Planning to explore France without renting a car? In this episode of the Join Us in France Travel Podcast, host Annie Sargent talks with solo traveler Helena Fedorec about her practical, budget-friendly journey across France. The episode, Discover France by Train and Bus: A Solo Traveler’s Budget Guide, is packed with tips for anyone eager to see more of France using public transportation.
Listen to this episode ad-free Helena shares how she built her itinerary around France’s excellent train and regional bus network, saving money and skipping the stress of driving. She proves that it’s possible to travel solo in comfort, even at 70, and enjoy a rich, flexible experience.
Her journey included Nice, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Menton, Èze, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Toulouse, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Île de Ré, Angers, Chartres, Paris, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Domaine de Sceaux near Paris. Each stop brought new discoveries—historic towns, museums, vibrant markets, and scenic routes. She highlights the value of regional trains (TER) and intercity buses for reaching charming towns and hidden gems.
Annie and Helena talk about booking strategies, the pros and cons of rail passes, and how to keep travel costs low without missing out on memorable experiences. They also share tips for traveling off-season, packing light, and making the most of France’s reliable public transit.
If you’re curious about car-free travel in France, or you want to stretch your budget while exploring French culture and history, this conversation offers inspiration and practical guidance.
🎧 Subscribe to the Join Us in France Travel Podcast for more stories and tips about traveling in France—whether by train, bus, car, bike, or on foot.
More episodes about traveling solo travel in France #JoinUsInFrance, #FrancePodcast, #TravelFrance, #FrenchCulture, #ExploreFrance, #DiscoverFrance, #FranceTravelTips, #RealFrance, #Francophile, #FranceAdventures, #DiscoverFranceByTrain, #FranceByBus, #SoloTravelFrance, #BudgetTravelFrance, #HiddenGemsFrance, #TrainTravelTips, #FranceTripPlanning, #SustainableTravel, #ExploreFrenchTowns, #VisitFrance
[Music] This is Join us in France episode 565. Bonjour. I’m Annie Sergeant and join us in France is the podcast where we take a conversational journey through the beauty, culture, and flavors of France. Today I bring you a conversation with Elellanena Fredoric who celebrated turning 70 in style. She traveled solo. She was incredibly savvy and she did it all on a budget. You’ll hear her share her month-long adventure across France by train, bus, and foot, uncovering hidden gems, art, gardens, and the joys of slow travel. She went from n to shaft. You will discover how to explore France affordably, connect with locals, which she loves doing, and embrace the freedom of the open road. There is inspiration for every traveler in this chat with Elellena who is a wonderful boot camper as well. So I know her in person. She’s an amazing human being. This podcast is fueled by Shokatin coffee and the generosity of listeners like you. You book itinerary consoles, take my voice map tours, join the boot camp, hop in my electric car for a day trip, or chip in on Patreon. And I’m so grateful for that. want to keep me going and skip the ads, there’s a link for that in the show notes. And to look up any of my products or services, go to join us infrance.com/boutique and mercy. Half of the tickets for boot camp 2026 are already sold. I’m surprised by this. It’s selling surprisingly quickly this year. If you’d like to find out more about this event, browse to join usfrance.com/bootcamp 2026. But let me tell you quickly that the dates are October 3rd until 10th next year 2026. And you can join us in France for 7 days of hanging out with fellow Francoiles, visits of wonderful sites around Tulus and Oxitani, and optional language classes. If this is the first you’ve heard of the boot camp and want to know more, first of all, welcome to you and you can email me [email protected] for the magazine part of the podcast. After my chat with Elena today, I’ll discuss why I’ve stopped recommending Koot, the route planning app for hiking, cycling, and running, and switched to recommending Decathlon outdoor instead. I made the switch a few months ago, but since I release episodes several months after I record them, you haven’t heard me talk about that yet, and it’s time to fix that. I’ll also talk about the closing of the S Pompidu in Paris. It’s closing for 5 years, and the Bay Tapestry Museum is also closed until October 2027. The British Museum in London will display the tapestry, and I’ll give you all the details in the magazine part of the podcast. There’s a website and a newsletter to go along with this podcast, and you can go there when panning for gold nuggets of information in preparation for your trip to France. And the newsletter is pretty good, too. Join us infrance.com/newsletter if you’d like to sign up. [Music] Bonjour Elena Sweeney and welcome to join us in France. Bonjour honey. Wonderful to see you again because we know each other from the boot camp, don’t we? Do indeed. Yes. And you’re coming back to the boot camp. I am had such a wonderful time. Wonderful. Wonderful. But today we are going to talk about a solo trip that you took. you were turning 70 and you decided you wanted to make it a budget trip. So, we’re going to concentrate on that, on your preparation, on how you found your budget options and also what were your favorite things to do. You went off the beaten track a little bit on this trip, which is wonderful. So, Elena, tell us about your preparation for this trip. How did you go about what what inspired it and how did you prepare for it? Okay, so turning 70 was coming up and I really dislike parties and fuss made and gatherings. So I said to my family, please don’t plan anything. I’m going to go away. In fact, I’m going to go away for a whole month and I’m going to go to France and I’m just going to do it by train or by bus or by walking and just take it very simply and slowly and in a sense just celebrating the fact that you know still here can do all these things and and enjoy it. Now I need to say that my family then promptly decided that they would turn up halfway through. So, there were three