Like every morning from Monday to Friday, Pascal arrives at Riquier station to take the train that drops him off a few minutes later at Monaco station. Due to the strike, the one and only train scheduled at 7:47 AM is already announcing a 30-minute delay on the display board.
Passenger grumbling and the continuous filling of the small station in the east of Nice make Pascal fear a crowded train, with the additional risk of not even being able to board it.
No matter, he still has the option of the car, which Pascal hurriedly goes to get, retracing his steps as torrents of rain pour down from the ever-temperamental sky. Already a good half-hour lost, but Pascal, who believes he has reached the end of his ordeal, is ultimately not done with the difficulties, because while the traffic is smooth enough until Eze, things get complicated at the exit of the village with a traffic jam moving at a snail’s pace up to the entrance of the Principality of Monaco.
The result of this crawl… : 2 hours and 15 minutes to travel from the Saint Roch district to the Principality of Monaco, a sad record that Pascal is not ready to forget, just like the hundreds of drivers, admittedly stuck along the Mediterranean – there are worse views –, who will finally reach their princely destination around 10 AM.
“Ultimately, perhaps the train would have been preferable, but well, I made a choice and lost. Luckily, my employer was in the same situation as I was, and we could complain together about this situation, which is unfortunately quite common on this route used by thousands of employees every day.” Pascal still keeps a smile and hopes that today the situation has improved on both the rails and the road.
