ; Bradley Seeman ; Nikola M ; Patrick G ; Chris Souka ; Lord Philip Zornes ; Vinnie ;
Chris Colles ; Andrew McGovern ;
00:00: Intro
00:30 : Paris-Austerlitz
01:13 : A relationship with this train
01:44 : Okay, but why Train Bleu?
03:08 : The rebirth
03:22 : The Train Bleu in 2023
04:04 : First class review
05:22 : Corail 3.0
06:11: Our engine
06:26 : Our ride today
06:48 : Broken switch
07:11 : Nighty Night
07:27 : Woke up and still late
07:50 : Food onboard
08:35 : Cabride
09:53 : Walkthrough
10:44 : Toilets Time
11:13 : First time in my life
12:02 : Esterel on a grey weather
12:40 : Anthéor Viaduct
13:32 : Fenster Auf
13:50 : Cannes
14:09 : Arrival in Nice and thoughts
15:00 : First VO trip report
16:05 : Outro
Hi folks, I hope you liked this style of video, this was quite a surprise, I chose to not tease about this voice-over video to see your reaction.
I will edit some video like this in the future, listen to your feedback and see if it's better to continue this way or keeping the good old subtitles :-)
Thibault
really great you are talking - but you are talking too fast, I am sorry. love it. I just was in St Raphael, in Boulouris, 3 weeks ago and went back home to Vienna by train.
Love it when you talk, just try to find a bit more peace while talking (slower, bit more articulation). But keep it up!!!!
The talking is very fast, i missed the good old subs 😔
I often watch this kind of videos to calm down in the evening. It helps to just get the pure sounds of the station, the train, etc. and not to have a voice where you have to pay close attention. However, I think this is only a personal opinion
I like the talking a bit faster, I often skip certain parts of videos, didn't do it while watching this.
Also amazing that we go a drivers view.
When I was living in France in the 1960s and 1970s as a teenager then as a young adult, I often took the night train between Paris and Nice and vice versa, and if I remember correctly the entire trip took something like 8½ to 9 hours. Plus there was a lovely restaurant car (CIWL-run) that offered delicious French dinners. What a downfall ! To make this very same journey in 12 hours in 2023 with no dinner is an outrageous scandal !!! Boo to you, SNCF !!!
Aucun train de nuit n'a jamais parcouru Paris-Nice en 9 heures le Mistral mettait 9 heures et 8 minutes, les autres trains surtout la nuit beaucoup plus, il y a plus de 1000 km entre ces deux villes.
@@philippelouisfe7609Imaginez-vous, des gens qui mentent sur l'Internet...
@@philippelouisfe7609 Pourtant je ne rêve pas, la dernière fois que j’ai pris un train de nuit entre Paris et Nice, c’était en 1982 et le trajet avait pris neuf heures. Je voyageais pour affaires avec un collègue de travail et son souvenir est le même que le mien.
The French accent is nothing to be ashamed of.
Spent so much time in the French canals, also using trains including from Caen, Le Havre and Boulogne down to the south and centre of France back in the 1980s. The food, the hospitality of the people and their impeccable manners have left me with an enduring love and appreciation of the country.
I really enjoyed your voice-over! A nice change from the typical style. I think it suits these "more special" videos well, but for most videos the text over imagery works nicely too.
I'm so glad that night trains are making a comeback across Europe. Also, I chuckled at your "high speed trains, maybe?" comment :)
I prefer subtitles without voice, with only original sound.
NightJet have set the bar so high, other operators are struggling to come even close!
huh? intercites de nuit clears the nj in every way
@@entized5671 How? Old cars without a real sleeper, only couchette. Bad breakfast only served against surcharge. That's not better than what ÖBB created with their new generation night jets.
@@christophsaviation2045 the new ones, I‘m willing to argue
but the old ones are way too expensive and not clean at all, not to mention the equipment failing very frequently
@@entized5671 Even the old ones. You've seen the price of the couchette car on the SNCF Night trains. It is high af as well, so that's not a point. But even if the old NJs are aging, they have showers, sleeping cars and proper service. Well of course you'll find a bit of Austrian coldness in the staff, but French personnel is not known to be the friendliest either and as all people are different I don't think you can judge a train on that.