days when they were actually with me with the three-year-old granddaughter and my lovely son came over from Australia. Complete surprise. Wow. Most of the trip was by myself. But I can actually also tell you a little bit about what it was like being in France with a three-year-old. Very good. Yes. And we should say that you are from Australia, but you live in England right now. That’s right. Yeah. You can probably hear a mixed I lived in Australia for 45 years and then about four years ago returned to England which is it gives me access to France. Yes. All right. So how did you plan this trip? What tips can you share with listeners about how to go about that? Yeah. So I’m not one of those people who likes to plan every single minute of every day and make huge plans. But what I do do is look at, if you like, a big picture. And beforehand, I knew that I wanted to travel as much as possible, but keep it manageable financially. And one of the most useful books I used was Europe by Rail, and that could show me some routes that are available on the main train lines in France. I decided against buses because often the travel times were too long, whereas the trains seem really efficient in Europe. So, I planned a route and I think I mentioned it to you and you gave me some ideas, too, that would take me in a big circle. So, I knew I was going to go to France by Uristar. If you book long enough in advance from England, you can get to Paris for £39 one way. So, I had both going and coming back at a very cheap rate. So, I knew my starting and finishing point would be Paris. And then I planned a route that took me from Paris to Nice, from Nice to Tuloo. could not miss out on to lose after being there may the boot camp gorgeous city then to Bordau then to Lar Roelle and on that was your suggestion and then from there I went up to SH I’d been there before and then returned through to Paris wonderful so when you said you booked your Euroar in advance how far in advance did you do it I think I did it they released the dates about I think it’s between three and six months I think it’s three months in advance you can actually download the Euro Star app and subscribe and that way you get notifications of when the cheap tickets are coming through. So they often have flash sales that last for 3 days or something. Uhhuh. It’s actually really worth just following it regularly and that includes trains not just to Paris but also to Le to Belgium and Amsterdam. Very nice. Did you purchase a discount card? Yes. So again, part of traveling by rail because obviously I’m over 60. I learned about the SNCF senior rail card. I forget how much it was. It wasn’t that expensive actually. It was under £50, way under £50. And you get a third off rail travel and was really useful. So again, there’s an app that you download on your phone. And there were a few times when I was traveling, especially around the Nice area, that I would on the spur of the moment decide to take a train and I could book it on my phone and I also got the discount and the long journey. So I got the discount. That was really worth doing. Right. And this card, I think the full price is €69, but the senior card goes on sale as well occasionally. I think I got it on sale. There’s discount cards for different age groups, but every time you have to buy it, and it’s worth it if you just take a couple of train trips, it’s usually worth it, especially if you can buy it at the discount price. Totally agree. Yeah. And I assume you booked most of your tickets through the app. Did you use SNCF Connect or did you use another app? Okay. The major travel getting from city to city, I bought in advance and booked in advance and I used Good question. No, I use the SNCF effort, but I actually also have the train line app. There are a couple of times when I made spontaneous trips, like, you know, short trips to a little town or whatever when I would actually, it was easier to book on the spot with train line. Yeah. And it just depended which trains I was going to be taking. If that sounds vague, and it probably does sound vague, it’s because at the time I’d work out, okay, what’s the best one to do now given the time that I’ve got. Right. Right. Yeah. And Train Line and SNCF app, SNCF connect work well together because once you have booked a ticket, you have a ticket number and you can import it from one to the other. With SNCF app, you can also put your ticket on your Apple Watch if you want to. So, you know, these are pretty nifty applications. I learned today, I hadn’t realized this, maybe it’s new, that you can also buy your metro tickets on the SNCF app. It’s a pretty good app. I run my phone in English, so it downloaded the app in English and so there’s no complications for people who don’t speak French and you do. But speaking of that, was it necessary for you to have some level of French seeing that you were not always in super touristy parts of the country? Okay. So, was it necessary? No. So long as you’ve got you really do need those basic understandings of greetings. You have to say bonjour to people and show respect and yeah have a basic knowledge of the language. I do now speak fairly good French probably better than I spoke when I was at the boot camp because I’ve started a French cafe. So every week we meet and speak French. I think that was one of the great advantages for me that although I love traveling solo, I also like talking to people that I meet and I got into some really interesting conversations when I was on a train or sitting next to someone in a cafe couple of times sitting in a garden and there’d be someone working on the garden and we’d start talking. So I think if people can work on their French before they go to France, it really pays off. One time in particular, the only time I had a problem with accommodation, most of the time I stayed in host and there was one time when I stay had a night in a hotel and my booking had been stuffed up and it was actually very useful then to be able to speak French. Yes. Yes. I should say that you are a very sociable person. You enjoy the company of other people. You enjoy talking to people and so it comes naturally to you. But I think it’s worth making an effort to chitchat with French people if you can. You know, it won’t be lifechanging, okay? But it will be it will make your journey more pleasant. That’s for