Category: France

Eurostar London to Paris timing

How long before departure do you need to be at London St Pancras station fof the 7am Eurostar to Paris?The official advice is 60-90 minutes, but definitely aim for 90 minutes plus. We arrived at 5:30 am, right on 90 minutes, and the queue in the station was already a crowd. There was a 6:16am…
Read more


June 20, 2024 0

Navigating the French Rail System

The French rail network is excellent, although often expensive by Australian standards. It can also be very crowded on commuter trains. Today’s trip was slightly challenging – Villefranche-sur-mer to Aigues-Morts requires four separate tickets and takes all day. First: a local train to Nice-St-Augustin – just three stops to the other side of Nice, the…
Read more


March 30, 2024 0

An essential item when travelling in France

France is rightly famous for its wines, so it would be a crime to not sample them. Every corner shop and supermarket has a selection, and the prices start low – you can get very drinkable reds from less than 5€, about AU$8. But don’t expect screw caps on wine bottles, cork (or a plastic…
Read more


March 30, 2024 0

Choosing First Class on French Trains

I’m writing this while perched on my bag in the luggage zone of a Nice-Marseille TER train. It’s not the most comfortable spot for a nearly three hour journey, but at least I’m not standing. This ticket was booked on RailEurope.com months ago and I didn’t pay much attention to the lack of seat selection,…
Read more


March 29, 2024 0

Menton Lemon Festival

Menton is a French Riviera town of around 30,000 people, close to the border with Italy. Since 1934 Menton has held a two week “Fête du Citron” festival in February/March each year celebrating the local citrus fruits, and it is famous around the world. In fact over 200,000 visitors travel to Menton for the Fête…
Read more


February 25, 2024 0