Last Word: Go Slow

The first TGV — Train à Grande Vitesse — hurtled from Paris to Lyon in 1981, reaching a top speed of close to 200 mph. Since then, France has acquired a web of high-speed lines and travel by train has become the most convenient and often the quickest way to get around. But now the era of expansion may be over. In July, new TGV lines were opened from Paris to Bordeaux and to Rennes, but no additional routes are planned. The track to Bordeaux, which enables the 360-mile journey to be completed in just over two hours, cost $9.1 billion. And the French rail company, SNCF, requires an annual subsidy of around $6 billion. President Macron has decided that he has better uses for the money.

Personally, I have always had mixed feelings about the TGV. It is impossible not to admire the technology, and the services are extremely useful, especially if you are on business. But for leisure travelers there are drawbacks. Very often the lines run in cuttings, or between concrete barriers, and even when the train is out in the open countryside, the poles holding up the power cables flash past the windows and detract from the pleasure of the view. I have concluded that the optimum speed for train travel on vacation is around 60 mph. This is fast enough to make your journey quicker than it would be by car, but sufficiently slow for you to gaze out of the window at the scenery.

In general, I remain deeply nostalgic for the golden age of European train travel and particularly regret never having taken the famous overnight express Le Train Bleu, which ran from Paris to the Riviera from 1886 until 2003. The most famous train of all, the Orient Express, operated from Paris to Istanbul from 1883 until 1977. Recently, I learned that its modern incarnation, Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, will debut three sumptuous new Grand Suites next March (all of which come with separate living areas and large private baths). I’m very tempted to make a reservation and to once again experience the joy of going to sleep somewhere southeast of Paris and waking to a sunlit morning in the Alps.