@@christophsaviation2045I paid 25€ for a couchette with interrail, good luck getting that price on a nj
and I wouldn‘t book sleepers anyways, I don‘t have a money printer at home, so no thanks
“Thanks America, we owe you something. High speed rail maybe?”
That’s the coldest line I’ve heard all day
Thank you Thibault for this! While I prefer the other style video because it has more of the actual train sounds, etc , your narration is excellent. Maybe you can do videos like this for more in-depth discussions and explanation videos and keep the orginal format for regular ones... Remember, we are riding vicariously through you, LOL!!!
I honestly enjoy the videos with captions-I find them very peaceful after a long day with people.
But I enjoyed this as well! It felt so personal and nostalgic because of your long connection to this train.
My vote would be to continue the caption videos with these special ones being narrated!
Yes, please talk in your videos. It is so much more enjoyable than reading subtitles. You do excellent work and I very much enjoy your videos.
I really enjoy hearing your voice. Much appreciated.
Riding inside the train cab and seeing the most amazing beautiful scenery and countryside on each side of the tracks is the most exciting thing to see Thank You very much and I wish you a Very Merry Christmas.🇨🇵🇨🇵🇨🇵
🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🇨🇵💨
Thank you for the audio commentary. Appreciated!
I like the voice over style. I feel that it makes the video more immersive. Well done on the story. Really enjoyed this and I know what I am doing on the next trip to France!
The voice over is awesome. You should do it on all videos going forward. Makes the viewing experience more personal.
Voice over much better than the silent reviews. Much more informative
I prefer the ambient sounds of the station and train experiences in your typical videos if I am being honest. Don't want to be negative it's just one of the main things that makes your channel different, aside from your particular dedication to European sleeper trains which I also appreciate
I did enjoy the talking video. Thank you for taking us with you 😁
Really enjoyed this video. Good to hear your voice and your enthusiasm for the Train Bleu! Your accent is not a problem for me but your presentation, both with or without voice, is always fun to watch!
Loved the video, thank you! I'm planning to take this trip in reverse, from Nice to Paris, in the summer for a holiday in the south of France. I wouldn't worry about your accent, it's part of the charm, and we all have our own accents - hearing different accents is one of those nice things where you realise how big and diverse the world really is, I really appreciated the voiceover in this video.
My French is terrible, so excuse me for this next bit, but:
Merci pour les superbes videos, bon voyage!
It was great that you got to ride the Train Bleu again. I hope your Grandma still walks the planet. Much love to her if that is so .
Merci pour ce partage car nous avons le même souvenir en commun. J'ai pris toute mon enfance et adolescence le train bleu pour aller à St Raphaël dans la maison de ma grand-mère. Je me souviens toujours de cette joie à l'époque de monter dans ce train, au départ de gare de Lyon et arriver au petit matin en gare de St Raphaël Valescure. La descente du train tous les sens étaient en émoi, l'odeur des pins maritimes, le son des chants des tourterelles... Cette petite madeleine de Proust ! ❤❤❤
Votre superbe commentaire me rappelle ma propre enfance. Nous partions chaque année dans le Tyrol du Sud et prenions le train de nuit entre Cologne et Meran. Longer la vallée du Rhin tard le soir avec ses bateaux pleins de lumières colorées et ses châteaux illuminés, c'était un pur moment de magie avant de dormir. Ensuite, c'était le réveil au pied des Alpes, suivi de la longue traversée, ponctuée par cette ambiance froide et mystérieuse qui règne au sommet du Col du Brenner. Après Bolzano, notre train remontait la vallée du Alto Adigne, serpentant lentement entre les champs de pommiers. Je n'oublierais jamais le grondement des roues dans chaque virage, tandis que défilait ce paysage majestueux de montagnes verdoyantes passant des roches rougeâtres aux roches grises des Dolomites.
