Wintering in the Riviera: With Notes of Travel in Italy and France, and Practical Hints to TravellersMiller, William James
Philosophy
Wintering in the Riviera: With Notes of Travel in Italy and France, and Practical Hints to Travellers
Miller, William James
Europe -- Description and travel; Italy -- Description and travel; Provence (France); Riviera (France)
And now the Englishman obtains a new experience of how they manage
things abroad. His luggage was, on arrival at the station, deposited
on a long table under the care of the conductor of the omnibus which
brought him. This luggage, with the exception of such little things
as he means to take with him into the carriage, has, when his turn
arrives, to be carefully weighed. In France each traveller is allowed
30 kilogrammes, or about 65 lbs. weight. For every pound beyond this he
is required to pay according to distance. The men engaged in weighing
ask for the railway billets to show the destination, and then he goes
to the luggage–ticket window, where he duly receives back his billets
stamped as having been used, and gets a little scrap or morsel of thin
paper, which is the receipt for his luggage, and for which he has in
any case to pay 10 centimes (1d.) in addition to any charge for extra
weight. This receipt bears the number of _colis_ or packages and of
persons, the united weight of the party’s luggage, the sum payable, the
place of despatch and the place of destination, and a printed number;
which number is also affixed to each article so registered, and is the
means by which, on arriving at the journey’s end, it is identified.
What is the exact method by which the officials in charge manage to
secure that all the multiform boxes and bags arrive at their respective
proper destinations, I do not know. I presume that, in addition to an
invoice or list of some kind accompanying the train, the things for
each station are separately stowed away in the waggons; but whatever
may be the means adopted, they ensure the utmost regularity, although
I have heard of persons losing small articles, which, as a rule, ought
not to be so registered. On one occasion a rather curious circumstance
happened to my luggage. I went from Interlachen to Paris, and the
registration number on my portmanteau was 82. From Paris to London it
was registered anew, and the number happened to be 282; but the passage
across the Channel was very stormy, and I presume the Paris number had
been washed off on the voyage. On presenting my receipt at London, and
pointing out my portmanteau, it was found that it had not the number
282, but simply 82, and I had some difficulty in getting it; but as my
key opened the lock, and nobody else appeared to claim the article, I
got delivery.
In Italy, no allowance is made for luggage. Every pound which is
registered must be paid for, and consequently it is not in general
necessary previously to take out the railway billets. The expense is
not, however, great, unless one’s luggage be heavy. Our luggage, which
perhaps was less than many travel with, cost me, travelling nearly all
over Italy, for railway charges, less than 30s. per person; but railway
fares in Italy are cheaper than with us, so that the difference is thus
made up.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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