sure. I often read on Facebook sites people who feel very weary and imagine that every person who approaches them is going to be a pickpocket. And you do need to be sensible. Would never doubt that traveling in any situation. But don’t expect the worst from people. Yeah. Smile. Yes, smile. Be a real human being and try to talk to people. That’s excellent. Okay. So, we know that you use the SNCF and train line apps. What else did you do to plan for this trip? Okay. So, the way that I do it is once I had my cities in place and one thing with the budget is it’s I find is you’ve got to think where do I want to spend my money. So for some people they would make eating out or trying different wines or exploring different shopping areas for example a priority and that’s really good for me. I knew that the things that I really wanted to do were to see art galleries to see museums and I do have a thing about visiting gardens. So that was another reason why the places that I went to I actually looked beforehand to what museums were there or what gardens were there. So with planning, I would always plan at least three nights in a location. And personally, I think five nights is worth it. Even in a place that people say, “Oh, there’s not much there.” Because I’m a huge fan of slow travel. If you take time in a place and explore, you actually really get a you get a feel of how people have lived over years, what are the particular aspects of each town. Um, you discover some lovely little cafes. I mean my idea of luxury is a cup of coffee and a glass of wine and the height of luxury is a cheese platter to go with it. So I had five nights in Nice and then most of the others were either four or three. So what I would do on every day is pick out maybe two places that I would want to see during that day. I do an awful lot of walking. I prefer not to use not to base things around having to do long journeys on metro or something like that. And quite often I would choose places that are maybe about two hours apart, two hours on foot because part of what I enjoy doing is walking somewhere and looking at the buildings, looking at the gardens, all those things. So that’s a long walk. I mean, you know, if you are going to walk 2 hours between the venues you want to visit and then back to your accommodations, what you were walking for six. Yeah, I quite often do that though. I’ll set up early in the morning. Yeah. So, it’s not for everyone. The point to making though, Annie, is not to think, right, I’m going to see this museum and then I’m going to see that walk and then I’m going to do this restaurant and then I’m going to do this. It’s just keep it very simple, but know where you want to go. Yeah, you will always find somewhere to eat along the way if you’re hungry. Now, if it’s super duper rural, like in my village, but there’s under 3,000 people in my village. If you don’t eat when the one restaurant is open, well, you’re not going to eat because there’s no grocery store. You know, you have to kind of be aware that there are places where your choices are limited. But most places you’ll find something. And that’s really relevant because I stayed in towns. I didn’t stay in small villages because I was reliant on public transport. Uhhuh. Yeah. Tiny villages you really need your own wheels. You need a bicycle at least, you know, so you can get around. Did you find that that there were safety concerns? Any, you know, because if you’re walking for six hours during the day, did do you sometimes run into places that were, oh, not so sure about this place? No. No. I mean, I probably was on my own in places like India and elsewhere and and and it’s I don’t take silly risks. I really don’t. So, Nice, for example. No, I mean, I was staying in very safe cities and I don’t go out late at night. That’s just me. But I just I mean one of those things though with the walking is I’m a huge fan of voice tours. So that was again part of the planning and when I was in Paris your voice tours are absolutely amazing. Well thank you Elena. I’ve done all and just love revisiting them. Some of them I checked. Part of my preparation listening to podcasts was in particular Join us in France, searching for the towns where I was going to stay and seeing what episodes related to those places or the interviews. And through that I came across Genie Oliver’s voice tours in Nice. Yes. Both of Pers and that’s really interesting. And obviously Elise’s tour for Tulus for Tulus. Yeah. And there were two more for Bordeaux. I can’t remember the name of the person. They didn’t come through join us in France to be honest. They weren’t, you know, the outstanding ones. Your Paris ones are the outstanding ones. But when I Paris, the time that I planned in Paris was actually around your voice tour in this case of is it le I always Le All Le All. You don’t. Yeah. I always mispronounce that one. No le that one. I loved that tour. I really love. Thank you. Because you can think you know a place reasonably well, but often with the voice tour when it’s done well, the person will take you to places that you may not have noticed and tell you background stories and you can stop and start as much as you want to. And if it’s raining, you just go and sit in the cafe and it’s so much cheaper than doing one of the, you know, guided tours that often aren’t done very well. A lot of the ones that you mention here are all on the voice map app. And any town in France you go to, they’ve actually voice map is asking me if I would write tours for other cities. Apparently there’s a ton of people searching for a tour of Lur and Burak. Yeah. And I’m like, okay, I’m not too far from either one of these cities. I guess I could. It wouldn’t have occurred to me. But people do search for these voice map tours because they enhance your visit. like somebody has done the research, somebody can take you to the right places, somebody can tell you the stories and the history, the as we say in French, you know, you have history with a big h, big events and then you have the little histories that make it fun. So, and another one I’ll just tell people because I often see questions about this. In Paris, as I said, I did le I’m gonna say it wrongly again. Le le Allah. Why else get that one wrong? Le just pretend there’s no a That’s my problem. Le also I was staying very close to beer’s cemetery and I