The bullet train to Barcelona

We had such a good experience with the cab from the airport upon our arrival in Paris...the driver was very courteous and helpful, that I downloaded the app for his company. The app allowed me to reserve a taxi for the ride to the train station, and to specify the number of passengers and bags, and the pickup time and location...very handy. We arranged for a large taxi to arrive at our apartment at 8:20. After waiting until 8:45 and having the building caretaker make several calls, the taxi did not come..so we headed to the metro station with all of our baggage in tow. Luckily, the metro station was only a few steps from the apartment, and the train station only was two stops and one route change away.

I cannot get over how helpful and courteous all of the people were in the metro, helping my wife and daughters when they were struggling with their heavy bags, and helping us navigate the turnstiles, which are not made for baggage, and helping us carry bags up and down stairs. I was very touched by how nice everyone was to us in Paris.

We found our way to our seats on the train, and took most of the avilable space for just our bags. Oh how I wished we had packed lighter in that moment. My golf clubs had to be strapped to the handrail in the passageway, because it was too big for the baggage holders.

The trains are super comfortable compared to the seats on the airplanes. We got four seats facing each other with a table in the middle. The trip to Barcelona is about 680 miles, and we made it, including about a dozen stops along the way in a little over 6 hours. Our train reached speeds of just under 300 Km/hr (about 186 MPH)! Here is how that looks from the seat:

We were able to depart from Paris city center, and arrive in Barcelona city center, which was very handy. It's a great way to see the countryside.