I'm in love . . . with Rail Europe.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My partner and I are planning a 3-week trip to France this summer . . . mostly Southern France, through Provence and along the Riviera to Nice (with a day trip to Monaco), then up to Paris. My partner has made the hotel reservations, and I accepted the task of the train reservations . . . for 12 train trips.

I thought this would be something I would hate . . . huge timetables, with trains going in all directions, confusing fares, different options for different days of the week . . . and all in French.

Well, I have to admit, the entire process was actually fun. They have it set up so I could make all 12 reservations one after the other, they pick the best time and class of ticket for each leg, which of course I had the option of overriding. And they kept a running total of the accumulating cost. I have rarely encountered a process so user-friendly. I did the entire trip in about 1.5 hours, and we’ll be getting the tickets in 2-3 days.

And some of the trains are cheap enough that we’ll be going 1st class!

Merci beaucoup, Rail Europe!

2

I agree. I love train travel in Europe (as long as SNCF is not on strike). For short distances, it’s almost always better than flying.

Your trip sounds amazing!

3

Don’t even mention a strike. I was in Paris in 2003, and the entire country went on strike. Everything was closed, and there was no transportation. It sucked.

4

Since we finally built some high-speed track between London and the Channel Tunnel, it’s now easy and enjoyable to travel from London all over Europe.

Yes the budget airlines are still fast, cheap (and charge for every extra they can), but rail is such a civilised way to travel. Buy a ticket, turn up, get on and go.
No arriving hours in advance, waiting for announcements or bl**dy luggage carousels…