le Train a Grand Vitesse

My favourite part of France is Burgundy. It would be Burgundy even if there was no high speed rail line there, but the fact theat the original TGV line fom Paris to Lyon runs through some of the prettiest parts of the area certainly adds to the charm eh?

I've 'griced' along this route for twenty years, but on my last visit there in the autumn of 2004 I discovered that all the lovely old red first series TGV have gone and been replaced by these silver brutes.

There is something especially nice about seeing these trains in Burgundy, which they flash through at around 180 mph. This is a great spot to spend a spring or autumn evening - about ten miles north of Cluny and at the end of a tangent that runs to the horizon. The speed these trains approach you need that kind of visibility too, or your camera won't even get switched on in time.

In Japan the shinkansen routes in the countryside are usually a dead loss for train watching, being either in the air on concrete stilts or underground. But no-one would be disappointed along the TGV line!