The French railways always seem to be efficient, but their tendency to go on strike does make one worry about relying on them to get to an important rendez-vous on time. British railways have been ridiculed for "leaves on the line" or "wrong sort of snow", but passengers on last night's Toulouse/Paris sleeper were less than pleased to arrive five hours late as a result of dead badgers on the line. SNCF explained that although animals such as deer and wild boar (sanglier) are often hit by trains they "bounce off" whereas the badgers were caught under the engine, affecting the braking system. Passengers had to wait until a replacement locomotive was brought.
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