Amsterdam-Gryon

Today was a long rail journey day and once again I just barely made it to my destination. I traveled through four countries. I got up really early as I had to catch a train at Amsterdaam Central at about 7:30am. The tram which runs from near the hostel to the train station doesn't run that early on a Sunday so I had to walk about a mile and a half to the train station. There are some weird people wandering around Amsterdam at that time of the morning. I took the train to Brussels-midi where I had to switch to the Thayls to Paris. I had an hour or so to kill and there was a market right next to the train station, so I got some food for the day. I caught the train and was in Paris 1h25 later. I took the metro from the Gare du Nord to the Gare du Lyon and after having lunch caught the TGV from Paris to Lausanne. The train had to slow down for part of the trip because there was some problem with the tracks or at least that was what I inferred from the announcement in French. The train arrived in Lausanne probably 45 minutes late and I missed my next train. I went and wandered around Lausanne for a bit because I had an hour or so to kill. It was raining pretty good there. I went to an ATM to get some swiss francs. I took out 400CHF (about $320) and it gave me two 200CHF bills. That was pretty funny. I guess the swiss are renowned for being very wealthy. An hour later I caught a train from Lausanne to Bex. The train ride was spectacular, I just wished visibility was better along Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). The tracks hugged the lake just barely above the water. On the right was the lake and on the left were steeply terraced vineyards stretching way up the steep hillside. It was pretty scenic. I was considering coming back and taking the train ride again just to see the views when it was clear. In Bex I got off and had to wait for the cogtrain up the hill to Gryon. It was the very last train of the night and if I had missed it, I'm not sure what I would have done (if the TGV had not been late I would have arrived here about 2 hours earlier). It was pouring rain when I arrived in Gryon. I found the hostel and checked in about 10pm. A long day of travel, but everything worked out alright in the end.