Today I spent practically the whole day on the train, travelling across France: My train journey began at 7:32 a.m. in Karlsruhe, and at 7:21 p.m. I finally arrived in Tarbes just North of the Pyrenees.

When subtracting the time for changing stations and queuing for my connecting train in Paris, I only had about two hours left for sightseeing. Orignally, I had planned spending this time on the Île de la Cité (i.e. in the city centre), as my metro journey from one train station to the other passed right by there anyway. But in the end I did not really feel like lugging all my luggage around– and after arriving at the train station for my onward journey (where I then stowed my luggage) I did not really feel like going back.

So, I only stretched my legs on a walk through the nearby Montparnasse cemetery, and treated myself to a (maybe not so) typical French lunch of “Fish & Chips” in a Parisian street café.