Montpellier

Today started off early with an 8am check-in for the Eurostar. There are similarities with an airport check-in but the whole process is a lot slicker from beginning to end. Although everyone needs to pass their baggage and themselves through x-ray machines, there's none of the 'liquids and gels' silliness that is found in all of the UK's airports. It's my first visit to St Pancras since it became the new Eurostar terminal. By cleverly and discretely building the terminal within the station undercroft, passengers emerge onto the platforms by escalators from below. None of the grandeur of the original 1840 trainshed has been lost in the process.

It takes just twenty minutes for everyone to board, and then the train leaves. After leaving the station, the train enters a fairly lengthy new tunnel under the east of London emerging close to the QE2 Crossing. A quick stop at Ebbsfleet to uplift, and we're on our way again, entering the Channel Tunnel just 35 minutes after leaving the capital. The tunnel passage is pretty uneventful and 20 minutes later, the train emerges into the French countryside close to Calais.

We leave the Eurostar at Lille and after a short break, board a southbound TGV destined ultimately for Perpignan. Many passengers come and go during the five hour journey as the train calls at busy hubs such as Charles de Gaulle airport, Disneyland Paris, Lyon and Nimes. The landscape also changes over the course of the journey - the flat green arable countryside of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais gives way to vineyards and olive trees as the train reaches the south of France. France is a huge country and we are grateful for the TGV - covering the same distance by car would take over 12 hours, and that's without stops.

Montpellier is glorious, and all things typically Mediterranean. Its a relatively modest town - plenty to offer but without the overpowering pretentiousness of the Riviera towns further east. It's about 30 degrees and sunny, and not likely to be much different tomorrow. Our hotel is the Holiday Inn, which is a short-walk from the station. The building dates from the beginning of the last century and retains a lot of its original features, including the open cage elevator in the stairway atrium. Somewhat disappointingly, the restaurant is not open at weekends. So, with tiredness setting in after two long days travelling, and little time to suss out the best eating places, we resorted to fast food!

Tomorrow, we pick up the hired car at the station, and head down the A9 towards the Spanish border. Let's hope it's air conditioned...

Trams in Montpellier

Place de la Comédie, Montpellier