It was super fast to Dijon and thereafter the route was the most splendid trundle through forested hills, farmland and picturesque villages of Burgundy, Franche Comté and the Jura. With my mobile office – laptop plugged in, and 3G broadband card picking up signal most of the way - it was almost like being at my desk but without the interruptions. Well the emails kept coming but in between I could gaze out over flower-rich meadows and watch buzzards and red kites hawking over the fields. Now this beats flying hands down.
My mobile office:
We pulled into Lausanne just before 5pm and it was only a five minute walk to the hotel. Overall journey time from central London was within seven and a half hours. A colleague from the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee, who had stopped off in London before continuing by plane to Lausanne, had ‘beaten’ me there by a couple of hours. But weighing up journey time versus comfort and ability to work, we agreed the train wins, even at this length. Not only was I feeling environmentally smug, but I had had a more productive and pleasant journey.
And the cost? Well discounted airfares these days are hard to beat, but with some planning ahead and accepting a non-flexible ticket, the train is not so far behind. This is certainly one example where being greener is more stylish.