Malheureusement, à l'âge adulte nous perdons cet émerveillement. Notre temps passe plus vite et nous avons une famille sous notre responsabilité. Mon voyage en intercité de nuit Paris-Saint-Raphaël de ce mois de mai était sympa, les paysages très jolis à l'arrivée, mais c'est tout... enfin, cela restera toujours mieux que de se presser dans un aéroport à travers les contrôles de sécurité et de se faire enfermer comme une sardine dans une boîte de conserve volante :)
Very nice and so beautiful as well. Most of France is so incredible including the mountains, hills, landscape and the culture of France.
Enjoy hearing your voice very much. Really adds to the video.
I liked hearing your voice and hope to hear more of it!
Great video! And I really like the voiceover much more than subtitles, because now you don't miss half of the video while reading the text at the bottom:)
I really enjoyed the commentary; it's a huge improvement over the subtitles. I'm looking forward to many more videos like this!
Fantastic Thibault! Commentary is very good and I love the new format! Great work!
I really like the commentary!
The style with more information about the train service and the route it is running is very informative and fun.
I hope you find the time to continue!
I really like your commentary, I feel like it adds a bit more of a personal touch. Keep it up!
Great video !!
It was very nice hearing your voice in this particular report, and explaining the history
Hello Thibault from Fabulous Las Vegas! We are huge fans of your channel and we love that you are now doing voiceover. Yes, you are easy to understand and I actually like hearing your accent. Keep up the good work.
Thanks :-)
I would choose first class on this trip. And offer food. Thanks Thibault💚💋🥰
🥰🥰👋👋👋👋👋👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌LOVE TRAIN NIGNT THANK YOU BYE
Hello, Thibault. It's good that SNCF are re-introducing night trains. When you are asleep, a 12 hour journey time is neither here nor there! I agree that some form of catering should be an integral part of the journey, especially in 1st class, but the fact that the train exists has to be a major positive! Alors, merci beaucoup pour le bon vidéo. À bientôt, mon ami!!
NEVER apologise for your accent ever! It makes the video and the old Nez-cassé is a wonderful sight to see
Keep going with the voice-overs, your accent is not a problem. I enjoy your enthousiasm.
your voice over was a really good surprise.....it personalized the video more.....i turned on the cc just in case...but had no problem with your "accent"....USA here..........good job..
Thank you Thibault - like the voice over. Yes, a proper restaurant car and buffet would be good.
I’m making my first comment on your feed to say I loved the voiceover! Please carry on 😊
I like the voice over far more than the subtitles that often are over too soon
We love the videos......... Love it
What a lovely dedication to a train that has meant so much to you over the course of your life! This video is excellently well done - I really enjoyed learning more about the history.
Regarding the voice over, it was unexpected, but given the context it makes sense for this video. It's so much easier to hear the passion in your voice when speaking versus just text! I personally have a soft spot for your more "typical" videos, but I can understand that this was a nice way to shake things up and get a little bit more creative about something that is so important to you.
I hope to visit France in the next few years, and I'm considering taking a train from Paris to Nice. Now I'll know which one to ride!
Great trip report
Haha, I love the dude with the pipe 😂
We used to holiday near St Raphael and Frejus when I was young. Much fun was had at Aquatica!
The voiceover is amazing. Please continue
Another nice video, Thibault. Very much enjoyed the voice-over; your love for this train really came through.
Thanks :-)
Used to make the trip every year with my parents from London to Juan les Pins in the seventies.
We would take the boat train from London Victoria to Folkestone, and then the ferry to Boulogne. At Boulogne, we would sit in the seating car that was going all the way to Naples. The boat train would then go to Paris Nord.
At Paris Nord, the seating and couchette cars for Naples would then be transported as a short train around the Petite Ceinture to the Gare de Lyon where they would be attached to the Rome Express I believe.
Meanwhile, my parents and I would carry our suitcases (no roller wheels in those days) through the station to board the couchette cars on the Cote d’Azur express that was heading to Nice and Ventimiglia. On the adjoining platform was the all sleeping car Train Bleu (Blue Train).
