As our train sped through some of the finest scenery France has to offer, it quickly became apparent that travelling by rail is pure adventure. We thundered past the ripened orchards of Normandy, which rolled into golden, harvested fields of hay, followed by proud plumes of poplar trees that melted into cypress-crested hilltop villages. Stepping out onto a carpet of sunflowers at our destination in the Dordogne was more breathtaking still.
Our family challenge had been to create a last-minute ten-day break in France with something to please everyone. Sitting at the computer with wife Susanne and teenagers Tilly and Noah, we planned the first leg with ease – Eurostar from London to Paris, and a three-night stay at a boutique hotel in the heart of St Germain. The family kept themselves occupied on the Eurostar journey from St Pancras by reading, window-gazing and sketching.
The second leg wasn't tricky either – booking seats on a high-speed TGV to the Bergerac region of the Dordogne. Then came the difficult part – trying to find last-minute accommodation. However, we were rewarded for our patience by finding a handsome stable house, opulently set in 17 acres, with boating lake, fountain courtyard and swimming pool. Trains do not run across the remotest country areas, so hiring a car was a necessity to take us to this idyll just an hour's drive from Bergerac.
Ernest Hemingway was right – Paris is a 'moveable feast'. Around every corner, you'll find the familiar and unfamiliar, the ancient and modern. Our delightfully quirky suite on the sixth floor of Hotel Le Clos Medicis continued the adventure. Like an advancing troop, we headed up a steep and narrow turret staircase to receive our prize – a very welcome cup of strong coffee and familiar images of wrought-iron balconies and geranium pots.
Following the colourful Metro lines to their ends can reveal hidden treasures. Musee Marmottan Monet fringes the city's west side near Metro La Muette – and it should not be missed. A former hunting lodge of the Duke of Valmy and bought in 1882 by keen art collector Jules Marmottan, it is neighbour to some of Paris's best Art Nouveau architecture. Some of Monet's finest paintings hang alongside more than 300 works by fellow Impressionists and post-Impressionists including Morisot, Manet, Degas, Sisley, Pisarro, Renoir, Signac and Gauguin. It is one of the city's best-kept secrets.
Leaving Paris in rush hour is tricky. Luckily, the children are commuter-savvy and didn't panic when pressed as firmly as a croque monsieur between fellow passengers, even when they realised we might not be able to tumble out at Montparnasse station as intended. But after navigating the station's crazy labyrinth of corridors and squeezing our way through narrow turnstiles, we made it on to the TGV.
