On the tracks of a railway depot in northern France, a steam locomotive puffs out smoke as if it just took a drag. An engineer and two apprentices stand inside its teal-colored cab wearing dark clothing and gloves. It’s hard to make out their faces under the glare of the midmorning sun. They’ve been warming up the engine for three hours and are ready to roll out.
One of the apprentices leans against the open window with his arms crossed, contemplating his work. What excites him most is “to feel the machine live,” he says gesturing around the cab as it shakes, jolts and howls, as if to say, “See?”
This is the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme. This 19th-century railway connects the towns of Cayeux-sur-Mer, St.-Valery-sur-Somme, Noyelles-sur-Mer and Le Crotoy on the Picardy Coast of France, where the narrow Canal de la Somme expands into the vast estuary that joins the English Channel.
There is everything and nothing to see in these towns. Bike paths carve through fields of yellow flowers. France’s largest seal colony bobs around in the water, disappearing and re-emerging to the delight of boat tour operators. At dusk, starling murmurations ebb and flow through the sky. Landscapes really bring the drama.
In Cayeux-sur-Mer, a beachy town along the channel, an endless array of cabanas stretches across the boardwalk, and bronzed old ladies sit outside on plastic chairs, greeting anyone who walks through their territory. (If it’s an overcast day, they migrate into the seaside casino’s restaurant.) Three-hundred-foot chalk cliffs render beachgoers minuscule in the scenery’s display.
There are no big “sites.” The boundless estuary, medieval walls and coastlines just exist in the landscape.
I stumbled upon the chemin de fer last year. My neighbor and I had been commiserating over our hangovers in Paris and started daydreaming about the sea. “If we find a ticket for under 20 euros, we’re going,” we said. A search led us to Noyelles-sur-Mer, a town too small to have a bakery or a tobacco shop, effectively a mark of urban legitimacy in France.
When we arrived in Noyelles-sur-Mer, the whistle of the steam train got our attention. Since our first ride, it’s been hard to stay away for too long.
Between carriages, wind whips through an open-air corridor connection and metal clashes on the track. The clicks and clacks, roars and double-thuds come together like a song as the train curves, lightly brushing against tree leaves. The horn whistles. The wood creaks. A butterfly flutters between cars like a tease, lingering just long enough to flash the cobalt on its wings before narrowly escaping the car. The rickety vibrations leave me feeling slightly dizzy, mellowed out and high in a way that some people might pay for.
The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Perhaps nothing defines Los Angeles like the freeways: ribbons of asphalt and steel (and traffic jams) tying coast, valley and mountains together in a multilane, limited-access web. These highways were considered so essential that planners nearly jammed one right through the center of swanky Beverly Hills.
The Khaite designer Catherine Holstein was newly pregnant in the fall of 2022 when the French children’s wear brand Bonpoint reached out to her about collaborating on a capsule collection. Now, the 11 new designs, intended to fit babies and children up to 10 years old and made with materials that are gentle against sensitive skin, are launching on Oct. 25 with a campaign featuring Holstein’s now-seven-month-old son, Calder. Standout pieces include a billowy white cotton top with a ruffled collar, a whimsical red-and-white botanical print skirt and miniature versions of two Khaite mainstays: a double-breasted Tanner blazer and a wool version of the brand’s flare-sleeved Scarlet cardigan. “I’m just amazed at the conversations you can have with kids after the age of three, and what their perspective is,” says Holstein. “I wanted the collection to give them the option to really home in on their individuality.” The pieces most dear to the designer are those inspired by her 1980s childhood. “I had black corduroy overalls that I would wear with suspenders with cars on them and a Fair Isle cardigan. … I really wanted to capture that nostalgia.”
There are plenty of hotels around the world that the royal family have frequented—but there’s something special about staying in an actual home or estate that the monarchy has vacationed at. It feels more regal; more like leaning into the royal life than checking into a hotel room.
With the start of the school holidays and the final matches of the Rugby World Cup, thousands of people are planning a trip to France in the next few days.
The spa town of Bagnoles de l'Orne is a greenery-filled oasis of belle epoch architecture and thermal baths. Located in Normandy, the town has long attracted visitors looking for a salubrious vacation on its lake shores.
It’s certainly an eye-catching shop window, full of interesting artefacts – an old sewing machine stands poised over a sheet of leather, with an oil lamp on one side, ancient shoe moulds on the other. There’s more leather hanging above, with footsteps cut into it. I step into the Tannerie, then lock the door behind me.
You know that feeling when you accidentally buy the wrong house? No, me neither. Cal Hunter does, though, and it was to prove quite the most fortuitous error of the 31-year-old carpenter’s life.
A major rail route connecting France and Italy looks set to remain out of use until summer 2024. It was forced to close following a landslide this August.
Longer vacations are trending within the travel industry, not only offering your clients unforgettable getaways to their dream destinations, but also presenting you with an opportunity to increase your commissions. In response to increasing consumer demand for longer vacations, AmaWaterways has introduced a collection of specially curated 14-night Grand River Cruises.
A “widespread” increase of bedbugs has been reported in the French capital, prompting the government to pledge measures to “reassure and protect” the people. Clement Beaune, the French minister of transport, has said that he will hold a meeting this week to “take additional measures” to safeguard the public from the alleged increase in the number of insects.