I remember that the Cote d’Azur left at 20:42 each evening and the Train Bleu left three minutes behind us at 20:45.
However, it would overtake us in Marseille as our train would reverse in Marseille St Charles station while the Blue train would go via Marseille Blancarde and get ahead.
And then after Toulon, St Raphael Valescure and Cannes, we would get off at Juan les Pins for our two week annual holiday.
We would repeat the same journey back to London. Quite a trip each year and full of memories.
This was great, nice with the VoiceOver !
Bravo, Thibault! Like how your normal videos with subtitles go, but this one. with a personal touch and a rich history which you feel associated to, definitely match with your voiceover! I would recommend that you keep the new voiceover-style for these certain topics/themes with a special personal touch or a story behind it. But all in all, nice video!
La vidéo tant attendue ! 🙏🔥🚆
Thibault - great video and narration! I really like the change-up. Your English is way better than my “tourist French” will ever be 😂 Side-note: your delivery of “Toilets Time” was exactly as I expected!
It was very good. Thank you!
I like this style of video, great content. You're accent isn't a problem for me here in UK
Fantastic video from a passionate train lover.
Ooo lovely, I was on vacation 2 years ago in St Raphael, more precisely in Boulouris, just next to railway tracks! And yes, boulangerie near the station is fabolous! Greetz from Croatia!
What an amazing looking trip! Thanks for another great video, Le Train Bleu has been on my list for a long time. It's good to hear you! I think a combination of some voice videos and some subtitles would be good, I like each type for different reasons. The subtitled ones let viewers hear all of the sounds of the trip, but the ones where you speak let us hear your love for the trains. Keep up the great work, no matter which format it's in! 🙂
For couchettes the first class ones are wonderful. Air conditioning, but openable windows, comfortable and very very quiet
I like this commentary style. It feels more personal. Especially on something as special and iconic as Le Train Bleu. I agree with your comment about the breakfast. At the price you're paying, it should be included. This seemed to me like it was an Arthur Daley job...
July birthday Buddy! Thank you for talking, I enjoy hearing the correct pronunciations.
Great trip. It's great to see this train back to operational again.
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Great to see and hear your trip. Yes, needs better/more food options and 1st class single compartments.
Nice one Thibault, very nice also to hear from your childhood experiences of learning to love trains, I think sncf have a lot of catching up to do regarding overnight train travel compared with other companies
The French Rivera is impressive and stunning - the TER the runs between Cannes and Nice is incredibly busy during the summer. It usually gets être serrés comme des sardines!
J’adore France, nord et sud est très beau.
Love hearing your narrative. Love the accent too. My only suggestion would be for you to talk more slowly... It will make it easier for us to understand. Your clear love of this train due to taking it some many times during your life shines through in your narrative. Well done and I look forward to more!
Great video. Loved the background historical info. Liked the narration along with closed captions. Keep doing in my opinion. Those that dont like can use the mute button!
I often used to take the night train between Metz and Nice in the early-mid 2000s. The best part was the trip down, opening the blind in the morning and seeing the sea! That‘s when I fell in love with night trains. I really like the voice over, gives it a personal touch! I would talk a little bit slower.
Nice!😊This is a thousand times better than taking a plane or going by car.😊
Thank you for sharing! I echo everyone’s support for your voiceover commentary. I hope to be able to make this journey someday. Included breakfast would be nice but I’m fine bagging some baguette and cheese (and wine of course) before boarding!
Thanks for another very interesting video. I like the new style of it with talking instead of reading texts. My longest journeys by night trains where from Berlin 🇩🇪 to Kaliningrad / Königsberg 🇷🇺 and one week later returning back in 2007 and in March this year inside Italy 🇮🇹 from Milan / Milano / Mailand to Patti/San Piero Patti on the island of Sicily, including setting over by the last remaing trajectory for passenger trains in Europe, and five days later back. I've also travelled a few times with several night trains within
Germany 🇩🇪 in the 2000s and 10s, before the Deutsche Bahn suspended its night trains and the Österreichische Bundesbahnen took over in 2016.