wanted to see Edith P’s grave again. And there’s a really good one. It’s free. It’s on Rick Steve’s app and he does a tour of Perl Cemetery and that was really useful for finding the caves that people want to see and some that you’re probably not or most of us aren’t aware of there. That was a really really worthwhile one to do. Very cool. Yes, Ray Steves has several free tours that are also quite good. I’ve walked some and they were fine, you know, and there are other companies that also do voice tours. If you just do a search for audio tour of XYZ place, you will find different companies that provide these. Another thing I found that I needed to do. So I started in Nice because obviously because of the number of artists who lived and worked there and the museums check in advance whether the museums are actually open. I was fine because the Shagal Museum was the one that I really wanted to see, but I think there were three others that were actually closed at the time that I was there, which is fine because there’s so much to see. But that thing of checking in advance, especially because the number of public holidays or swap overs of exhibitions is really important. Exactly. That’s one of the few reasons why it’s good sometimes to try to buy your ticket in advance is because at least you’ll visit the website and if you try to buy a ticket and there isn’t any available you might wonder oh why it’s a good thing to check. So in these the first day I walked up to the monastery I I stayed in a wonderful wonderful hostel and lots of people said to me are you staying in hostels in I mean this was in a mixed dorm [Laughter] and it was full and it was fabulous because it was in an old church an old chapel and the couple they run it extremely well I think it’s called Laayun guest house it’s right in the old and they’ve traveled widely and they basically have taken their ideas from what they’ve experienced and what they would hope for. So there’s a real emphasis on peace and quiet and very clear guidelines and everyone sticks to them and beautiful breakfast in the morning and I got to meet some really interesting people but I could still go off and do my own thing which is what I like doing. I went to the monaster which is a beautiful beautiful eco garden and then you can walk down the hill to the chagal museum which is really worth visiting just stunning and then from there I could walk to the Russian Orthodox Church in Nice and I mean Nice is so rich in history isn’t it? Yeah, it’s a beautiful city. It’s a lovely city and it’s well worth spending. You could easily fill five days in Nice. You could easily fill 10 days in these really. There’s a lot to do. And I should mention that you sent me some very detailed notes of your trip. So there will be a page called guest notes. So if you go to the episode page for this episode and then click on the guest notes, you’ll see everything she sent me. I mean, you had notes about check-in hours for the specific hostel and things like that or how long it would take you to walk somewhere. Oh, that’s part of my planning beforehand. I look at how I’m going to get from the station to the place. I know lots of people take Ubers and that’s fine, but I just tend not to. That’s just me. I love being able to use a bus or else to walk. But yeah, I do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And in France, Bolt is also a good possibility. You know, I’m trying to get away from Uber. If I have to, I call a B or a taxi. And you I assume you travel light. I always travel very light. Yeah. So that I can walk. And I now use being older. Look, I’ve had this for donkeys years. I think I’ve probably had it for 20 years. It’s an Osprey wheeled backpack, a small one, but it has an attached day pack that can come off. And it’s light enough and small enough that I can pull it along or I can wear it as a backpack or I can put away the backpack straps and just carry it like a suitcase. And most important, and this is really important if anyone’s traveling by train, there is very limited luggage space on trains. So although there are the racks by the doors and they would fill up absolutely immediately. I don’t know that I felt comfortable would feel comfortable putting the suitcase there anyway, but the Osprey backpack actually fits in the narrow luggage rack above your seat. Wow, that’s nice. The whole backpack fits up there. Yeah, I took off the daypack and then it was narrow enough to fit up on the luggage rack. Wow. Wow. We’re never any problems with security and you do the obvious things like keeping your eyes on it and Right. I mean, trains are safe. I haven’t heard of theft on the train, but you’re right. Common sense. Yeah. It just takes one thief, right? Yeah. I just saw some people with very big suitcases and I just thought, why are you making life difficult for yourself? Yeah. Because if you’re absolutely needing something, you can always get one. Yeah. I mean, is very well equipped. Yeah. If you’re unsure about should I bring this or not, my answer is probably don’t because if you really really need it, you’ll get it there. So some of the places I managed to go and a lot of it was you know jumping on buses or walking or getting advice from other people. So Paul deceas and the fondacion my is it might I’m not sure how they say that it’s not a French word. Everyone should go there. Wonderful wonderful collection of art and also a collection of art books. So from different artists like Matis and others. Absolutely stunning. And then from there you can walk along a path which is along a kind of little ridge to Kanye sume where there’s the museum Benoir where he used to live and as you walk along this path and most people seem to be taking buses or driving rather than doing this walk you come to locations where NY and others have done paintings and there are copies of those paintings in position so you can see what the artist was see it was just stunning wonderful I think was probably one of my favorite places. A lot of people I know for good reason and I would say do the two if you can. Yeah. So also do the museum in Kenya. Yeah. Absolutely. Especially you know to sit where his studio is and see the olive groves that whom I painted. film clips of one in particular of an elderly lady talking and she was one of his favorite models when she was a child growing up and she’s just