World Warming to Greener Train Travel

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/10/green.trains/

(CNN) -- Take more trains and fewer planes. That's what Sarah Kendrew pledged to herself a few years ago. An astronomer at the Netherlands' Leiden Observatory, she travels frequently to nearby countries on business -- and prefers to not leave vapor trails in the sky when doing so.end quote

I like this idea. For example when I was in Paris last October I took a fast train from Paris to Nice in the Cote D'Azure(French Riviera). This we found useful on many levels. We realized since we didn't have to be at the airport two hours before we took off and getting our bags after we landed that by taking the High Speed Train to Nice we saved several hours travel and waiting time by taking the train. And when we arrived at the Nice-Ville train station right outside was the rental car place with our Mercedes 5 speed Diesel. And since the Europeans have mastered the non-stinky diesel with fantastic mileage(if you can drive a 5 speed stick shift) you are all set to travel. Also, if you have a driver's license from any state in the U.S. you no longer need an international driver's license to drive in most of Europe. Also, mainland Europe everyone drives on the same side of the road as the U.S. If you are jet lagged bad it is not a good idea to drive in Great Britain right away because you have to negotiate driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car as a driver and usually with a floor stick shift to your left instead of your right. I found this out the hard way after losing a nights sleep on the way to London and Edinburgh in 1999 in October with my mother and then 10 year old daughter. I almost killed us all several times especially on roundabouts in a rental car until I got smart and headed north to Aviemore where there is much less traffic and one is out in the country. So, if you fly to Great Britain, sleep for the first 15 hours to put your internal clock in order so your family stays alive or just don't rent a car for the first couple of days. However, of course if jet lag doesn't bother you because you are still really young then of course do whatever you wish.


When we first arrived in Nice this last October 2009:
First we drove to our hotel and later to Monaco(which is quite amazing) and to local interesting places like Vence and Grimaldi Castle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_Grimaldi_%28Cagnes%29,

There are many other things to see as well. In October the water was still quite warm there at Monaco for swimming as well. Though I didn't swim I took my sandals off and stepped down the metal ladders into the water. However, many college age youth were swimming there at the time.