Expat in France shares the trip you need to take

29/07/2024

France is an extremely popular holiday destination but there is so much of the beautiful country many Britons are yet to explore.

London-born Janine Marsh has become somewhat of a France expert since purchasing a property in Pas-de-Calais some 20 years ago. She split her time between there and London until five years ago, when she took the plunge and relocated to France full-time.

For “everything you want to know about France and more”, Janine now runs The Good Life France.

Janine previously spoke to GB News about her expat experience moving from bustling Beckenham to rural Pas-de-Calais – complete with 52 pets and bartering for beer.

Last week, the expat spoke exclusively to GB News about the French city you need to visit – it’s so beautiful it made her cry – and this week she shared her favourite French train route, kicking off in Dijon.

‘I ate a load of food and drank a load of wine’

Janine Marsh

Vallée de la Gastronomie

Janine is a big fan of a train-based holiday. She said: “So many people don’t want to drive now. They want to cut their carbon footprint or they just don’t enjoy the whole driving thing because they can’t have a glass of wine at lunchtime, if you’re going to drink. So anywhere that’s got train connections, I always think is really great.

“One of the great train trips of France I’ve done kicks off in Dijon in Burgundy. It’s a great little city that gets left off so many people’s top 10. I have no idea why, because it’s gorgeous – it has great architecture, it has great museums.”

According to the self-confessed Francophile, it’s the perfect French city for foodies. Janine recommends a visit to Cité de la Gastronomie et du Vin, “which is quite amazing as a museum that’s dedicated to French food”.

“There’s cakes, tastings and a fantastic pop-up restaurant at the back – and the most amazing shops.

“It has the best of French food, you know, from dragées, which are the sugared almonds they have at weddings here, to cheese, fish, meat, cakes, bread, everything. It’s just really, really fabulous.”

From Dijon, hop on the train all the way down to Marseilles. Janine said: “This route is called the Vallée de la Gastronomie, so it’s actually a known route. It’s a really old historic route that’s been updated for the 21st century.”

The route’s official website reads: “Come and discover the beating heart of a wine region and an outstanding gastronomic heritage.

“Travelling Vallée de la Gastronomie-France means meeting men and women who cultivate this destination’s gastronomic riches; it means sharing their passion, observing, smelling, it means living new and intense moments.”

The Vallée de la Gastronomie-France does not have mandatory signposts to stop at: foodies can choose destinations along the way that take their fancy.

“Get off in places like Tournus in Burgundy,” Janine suggested, “where they have I think three Michelin-starred restaurants in this tiny village – incredible.”

Make sure you stop off at Lyon, the “gastronomic capital of France”, then the “fabulous city” of Aix-En-Provence, Marseille and Cassis.

“So you’ve got seaside, you’ve got countryside, you’ve got towns and villages and all along the way you can stop off and meet artisans and farmers and winemakers and restaurateurs who have signed up to this whole Vallée de la Gastronomie thing, so they guaranteed to speak British. They’re guaranteed to welcome you and they’re guaranteed to tell you all about French food and give you tastings.

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Make your way down to beautiful Marseille

GETTY IMAGES

“That includes things goat farmers who make cheese, people who make beer. It’s astonishing, isn’t it?” Janine said.

“I did it for over 10 days and it was absolutely brilliant. I had no car, just hopped on a train, got off along this route, went and met people, ate a load of food and drank a load of wine.”

The only “downside” of this marvellous French trip? “I bought a lot of wine,” Janine revealed, “and had to carry my wine home with me in my suitcase – but otherwise it’s a brilliant thing to do.”

Janine continued: “You can take your time. I did one day in each place and one night in each place, but I would happily have stayed longer in pretty much everywhere.

The great thing about this particular type of holiday is that it can be made cheap or expensive, depending on your budget.

“It doesn’t have to break the bank,” Janine assured holidaymakers, “you can camp along the site route”.

“But you can also stay in really nice hotels. You can stay in B&Bs, little villas – you can make it what you want. And I think for me that’s one of the glories of France.”

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Written by: radioroxi