describing the family life and atmosphere. Really beautiful. Wonderful. Somewhere I didn’t like but again this is me. Yeah. People talked a lot. Oh right. If you’re going to go to Nice, you’ve got to go to Is it EZ? Ez and the Shadow Exotic the exotic gardens there. Yes, I personally found as was a disappointment. There was so many tourists. The hostel owner told me that apparently it’s only recently that there’s been a car park put in. Yes. That that coaches can go there and that since then you get very large groups occasionally going there when cruise ships are coming through and there were just so many influencers taking photo. It was so irritating. Wow. Yeah, but from there if you do go there’s a walk that you can take down from and you go down the shimandit along the mountain and I think that was one of the my favorite experiences in the whole month. It was just stunning scenery. Oh, did you have walking sticks? No. I kept thinking it see me now they’re going to be so angry. I fell over twice. Don’t worry. Yeah. Yeah. Walking sticks would be good for me if I was going to do that. I This last time I was in the US, I Okay, this is this is so me. I was at Costco and I saw some walking sticks that look short enough to put in a carry-on suitcase and I bought them and they do fit. And I’m never going anywhere without those walking sticks. If I know I’m going to take walks. I mean, if I’m going to Paris, I’m not going to use walking sticks in Paris, but other places, you know, always have them just in case. Oh, great. Oh, just one. Yeah. This path is where Nick Church actually wrote or was inspired to write and then you get down the bottom and the train station is there. It’s really interesting what you say about EZ because I have been to EZ, but not since they opened this parking garage called the Bing Shul which goes under the plaza. And I’m sure because that was the major problem in EZ was parking and now that they have a parking garage. Yeah, I’m sure it has quadrupled the number of visitors and a lot of visitors who I don’t think realize how difficult it is to walk in is because it’s steep and rocky and they expect quaint little shops and so on and they were just really struggling. There’s so many beautiful places to go to. Yeah, Moishet is about like that as well. You know, people underestimate especially the after 50 crowd. It’s cobblestone. It’s steep. It can be slippery. Where I would recommend and you can do this from Nice easily. I took a bus out to the now it’s on Kat and I bet I haven’t pronounced that properly. The Rothschild villa. Yes. And that is extraordinarily beautiful also with very very beautiful gardens. And that I’d say is far easier for people with any kind of mobility. Yes, it’s flatter. I mean, you take the train and then you have to walk a little bit, but it’s not a super long walk or a difficult walk. No, I took the bus. You take the bus and it stops almost Oh, there you go. You take a bus afterwards. Okay. Even easier. And then from there you can take the bus onto Monton, which is just gorgeous. Absolutely. Okay. Okay. So, you didn’t take a train at all to Sanjanka. You took the bus. I took the bus. Yeah. Uhhuh. So, the hostel where I stayed had all the timets and things like that, but you can find that information quite easily online and it’s really easy. Oh, sorry. Another thing that I bought while I was in Nice, and we’re only on Nice at the moment. It was the Oh, what’s it called? Oh, it’s a card like the day pass for the transportation. No, it’s not a day pass. It was a five day pass. whatever it’s called. It’s in the notes anyway. Yeah, it’s in the notes as if I can find it. I had two things that I could have bought. I decided not to buy the expensive one that I think was aimed more at tourists. I bought a local one and that was it was just a tap on tap off a lot of the time with it. Sud a pass. That’s it. And you said it was on recommendation from Lacklin Cook. There you go. I do. Hello, Lacklin. We listen. There you go. Yeah, we listen to you. Uhhuh. follow your recommendation. Yes. Yeah. Very good. How briefly sidetrack here. How did you pick the host where you were staying? So, one thing that I do when as public preparation is before I go to a town, I’ll just put in a Google, not a Google search, but a search on Facebook with the name of that town and then I’ll put accommodation. And you’d be surprised how many posts come up under little Facebook groups which actually have recommendations for different places. And there is a site and I can’t remember it now because I don’t belong to it anymore because I’m not there but it was something about visiting Nissan Province and somebody had asked a question about hostile accommodation. This place was highly recommended. So then I followed up and did a bit of research. Uhhuh. Uhhuh. Well, I mean, look, I’ve got the Booking.com app and I did a lot through that, but I basically I’d come up with a place and then I I I spent I mean, I get quite obsessive about shall I do that? Yeah. And then I let it go and go with the flow. But using some of those groups and just looking at what people are saying is quite handy. But recognizing what applies to individuals like you know I’m not interested in expensive meals for example so I wouldn’t be looking for where are the good places to eat. Yeah I didn’t look at where’s the good art gallery to go to. All right let’s talk about some of the other places you visited. Well then I went on to Bor after to where I met up with Elise and said hello. It was just lovely. So yeah I was away. I couldn’t join up with you. I know that’s right. See you soon at the boot camp. Then I went on to Bardau and I think I said to you it was real mourning that I’d left this beautiful to with the pink buildings and arrived in Bondor and it’s the white limestone and it was what I did a couple of um voice maps there and then my family turned up and her wife and gorgeous gorgeous three-year-old granddaughter. We went for a meal to this vegan restaurant and I’m thinking, why are we going to a vegan one? It’s my son who’s the strict vegan and then my son and his gorgeous girlfriend walked in. They had flown in from Australia without telling me and it was beautiful. Oh, that’s great. He’s vegan traveling in France. So, what Savas said to me about how he found this place because he had insisted we go there was he uses an app called the Happy Cow. Yeah. And it’s excellent for telling you where vegan I’m not sure about vegetarian places are, but certainly vegan. And this place is called Monkey Mood in the town. