Hop on Eurostar from London to Lille or Paris, then take a 186mph TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse or High Speed Train) to Avignon, Marseille, Nîmes, Montpellier, Perpignan, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes or Nantes, through the countryside with a glass of vin rouge to hand...
Or save time, taking a late afternoon Eurostar to Paris then a couchette on the overnight 'Train Bleu' from Paris to Cannes, Antibes, Nice or Monte Carlo.
It's comfortable and affordable:
London to Paris starts at £69 return, London to Lyon or Bordeaux from £109 return, London to Marseille, Perpignan, or Nice from £119 return.
Unlike a flight, that's city centre to city centre, with no baggage fees, no airport taxes, infants go free, significantly less impact on the environment, and bring your own bottle of wine for the journey if you like as there's no rules against that on the rails."
My car now costs £45 to fill up and will do about 250 miles
Apart from the strain and fatigue of driving long distances, the car is now quite uneconomic.There are car transporter ships mothballed all along the deep anchorages of the River Fal in Devon (UK). as the number of new cars on British roads diminish.
At one time the car was the cheapest way to travel and to fly the quickest means of getting to the Warm countries of the south for the Mediterranean holiday. But no longer!
Recently things have changed dramatically!
Fuel costs have killed off the airlines - They are dropping out of the sky into the pawnbrokers. Their staff, currently striking in an doomed attempt to claim their traditional wages of yester year to maintain their accustomed lifestyle.
There are acronymic groups of countries, beloved by the media. First we heard of the BRIC Brazil,Russia,India,China and now we have the PIGS.
Portugul, Ireland, Greece,and Spain all unable to repay the loans their Governments borrowed. In effect these countries are bust and bankrupt.
All they can do now is to screw as much gold out of their tourists as they possibly can.
Some hope, for where are the tourists now?
Vacation became Staycation
Spanish builders,plasterers,tilers,Electricans and plumbers all down tools and the Spanish Holiday Market Collapsed and Vanished overnight.
When a country is a debtor nation - their politicians ramp Up the Taxes. What these jokers do not realize is that the Customer is always Right and if the Price is Not - there is No Sale.
Pity the poor Greek.
The Greek Islands are the stony remains of a Huge drowned Volcano. At one time there were fishermen. Then came the tourists and so they opened bars and tavernas.
Now there are no tourists in the streets and no fish left in the sea.
Perhaps those nice rich Germans will provide everyone with the Dole?
