Where In The World?

[whole diary]

[Bob_Blakey]

A stop on a recent holiday...any ideas (I don't think it will prove too difficult).

[inspector_blakey]

Tricky for me because I can't see the picture... Although I've got form in this respect, a few times for some technical reason I've been completely unable to view photos that everyone else can see perfectly well.

[plymothian]

It's in a French speaking country as you can make out 'Chemin de Fer' at the top, and the post box looks like the Poste logo

[johoare]

No picture for me either....

[Brucey]

The people in the photo appear to be looking at a board with the SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) logo at the top, so definitely France.

[Bob_Blakey]

Correct so far (I wish my eyesight was that good!)

[Brucey]

The building is very familiar ... I'm also certain that I've been there before (unless many stations in France have the same design!) but can't think of its name or location.  Would I be correct in saying that this is in the Charente-Maritime region?

[Worcester_Passenger]

The building is very familiar ... I'm also certain that I've been there before (unless many stations in France have the same design!)

That strong feeling of deja vue (how appropriate) is indeed down to the fact that an awful lot of stations in France look very alike. There are detail differences about the type of materials and the careful maintenance, but the basic shape is very consistent.

[devon_metro]

Whilst i've never been to a French railway station, as soon as I saw the picture I instantly assumed it was french!

[Bob_Blakey]

The building is very familiar ... I'm also certain that I've been there before (unless many stations in France have the same design!) but can't think of its name or location.  Would I be correct in saying that this is in the Charente-Maritime region?

Unfortunately not Brucey (as suggested the same basic look is common to many SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) stations) - this particular location is somewhat closer to 'home'.

[bigdaz]

Calais maritime?  Calais-ville?  or Dieppe?

[Bob_Blakey]

Sorry, none of those places, but certainly much warmer in terms of the type of location.

[JayMac]

Apr^s beaucoup de recherches, je pense que je l'ai trouv^!

Est-ce la Gare de Roscoff?

[Bob_Blakey]

Oui. Vous ^tes absolument corrects!

Roscoff was the starting point of a short journey to Brest via Morlaix. It is experiences like this that reinforces my view that for all its faults the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail system isn't that bad - Roscoff is obviously a fairly major ferry port (from Plymouth/Ireland) but currently only has 3 services a day. Other departures have morphed into buses (apparently this is a deliberate SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) policy on lightly used lines). The overnight ferry from Plymouth docks at around 0700 but the first train does not leave until 1130. The distance to Morlaix is, I think, around 12/13 miles and it takes 30 minutes with a couple of intermediate calls. It is therefore roughly comparable with EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains)-EXM but is slower and double the price for a single ticket. Nice trains though (very swanky railcars).