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It was delicious food. And I’m not vegan. I am vegetarian. And it was beautiful. It really was. Yeah. What’s your son’s name? You mentioned him, but I didn’t catch his name. So their dad is Greek and he’s Sabus. Sabbath. A V A S. S A W V A S. I had never heard that name. That’s pretty. And my daughter is Maria. Very nice. I’ll just mention on Bdau, a lovely town to visit, city to visit is once I’ve got used to leaving Tulus having a three-year-old there. And this was rainy weather. So people often think, oh, what can I do with a child? So this might be a good tip for people. Her moms had brought her little scooter with her, right? And the scooter has a strap on it. So when she’s scooting along or standing on the scooter, you hold the strap so you’ve got control that she’s not going to go careering into people or into the pavement. It was ideal not having a pusher or a stroller to have to carry around. She loved it because the pavements are so wide and you know she felt in control. It was lovely and there is so much for children to do. It was something that really impressed me in France is that almost every museum that I went into has activities for children, hands-on activities like having building blocks or coloring things or asking little questions. And in Borau, we visited the de, you know, illusions thing. All the family really really loved that with natural history. Again, very hands-on, really interesting. And there’s a whole section just aimed at little kids. Another one that we visited on the Cup was the there’s an exhibition with dinosaurs, moving models of dinosaurs. She absolutely loved it. And there activities like big tubs of sand and you could be an archaeologist. She was given a bucket and some tools and had to scrape away to find the bones underneath and then find out which dinosaur they matched. all those things. Well, just in France, they have these lovely public with the playground areas. I was a bit worried about bringing a three-year-old there and she probably had a better time than anyone else. Very good at saying bonjour to everyone. Yes. And people love a little kid who’s says bonjour and smiles and looks happy. It’s true. Yeah. Yeah. And then so once they had gone then I went on to Lushelle. Can’t recommend that highly enough. Absolutely lovely little town to stay in. I’m very old. I’m sort of mindful. We haven’t got much time so I better not rave on forever. From La Roelle I did a trip to Id which I found a bit touristy to be honest but the history is very very rich. It is Il and all of these islands around there. Some of the smaller ones, not so much because they’re harder to get to, but the ones that are easy to get to, I mean, Indor has a bridge for heaven’s sakes. You know, we covered my bus, right? Right. So, it’s easy to get to. Lots of people. And you were there. I don’t know if we mentioned, but you were there in October. You spent the month of October. I mean, it was still kind of shoulder season. There were still people, but not as many as lovely. It was really lovely. Yeah. I think October is a good time to go to France. This last October was rainy though. So it was rainier than normal. Interesting. Do you know Annie? I look back and all I remember is sunshine and no problems with weather. When I looked back at my photos, I thought, “Oh, hang on a minute. The day I was in Montton that afternoon, there was actually monsoon type rain, you know.” And the same in Bdul the time all the time the family was there most of the time it was raining but we just had such fun it didn’t you know I don’t remembering us and thea my little granddaughter she had a whale at the time cuz she loved splashing in puddles now there are a lot of covered passageways so whether it’s too hot or too rainy you actually can find cover very very easily. It’s a beautiful town. I mean, honestly, the is a gorgeous city. Oh, absolutely. And again, lots for children, including a sandy beach. And from there, I went to Oair, where the apocalypse tapestry is that dates from, is it the 14th century it was commissioned, I think. I don’t remember that day, that detail, but yeah. Absolutely stunning. It’s not until you actually see it, the actual tapestry that you realize what an extraordinary achievement it is. And then we also have a museum in an old hospital which is John La I think his name is and he did a kind of modern version of the apocalypse tapestry after World War II which includes the Hiroshima man and that is so moving really really worth visiting and again a beautiful city I mean the modern section has this lovely shopping center and all those kinds of things but it’s just a lovely city to walk around. I would definitely like to go back. It is. Yeah. And then chart I was very lucky or I mean I knew it was going to happen anyway. I was there the last day that the labyrinth which is in the center of the cathedral was actually uncovered. The chairs are moved back so that you can walk the labyrinth. And the idea of the labyrinth is kind of a meditation a journey. It’s a bit like the journey of life that you’re walking towards and away from the center and you walk alone, but you keep bumping into other people as they’re walking in another direction. It’s a really beautiful experience. So I got there the last day that that was possible about the 26th of October, right? And then spent quite a bit of time around. So most cathedrals used to have a labyrinth because it was part of the meditative kind of pilgrimage and a few have kept them. But even if they kept them, you have to know that there didn’t used to be benches or chairs in churches in cathedrals. This is a newish development. In the Middle Ages, people entered the cathedral and walked around the cathedral. They debulated the ambul is what it is in French. And they would just walk. And if the priests came out to do mass, they would stop some of them, but not necessarily. they would just keep walking. It was just a very different way of experiencing a church. And the labyrinth, like you said, it’s going to the center of your life and then back out and then leaving. You know, it’s entering