“Allez hopp”, and you’re there. Right by the Atlantic sea coast. Thanks to our modern ways of transport, such as airplanes and high speed trains, you can reach the sea in France in just about six hours from Vienna. A wonderful feeling that I have recently come to enjoy, being prompted to travel in order to visit my dear friend Anne-Laure, who’s recently had her first baby. Only € 200,- for the flights, then another € 200,- for the train tickets (all of them return), which really isn’t too bad for both the plane as well as the TGV trains. Right from the Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle, they take you to either Nantes or La Rochelle, beautiful French towns right by the Atlantic coast.
If you are not keen on Paris, but instead wish to go straight to the sea, it’s definitely a bonus not having to cross the capital thanks to the long distance, high-speed train station located right at the airport.
To be honest, I find the TGV trains both fascinating and a little intimidating at the same time. Pulled by one of the largest (and perhaps most powerful) locomotives I have ever seen, they easily speed up to some 300 km/h, earning top speed as soon as Greater Paris is left behind. A little read, a little nap, and you’re there: Right by beautiful La Rochelle & Champagné-les-Marais, the second-largest nature & bird reserve in France after the Camargue area. My lovely friends live in a typical little village close to the sea, so typically French that it would almost be kitsch, if it wasn’t so REAL. The tasty baguette, the smelly, but delicious French cheeses, the freshly grown oysters from the coast, the snails & seafood that the people love (and eat) so much around here. No wonder that even the little baby’s dress has a culinary word in it already, called “La Grenouillère”, the little frog! Love it 😀
Follow me on my ten travel pictures captured on Instagram in Southern Vendée, in the Région Pays-de-la-Loire, and you will realise just how much this little French paradise lives up to its very name ..!