MORNING LIST
Traveling by train means adding up the small pleasures, such as arriving in the city, on the job, sparing the litany of roundabouts and shopping areas and without having to look for a place to the car. This applies to large metropolises, but not only. Many small towns or villages (from 800 to 5,000 inhabitants), served by the rail network, promise Sunday visits or short vacations as exotic as the most intense of “city treks”. SNCF has just announced, by 2023, the creation of new Ouigo lines, which will no longer be limited to large cities. Guaranteed return without traffic jams!
Joinville, the city of lords
Joinville (Haute-Marne) should not be confused with Joinville-le-Pont, in the Parisian suburbs, even if they are both watered by the Marne. On the borders of Champagne, Burgundy and Lorraine, the lords of Joinville received, before the Revolution, the kings of France and their retinue. Sumptuous 17th century private mansions remain from this prestigious period.e and XVIIIe centuries, thick walls, large fireplaces and refined woodwork. We visit the audience, a seigneurial court of the XVIe century, as well as the dismal prison cells. The flowerbeds, labyrinth and orchard of the Château du Grand-Jardin, a pavilion built by the Duke of Guise during the Renaissance, invite you to a peaceful stroll. The former convent of the Celestial Announcements, acquired by individuals and undergoing restoration, testifies to religious life since the XVIe century. Notice to amateurs, the municipality seeks to attract new inhabitants ready to acquire and renovate old stone houses.
Châlons-en-Champagne – Culmont – Chalindrey line. Only one direct train per day in each direction, as well as a dozen coaches.
Mers-les-Bains, the Belle Epoque resort
The historic building of the Tréport station, decrepit walls, slate roofs with sloping ceilings, has remained intact. For Mers-les-Bains (Somme), you have to turn right when you exit. On the dike, facing the English Channel, the colorful facades, all different, immediately catch the eye. The painted wooden bow windows hang over the Art Nouveau storefronts, sometimes decorated with ceramic motifs. According to the Michelin Green Guide Remarkable sites and cities of France (two volumes, North and South), Mers is home to no less than 400 villas, built at the end of the 19th century.e century, when the municipality wanted to attract the first secondary residents from Paris or Amiens. At the end of the dike, the path climbs up the cliff, from where the panorama, on the brightest days, stretches from the Bay of Somme to the heights of Dieppe.
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