Susanna Aug. 27, 2021 I wish we had filmed this!

We thought it would be a good idea to take a TGV train to Strasbourg in order not to fall too behind in our schedule. TGV’s only allow folding bikes packed in a bag. Ours were perfect: foldable and we had a bag for each. But we also had all our panniers; a big, bulky Samsonite full of stuff (this is the luggage for one of our bikes); 2 large instruments; and all the other stuff you have seen in the pictures. The station was 3 blocks from our place so we walked there, carrying it all. We arrived about an hour early at the station, took over an elevator to go down and another one to go up, and we took multiple turns carrying until we finally got all our stuff onto platform 3, where the train would depart from. Drenched in sweat, yet on time and even with 20 minutes to spare! Wow!
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We were feeling very proud of ourselves, when about 10 minutes prior to departure, the platform of our train was changed, so we had to do the whole thing all over again, but this time in less than 10 minutes. You can imagine the scene: quite a bit of shouting (“¡Rápido!” “¡Corre!, “¡Llévate esto!” “¡Cuida esto!,” etc.); lots of running around; and even more sweating. As time crept up on us, so did the stress and the intensity of the scene. A few seconds prior to departure, the last bike and 2 large pieces of luggage were still far from the door of the train. I ran to get them while the others were still accommodating the bikes that were already on the train. I grabbed the pieces and started running, yelling “¡Ayuda!” Camilo got off the train and ran towards me but he was still far away. At this point, a young man in the station who had been watching the chaos ran towards me too. No questions asked, I gave him the bike in a nano-second and we both ran to the train. Camilo then reached me and grabbed the other piece from my hands. We all ran and by some miracle, we all made it on the train. 
Of course, the TGV was full and our bikes and luggage were all over the place, in front of every possible exit in the area. No room to maneuver and yet we did, somehow. Horacio rode standing up, moving the bikes to allow passengers in and out, while I was on the second floor, doing the same with other bikes and luggage. I don’t think we stopped sweating until we were able to get off, in Strasbourg, relieved to have made it and to be out of that situation. We swore not to take another TGV again–only local trains in which full sized bikes are allowed.  Phew.