By Xavier Morzine
Transeuntium. It is not a word you hear often. This Latin word is defined as “travelling between places.” English equivalents include: en route, in transit, and travelling. In this series we delve deep into the personal logistics of getting from here to there.
When you first hear of France I bet your mind immediately goes to the Parisian capital and cultural landmarks. To my surprise, at least as someone who almost failed French in grade 9 that France is more than just the capital. To this naive traveller, I was about to discover a place that nobody outside of the continent has heard of before.
Back in the summer of 2013 I moved to France for the summer to learn French and reconnect with my extended family I only heard stories of. As anyone learning a new language will tell you: immersion is key. The more off-the-beaten path you are, the better. Get away from the metropolitan areas where English is spoken by tourists and go into areas where residents live a more local, rustic life. So that’s exactly what I did, I moved to the beautiful alpine region of Haute-Savoie to reconnect with my family and become immersed into the language and culture.
But this story isn’t about reconnecting and learning French. Rather my challenges as a budget minded traveller leaving from Haute-Savoie (Upper Savoy) and travelling by train, bus and plane back to my home in rural Canada – all within 24 hours. Flying was the easy part!
Haute-Savoie (Upper-Savoy)
Early morning in Marignier on 28 August. I wake up and have one last breakfast with the family. With summer ending and the sun now rising later and at a lower angle, the sunshine no longer floods the Arve Valley. Instead raising and casting indirect light onto mountain tops similar to how headlights shine into a living room window at night. Mornings are noticeably colder with dew common. Driven to the aforementioned train station I say my final goodbyes to my loving aunt.
French train stations have a special flair to them – concrete stucco is common with the peace coloured station building being at least two levels with FUNCTIONAL window shutters. Something very noticeable in France (and southern Europe in general) is that window shutters are functional and used throughout the summer days to stop direct sunlight from warming up the buildings. As opposed to North America where window shutters serve a merely decorative function and air conditioning rules the day.
I board the TER Auverge-Rhône-Alpes train towards the regional capital of Annecy, and I marvel at this great regional rail system. If only Canada built these frequent regional rails connecting small towns instead of ripping out the rails. As we pass through this route, known as Line 43, meandering our way through the foothills of the French Alps. Although not a tourist train, the views alone as we travelled through the valley should qualify as such.
Annecy
Annecy (known for its animation festival and stunning views) is such an underrated city that is off-the-radar to non-European tourists. Think Venice without over tourism. The Canadian equivalent would be as if Banff were built adjacent to Lake Lousie. After a brief stopover, I board the TGV (high-speed trains) headed for Paris, but the TGV is not on LGV (high speed train line) so this sports car of a train does the equivalent of a sports car climbing a mountain, slowly navigating curves at the maximum grade.
Lyon
However, since I’m a budget traveller, instead of heading all the way to Paris, I disembark at Lyon Saint-Exupéry TGV Station to stay the night before my 08:00 flight to Montreal with Air Transat (directly connected to the airport via a short walk). Fun fact: this airport is named after the writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who authored the French novella The Little Prince. A cool, yet lesser-known feature about French TGV is that they often start their journeys in smaller towns and cities, travelling on lower-speed lines, then really stretch their legs on high-speed sections. This compatibility to spread out off the trunk line allows people to stay on one train for the entire journey. This must be news to parts of the world without high-speed rail (looking directly at you, Canada!), who assume that HSR trains must always have lines meant for high speed. Trains can go slower to reach a final destination, which does not justify the high cost of HSR infrastructure .
After checking into a funky budget hotel, Ibis. I decide to make the most of my time in Lyon and head into the city centre, and here I discover France’s second city- Lyon. With the express Rhônexpress tram-train from the airport to Lyon-Part Dieu (the city’s business centre), I’d be stupid not to. Having a limited timeframe to explore Lyon forced me to make the most of my experience. I walked across the Rhône River to Place Bellecour and onto historic Old Lyon. Riding the funicular railway up to Fourvière was absolutely the highlight of being in transit during this short exploration. Standing next to the Basilica Fourvière and watching the sunset over the Lyon skyline was the symbolic end to my adventures in France.
