How to find out about trains from Brive (France) to Pisa (italy) ? 
Journey Sept 2002.

Hello,

I found this information on the Rail Europe web site. There are no
direct trains from Brive to Pisa. You would have to make a few
transfers. Please read on.

I would go by Brive -> Toulouse -> Nice -> Pisa.

Brive is not on a main route, so first you should get to Toulouse,
which is on a main route. Now, from Toulouse, go to Nice. That is a
straight route along the Southern coast of France. In Nice you will
transfer to a train going to Pisa.

2 hours from Brive to Toulouse (133 miles) ===== avg 66 mph
7.5 hours from Toulouse to Nice (406 miles) ===== avg 54 mph
5 hours from Nice to Pisa  (218 miles) ===== avg 43 mph

That's a long trip! I added the average speeds, so you can compare
this to driving. Sometimes renting a car can be faster, not always.

This is the main site I used:

Rail Europe
http://www.raileurope.com

From Rail Europe's home page, click on -> "Fares & Schedules"

I found maps of railways on these sites:

Eurail Map of TGV Trains
http://www.eurail.com/31/high/tgv/Maptgv.gif

Searched Google using these words:

europe rail
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=europe+rail

You can buy individual tickets for each segment of the ride, or you
can buy a multiple use Pass. There are MANY varieties of these Passes
so I suggest going to Rail Europe and looking at the features of each
variety.

Sincerely,
CJS

Using cjs2u's info above (http://www.raileurope.com), I put together
some times for your trip, if you need to purchase them online ahead of
time. These departure times are effective June 16 through December 14
2002. Be aware that there are probably many more trains going to these
destinations that aren't on the online schedule. The best thing to do
is check the schedule at the train station when you arrive to see how
many more are leaving that day. Any way you do it, have fun!

Brive    -> Toulouse: Departs 03:55 (arrives approx. 05:55)
Toulouse -> Nice:     Departs 07:37 (arrives approx. 15:00)
Nice     -> Pisa:     Departs 06:30 (arrives approx. 11:30)
(which means a half day's layover in Nice. Oh, darn!)

I've passed through Nice but have never stayed overnight, so I can't
recommend anything there other than having an walking down to the
beach for a sunset espresso!

Something to do in Nice:

1. Very pretty girls on the beach
2. Go to Vence to see the Matisse chapel...for hours...and
transportation to Vence which is in the hills above Nice:
       http://www.azurline.com/matisse.html

Also, there is a lovely Cocteau chapel in Villefranche which is not
too far from Vence....along the sea...

I hope you get to see this marvelous part of the French Riviera.

seedy