Pretty lovely trip report with a really nice story behind it. To be honest, I am more used to subtitles, as I often watch your videos while eating, but spoken videos have a special vibe :)
I love the voice over.
The voice-over is great!
Merci de tout cœur. Lulu
loved the commentary! Thank you for the efforts. Great video as always o7.
Whatever format you choose Thibault will be fine. I enjoy all your videos and content as it gives me insight for my next trip in 2024.
Loved the video - would be so enjoyable to ride that route - and I loved the voice-over approach.
My 2-cent opinion : i prefer the subtitle version of your videos, I like to watch them in silence :) and it's what sets you apart from the so many other channels, these funny-looking subtitles :)
I liked this new format, the voice over commentary makes the video better. Maybe do some commentary whilst on the train. More importantly do what you feel comfortable with.
Keep up the great work, I work for the railway in the UK and enjoy watching videos of railways around the world.
its nice to see the BB locomotive still on tracks and in passenger trains , i really miss it in morocco they're all been removed from passenger trains only few ones remaining but they are just for emergency usage in case some other loco is broken down
I do appreciate when you talk.
We very much appreciate your talking, Thibault. along with english subtitles. Your "French accent" is lovely and most enjoyable to listen to. Please keep talking!
It's kind for the same for me with the London to Aberdeen sleeper train in the 60's - long gone. But those trains were sleeper car only , 2nd class 2 berth and 1st class single berth with the possibility to link to a next door cabin hotel style. The 1st time I took the Frankfurt Paris sleeper in the late 80's fell off my chair that 2nd class was 6 berth couchette, Went 1st class and still had to share 2 berth cabin.....
In this video you can hear how passionate about the railway's you are, it's a joy to hear and see. Keep up the amazing work, can't wait to watch the next one.
I like the information you give well done mate 🎉
Love your video, really good introduction 🙂
Very informative and your accent is charming!
I enjoy watching video with voiceover
Had probably the best Couchette night on the ICN.
The other 3 passengers in the first class compartment where really nice, I had some great conversations. So sharing doesn't really bother me. Way more efficient that way too.
Also was the cleanest compartment I've ever been on.
Really nice voiceover so much extra information!!!
More spoken reports, it makes them feel more personal, sincere and special, instead of the checks-off-todo-list text based videos.
A fascinating and excellent video as always Thibault - thanks very much. It would be good to have a variety of subtitled and narrated videos. As for your English and French accent, you have no need to apologise. You speak very clearly and can easily be understood. This is a journey I’d love to take, but the thought of my partner and I having to share a couchette even in 1st Class puts me off. Come on SNCF, you should provide some private sleeping compartments and you should also have better catering. So many train companies have cut back on catering but it’s a false economy. If you provide good facilities, people will use them and most will be prepared to pay to use them. The SBB in Switzerland is an example of that - we’ve eaten in several SBB restaurant cars over the years and they’re always busy.
I really enjoyed hearing you talk in this video! Great job. I liked hearing your story about visiting your grandparents.
Great video. Enjoyed the voice-over. And the accent.
I like the voice over because it personalizes the video. Also, glad to see more of you on the vids.
As a child during 81 and 82 used to travel from uk to St Aygulf by train. From Boulogne the train was called Blue Sky Express. 6 birth compartments and wagon-lits for 2...It was great and seeing the riviera the next morning and the heat. never forgot a wonderful experience. train even had facility to carry motor cars.
I liked the video and I enjoyed hearing your voice. I'll add my vote to a few other who suggested that you should use voice-over for special trains, like this one which clearly has some personal, sentimental significance for you.
I really enjoyed the speaking video!! Just as informative but felt more personal. You have a good speaking voice, your accent is wicked. Keep up the good work, will watch the videos either way! Always fun to have your videos in the background while I'm running trains on my layout. Cheers!