Fun little tidbit: For whoever has had the YouTube channel Lofi Girl playing in the background while studying. Did you observe the video? The cityscape in the background of the girl studying in the video is actually the area of La Croix-Rousse. Specifically, to the right of her, you can see the church spires when she moves her head.
Back at the hotel, and I’m glad I booked a run so close to the airport. This 08:00 departure time meant a 05:00 wake-up for a 06:00 check in. I shuttle to the airport to be in time for the international flights check-in deadline. After check-in and security, I’m zonked out from the early wake-up, trying to rest my eyes under the bright, fluorescent lights.
Flying was uneventful. I have always enjoyed the east-west flights from Europe to North America in economy, it’s the equivalent of taking an 8-hour bus ride during the day. As long as you have some entertainment (with headrest-mounted screens), you can catch up on those shows you want to binge. Time will fly by with some sleep.
Montréal
Landing in Montréal. I had a 5 hour layoff before boarding the Porter Airlines flight. With no code sharing, I have to exit customs and recheck my bags all over again. What a pain! So no seamless transition here. But alas, I’m sitting around waiting for the flight to Toronto with some time on my side. One of the amateur mistakes I made was heading right away to the in-field domestic satellite jetty to wait for my flight. This is a quieter, island jetty accessed by a tunnel. Mostly used by prop aircraft like the Q400 I’ll be flying. While quiet, the lack of restaurants and facilities to help pass my time made for a very boring rest between flights.
Toronto
Flying from Montréal to Toronto was uneventful. It felt odd flying amongst commuters on a small airplane after waking up in Lyon that morning. I chose Porter so I could fly into downtown Toronto at the island airport and catch a free shuttle bus to Union Station. As the very convenient Union Pearson Express was not in operation yet, I wanted the most straightforward way to travel with baggage without lugging around bags on the subway.
The free shuttle bus from YTZ to downtown is a breeze. However, getting from Union Station to the bus terminal (this is 2013 after all) was a pain. Tired and exhausted, I was trying to find an easy way to get from the Grand Hall in Union Station to the open bus terminal without walking on the street. It was impossible! So I had to swallow my pride and do exactly that. I was really trying to avoid walking on the street with my luggage. Keep in mind that this was 2013, in the midst of extensive renovations at Union to expand capacity.
Arriving at the (now demolished) open-air bus terminal (north of the tracks and the new, indoor terminal) in time for my 17:00 intercity coach bus. Waiting at the main commuter bus terminal for Toronto was difficult with luggage. But as intercity coaches depart from here, I was not out of place. The bus from Toronto to Haliburton was a gem. While departing at peak rush hour from downtown, and being stuck in traffic on the Don Valley Parkway for over an hour. The traffic dies down after leaving Oshawa, and the bus heads north through the rolling hills of the Ganaraska Forest. This bus route very roughly follows the former Victoria Railway that connected Lindsay to its northern terminus in Haliburton. Unfortunately, the line was abandoned by the 1990’s (the last passenger train ran in 1960). If only this train still operated, I would have been able to complete my journey entirely by plane and train! But sadly, the route is no longer in operation after being cancelled by TOK Coachlines (formerly Can-ar) in 2024. Buses like this, that connect Toronto to far-flung areas in the province, are crucial for residents to access services to and from the big city.
Haliburton
And then as the bus pulled into Haliburton at 21:30 I had completed my 24-hour transeuntium journey from rural France to rural Canada. From soaring mountains and deep valleys, to a historic city on a continental river, to an island airport with a backdrop of tall skyscrapers, to rolling hills and vast lakes – a journey complete.
Fun fact: Haliburton County and the Department of Upper Savoy have roughly the same area (4,388m², 4,009m² respectively) but Upper Savoy dominates with a population of 860,000 compared to Haliburton’s 20,500 (cottagers not included) even though Upper Savoy contains a good chunk of the French Alps including the highest mountain peak in the Alps – Mont Blanc.