Mega-Vacation Day 1 - Tours to Florence

Day 1 (Tours-Florence):
Hansky, MT, and I began our trip in the afternoon of June 28 with a 2.5 hour trip from Tours to Paris on the slower, but more convenient alternative to the TGV. We actually spent a brief period of time in Paris, as we had to walk from Austerlitz train station on the south side of the Seine to Bercy, north of the Seine in the economic district of East Paris – an interesting, modern section of Paris that I had never seen on my previous trip.
At Paris-Bercy, we boarded a “couchette” (overnight train with beds) headed to Florence, Italy. Unfortunately, the train ran about an hour late – but we managed to have a compartment with 3 other people who were pretty nice. MT made friends with one girl who was from Peru (both Spanish-speakers). The other two guys were Korean – making for an awesome amalgamation of languages between the 6 of us (I don’t contribute much) – French (the 3 of us + the Peruvian); Spanish (MT & the Peruvian); Filipino (Hansky); Korean (the 2 guys); Italian (MT & the Peruvian); and of course, English (yay me).
The train ride – 13 hours in total – really did not seem too long. We were awake for about 4 hours reading French books & newspapers before hitting the sack for a good 7 hours. I woke up when we passed Parma, Italy – en route to Florence.