Few days in France by train...where?!

[bionicnemonic]

DS (17) is learning French and I’d like just the two of us to spend a few days in France, preferably travelling by train, but have no idea where to go...he’s been to Paris before (but I’m sure he’d be happy to go again!) Neither of us are beach people and we are vegetarians and don’t really drink alcohol so many of the traditional French activities would be a bit lost on us! Modern art and design and all eras of architecture are welcome! But we can only manage a few days. Any ideas?! Thank you 😊

antibes? there is a list of things to do here but it includes things such as the picasso museum and visiting a fort x

Lyon.

Dijon. Lots of 'culture' and art & a recently renovated Musee des Beaux Arts. Lovely buildings, lots of walks & quite 'trendy' & young (big university) & I can think of several veggie restaurants & many others have a veggie option.

Or Nantes . Haven't been, but will be going soon & it looks amazing. Said to be the Bristol/Sheffield of France & very green & forward thinking. It's only a couple of hours by train from Paris & you can get the train from Gare du Nord (where the Eurostar arrives).

Bruges. Yes I know it's not France but it's French speaking. Amazing architecture. Brussels has a fab WW1 museum. Do a two centre holiday by train!

Good call re Brussels but Bruges (as much as I love it) is very much not French-speaking!

Lille?

Nantes from Paris is only a couple of hours by train. It is lovely and you can catch local trains to villages like Clisson.

I would second (or third?) Nantes. Relatively easy to reach from the UK, a green city with an awareness of vegetarianism (no means obvious in France), and the fab Machines des Iles, especially the huge mechanical wooden elephant. We also enjoyed the Chateau des Duc de Bretagne. It's got a lively vibe and is a university city too. I know you said you're not beach people, but we had a lovely day trip by train to Saint Nazaire and loved walking along the beautiful beach (low season).

Lyon

Another vote for Lyon. Love it.

Oh gosh! Thank you all so much! That’s really helpful...I knew all you good people would be brim full of ideas! Nantes is sounding appealing...thank you again

Strasbourg is worth a look. Also Lille.

I'd be interested to hear about Nantes, if you do go.

Do you mean travelling there by train or travelling around by train when you arrive? If it’s the latter then I’d do Nice - yes there is a beach but there is a strong association with art, artists and writers and a number of great art museums. The Riviera towns are all connected (mostly!) on one line so Cannes/Antibes/Marseille/Monaco are all do-able day trips by train. The old town in Nice is beautiful & I didn’t find being a vegetarian difficult. Nice is a cheap and easy 2 hour flight. Other good trips we have done by train are Bordeaux/Bergerac/Sarlat and Carcasonne/Narbonne/Toulouse- less arty centres but beautiful historic towns with close by regional airports with cheap flights from the U.K. If you are planning to travel across by train, I personally wasn’t particularly struck by Lille, it wasn’t unpleasant but I’ve no huge urge to return! Brussels is French speaking and has a great art scene and good museums. It is expensive to stay and eat in though!

You can get Eurostar/TGV combo tickets to Avignon which is good for culture. You need to select the central train station in Avignon. DD is vegetarian and it gets some interesting reactions in France (what about fish, why don't you eat meat, your parents should be stricter with you, what about a little meat, served the meal at full price minus meat etc) but there should be vegetarian dishes available.

Nice is good for public transport. We got buses from there to Monaco, Cannes etc, St Jean Cap Ferrat. Fine for vegetarian there.

Lille. You can get direct Eurostar there and there's lots of art. It's a bit of a university city, with a nice vibe.

Apart from the potato restaurant (oh yes), Lille is probably the dullest place I've ever visited. But it is incredibly easy to get to, I'll grant you, and they do speak French

Why not Bordeaux? Eurostar to Paris (could always have another day there?) and then direct train in a little over 2 hours from Paris Montparnasse. It's a lovely city with lots of great place to eat.

StCharlotte agree with you!

Lyon is great, one of my favourite places

I was born near Bruges and as far as I know French is not my mother tongue 😉

Onelankwen that made me smile!
And a potato restaurant sounds very intriguing!
Thank you all

Nice has good museums (inc. a modern art one), Bordeaux has loads to do (not just drinking red wine!), Lyon I'd love to visit and haven't been yet, ditto Strasbourg.