I woke up to this lovely news:

French railway workers have discovered a bomb buried on the main tracks linking Paris with the Swiss city of Basel, France's Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. The French bomb squad detonated the device, which consisted of a nitrate-based fuel in a plastic container with a timer.

Calling this the Paris-Basel line is not very descriptive. I have taken that train. It's the one that goes through Nancy, Metz, and my favorite city, Strasbourg. The bomb was actually found near Troyes. The line serves (what the French refer to as) l'Est. It might be the most direct route to Basel, but it is not the fastest train one could take. It is not served by TGV all the way to Basel (partially for reasons of geography, the Vosges Mountains, and the stubborness of Paris). It might be better for one to go through Besançon (but what to I know?). Should I be afraid? Do I get combat pay as a historian?