TGV Est travelogue

Reims, Art Deco capital

45 mn from Paris

Almost totally destroyed during the First World War, Reims was subsequently to become a privileged bastion of Art Deco. Discover the coronation city of the kings of France in a new light.

Metz, a beautiful little known city

1h22 from Paris

The capital of Lorraine will then emerge from anonymity and will prove to be what it is: a splendid city of art and also a town in the full swing of development where the future Centre Pompidou-Metz is to be located.

Nancy, a royal city and also an Art Nouveau gem

1h30 from Paris

The former capital of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy is an ideal weekend destination. In its various districts you'll discover a rich architectural heritage with a plethora of Art Nouveau style houses, without forgetting the famous Place Stanislas, a Unesco world heritage site.

Luxembourg 2007: culture in the countryside

2h05 from Paris

For the second time, the city of Luxembourg is European Capital of Culture. This forgotten city in the country, leafy and romantic with its rivers and countless remnants of fortifications, easily merits a weekend.

Strasbourg - so far and yet so near!

2h20 from Paris

So make the most of the beauty of the capital of Alsace, its architectural jewels and art de vivre.

TGV Est travelogue

On 24 May this year we were lucky to board the SNCF's new jewel, the East European TGV, before it was officially launched on 10 June. Paris-Reims in less than 45 minutes. This little 'running in' trip allowed us to discover the new features and specific style of this highly awaited TGV.

8 45 am

Almost adjacent to Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, built in 1849, has one of the brightest station halls in Paris behind a fine white facade at the top of Boulevard de Strasbourg dating back to the time of town-planner Haussmann. More user-friendly than its gigantic neighbour (which boasts to be Europe's biggest station!), Gare de l'Est has been remodeled like all the stations on the TGV Est line like those of Reims (designed to cater for 8 daily TGV round trips to Paris), Nancy (10 round trips), Metz (10 round trips), and Strasbourg (50 TGVs per day from or to Paris and other European cities). In becoming more functional, has Gare de l'Est lost some of its poetical character? The monumental 5 m high by 12 m long fresco that decorated the lobby, executed in 1926 by painter Albert Herter and depicting soldiers departing for the front in 1914, has sadly been transferred to the Cité du train (railway museum) in Mulhouse.

9 25 am

His scooter having broken down, our cameraman arrived 30 minutes late. With no time to film the station, we hurried towards the TGV, deftly guided by Didier Bannier, a rolling stock management executive at the SNCF. 'Outwardly, he explains to us, the East European TGV is like all the others, except that each of the trains has three 1^st class carriages (instead of the usual two) and can seat 360 passengers.' Inside, on the other hand, the design imagined by Christian Lacroix is extremely innovative! The fashion designer has managed to create an atmosphere that is silent and bright, intimate and yet modern, with, in first class, a grey, pistachio green and maroon colour scheme, and, in second class, brighter colours with a dominant orange and mauve. In the bar carriage, sculpted like a Playmobil decor, you feel as if you're in 2001: A Space Odyssey or in a 1960s' multicoloured drugstore painted by Edward Hopper.

As for the cocoon-shaped armchairs, they are highly enveloping, spacious, and fitted with head-rests and feet-rests. The lighting is harmonious with stripes of light crossing the ceiling and reading lights cleverly incorporated in the centre of the seats. Curtains have been replaced by very 'zen' blinds... The cup holder can be used without opening the table flap. With more legroom, you feel more at ease. There are also storage spaces for small items and an electrical power point. For children, table flaps marked out in squares transform into board game surfaces (ask cabin staff for chess and chequers)!

9 35 am

What's really new however is of course the world speed record of 200 mph, a cruising speed (unmatched today for a passenger train) which the TGV reaches at Vaires-sur-Marne, 15 miles out of Paris. And there is no additional vibration: the train remains perfectly stable. Does this represent a 'revolution' in the race to achieve ever faster rail speeds as stated self-flatteringly by the SNCF? However that may be, a watershed has been crossed with considerable economic repercussions for all the regions concerned: Reims 45 minutes from Paris; Metz 1h25; Nancy 1h 30; Luxembourg 2h 05; Strasbourg 2h 20; Basel 3h 20; Stuttgart 3h 40; Frankfurt 3h 50; Zurich 4h 35. The Eastern TGV has been designed to carry 12 million passengers a year, now making Europe smaller for some 37 million Europeans.

on the Paris-Frankfurt journey, you travel on the ICE3, the German high-speed train with perfectly bilingual staff. Its 200 m long trains have 8 carriages seating 413 (91 1^st class seats). ICE3 rolling stock travels at 200 mph.

10 10 am

After travelling past the archeolgical remains at Barcy (unearthed when the TGV line was traced), the Viaduc de l'Ourcq (a 450 m long viaduct that blends into a protected nature site) and the Montagne de Reims Regional Park (famous for its well-known champagne producers like Bollinger), we arrive at the Champagne-Ardenne TGV station, a new station located 3 miles to the south of downtown Reims and which will be directly connected to cities like Bordeaux, Nantes, Rennes, Lille, Strasbourg.... before pulling into central Reims station.