life and exiting life is what it tries to signify. It’s beautiful. It’s it’s beautiful experience. Yeah. And next to the cathedral there’s LA, the museum of stained glass. And I mean one of the most special things about Chart Cathedral are the windows. I think the most completely preserved medieval I don’t know about the most. I mean the St. Chappelle are also extremely well preserved. I don’t know the most but it they are extremely well preserved. Yes. Yes they are. And during the Second World War they were taken down as a way of of looking after them. And as lovely as they are in situ in the cathedral, there’s bits that you can’t really see very clearly, but in LA, you can go in there and they’ve got each of the windows, copies of them, so you can actually look close up at the details and they’re just fascinating. And then there are little films on how stained glass is made, the whole process, and then modern stained glass. And I found a window that I recognized from my hometown of Adelaide in Australia. And I was almost in tears. Oh, wow. That’s great. That’s great. Yeah. That’s the difference between traveling as a Okay, check. I went to Shak Cathedral. Check off to the next thing and really experiencing a place for a few days. Because if you stay for 3 days, you have time to go to the stained glass museum and you have time to just waste a little time on the beautiful little plazas that they have where you could have a drink or a glass of wine or a meal or whatever you enjoy and you know just take it easy, enjoy the moment. I had done a day trip to SH oh probably about five or six years ago and so that was a day trip and I used it well but had not seen what I saw with staying I think I stayed three nights in chart and during I don’t know whether it’s just during October or whether it goes longer but a lot of the towns had Lumiere so it was charting on Lumiere and there’s a whole walking trail that you can do to see the different buildings lit up and the bridges and stories being told that was fascinating and I wouldn’t have done that had I done a day trip right you can’t do that if you just do a day trip and yeah to do that you have to stay a few night at least one night then you have to stay up until dark or back very late at night and I don’t do that yeah yeah yeah yeah well we need to bring this to a close I’m sure you had many many other wonderful experiences but I will remind people that I will put your guest notes with lots of details about where you stayed and how you got around and things like that because that’s going to save people a ton of time or at least inspire them to go spend some time. Would you say I mean I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that it’s part of the joy of life to travel and take your time, right? I’m as I said a huge believer in slow travel and encounter. Oh, I didn’t even tell you about park de which is you know surprising that I stayed in another hostel student host at font just outside the periphery but at the end of a metro line for my last night and then discovered this place which is a fantastic chateau and gardens. Really recommend going there. But when I was leaving Fontine Ro, I was on the station platform coming up in the elevator and it was a tiny tiny elevator and there was a mother with three small children. She was wearing a hashib and the children were probably three, four and five. They were very close in age, very young. And we all squashed in this tiny elevator together. And the little girl looked up at me and she gave this huge grin and then she made a heart shape with her fingers and she looked at me through them and I laughed and replied to her in French. Also I’m Australian when I’m traveling. And I laughed and I replied to her in French and said, “Ah, the children in Australia do that, too.” And I made the sign back to her and I said, “I’m from Australia.” And then the mother started laughing and she said, “Ah, we’re all traveling, aren’t we?” And I thought, well, that really sums it up. I mean, like, wherever you are, you’re traveling. You’re traveling. It’s a gift of, you know, encounter and connection and being open. We’re wonderful. Wonderful. Well, Elena, you are wonderful. Keep traveling. You are an inspiration. I’m sure lots of people are going to say, you know, I need to take that trip I’ve been hoping to take because and do it their way. Yeah. You do it your way. Find out what interests you. Right. Right. And don’t let budget be I mean you know you can do this most nights you paid what €60 per night or something like that and I didn’t stay in the ultra cheap places I mean you can do that but I knew that I at 70 you know I don’t want the party host for example but yeah it’s just doing it in a way every place that I stayed um I wanted I looked for can I make a cup of tea my big thing went on for Get the glass of wine and a cup of coffee. Give me the cup of tea. Yeah. No, that’s true. That’s true. You have to understand what your needs are and you have to make sure those needs are met. That’s true at any age, but as we get older, it’s even more true, I think. Thank you so much, Elena. You have been a delight to talk to. I can’t wait to see you again at the boot camp. So looking forward to boot camp and keep on traveling my friend. Definitely definitely [Music] a [Music] want to thank my patrons for giving back and supporting the show. Patrons get several exclusive rewards for doing that. You can see them at patreon.com/join us. P a t r e o n join us no spaces or dashes. And a special shout out this week to my new join us in France champions Abigail Merless Stephanie Bradley Gina Late Lon Loren and Mali Leoo. And thank you Robbie for upgrading to yearly. It’s great for me but it’s also good for you because you get two months off. Thank you so much everyone. Would you join them too? You can do it for as little as $3 a month, but if you can afford it, I would love to have you pledge more so you can have access to more of the rewards. So go to patreon.com/join us. And to support Elise, go to patreon.com/lissart e l ys a rt. Somebody left this review of one of my voice map tours this week. Guess which one it was. A wellbalanced tour with excellent information and guidance. Many steep climbs were avoided which meant we could focus on the sites. Another outstanding and wonderful voice map experience. So, can you guess what it was? Well, it was Mum, of course, the place with a lot of hills and a lot of steps. Voice map is like taking a private tour with a human guide who lets you stop whenever you want. Picks up again at your leisure or even goes to a different point on the map. And you cannot do that with a real tour guide. Not even with me. I’m not that open-minded when it’s in person. Podcast listeners get a big discount for buying these tours from my website. And it’s best for me as well because I get to keep more of what you pay instead of giving it to Apple or Google. And if you’re planning a trip to France and want expert help, you can hire me as your itinerary consultant. I will improve your plan if you already have one or suggest one if you’re at a loss. And you can book that at joinusinfrance.com/boutique. Let’s talk about why I recommend you use Decaston Outdoor instead of Kimoot. Both are route planning apps for hiking, cycling, and running. I’ve stopped recommending Kumut because I’ve stopped using it myself as I found a better option. And let me explain why. In March 2025, Kumut was acquired by Bending Spoons. This is the same tech company that snapped up Evernote and Wei Transfer and laid off massive teams. I also used Wii Transfer for a long time and pretty much stopped doing it as well because they made it unusable, I think, on purpose. Getting acquired by bending spoons is not good news for any company in my opinion. The first thing they do is start charging for basic services that used to be free. But that’s not the worst of it. About 85% of Kumud staff were let go. So the people who built the platform are gone. So I’ve switched to recommending Decathlon outdoor instead. It’s 100% free so far. Over 70,000 hiking and cycling routes are available in France with offline maps, audio and visual GPS guidance, altitude profiles, and a clean, easy interface. Community reviews, expert verified trails, and features like exit alerts make it reliable and safe. Decathlon is a large French company that sells sports equipment all over Europe. That’s why they have a strong interest in helping us find great hikes and bike paths etc. It’s owned by the Mulz family like they also own Oon and Laura Merlan and the Llair family. You’ve probably heard of uh Llair grocery stores, right? So couple of the most wealthiest French families right there. Anyway, I see it as a more sustainable option that won’t lose 85% of its staff overnight, which makes Decathlon Outdoor a better choice in my mind and in practice. I don’t really think AM’s companies make money obviously, but information that’s meant to entice the public to enjoy the outdoors and stay active and has been shared freely by users should not be monetized forcefully. It’s like this podcast. There are enough of you purchasing my tours and services that I can make a living without putting the podcast behind a pay wall. There’s no need to be greedy, I think. Let’s talk about the Pompidu Center in Paris. It’s closing its doors for 5 years to undergo massive asbestos removal and renovation work schedule until 2030. That means everything inside, paintings, sculptures, archives, even the library has to move. We’re talking about 120,000 works of art. Some will travel around France and abroad so the public can see them. Others are going into restoration before they settle into a new long-term storage facility being built in Massie, just outside of Paris. It’s not just for the art collections. The biblotech public deformation which is the most visited library in France is also packing up and will relocate temporarily to another part of the city. Behind the scenes, this is an extraordinary logistical challenge. How do you move fragile masterpieces or monumental sculptures safely? Specialized teams are already at work carefully emptying the permanent collection floors and preparing the treasures of the Pompidu for their journey. For the next 5 years, the Pompidu itself will be quiet, but its art will be more visible than ever, circulating across museums in France and around the world until it returns home in 2030. So, if you see any of these pieces somewhere out there, please let me know. I like to hear where they’ve been because that’s always an exciting to find out about. The Bay Tapestry Museum in Normandy is now closed. It shut down its doors in September 2025 on the 1st, I think, for major renovation work that will last until about October 2027. This doesn’t mean the Biotapestry will stay hidden. For the first time, the tapestry is going on loan. Starting September 2026 through July 2027, the British Museum in London will host the full 70meter embroidery. In return, some of Britain’s famed artifacts, including the Sutton Who treasures and the Lewis Chesman will travel to Normandy. The move is stirring a debate. Conservation experts warn the tapestry is fragile. It already has thousands of stains, holes, and tears. But French and British museum authorities say careful planning is underway. Special transport crates, climate control, shock absorbance systems, all part of this preparation. For history lovers, this is huge. It’s a rare moment. The tapestry’s history, its story of the Norman conquest in 1066 comes alive outside of Bayou. And it reminds us of how art, travel, and heritage link countries across time. And I’m glad to hear that it will return to Bayou indeed and not be sent to Paris. Paris has forever asked for the tapestry to go in Paris. And I think that’s ridiculous because Paris doesn’t get to keep all of the pretty things. Okay, we need some of them outside of Paris as well. My thanks to podcast editors Ann and and Christian Cottoan who produced the transcripts and the audio. Next week on the podcast, an episode about how to plan a memorable family trip to France with Heather Edison. There are a lot of things to consider. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you join me next time so we can look around France together. The Join us in France travel podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Annie Sergeant and copyright 2025 by addicted to France. It is released under a creative comments attribution non-commercial, no derivatives license. [Music] Give him [Music] everything. [Music] Thank you. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Yay! [Music]
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We are planning a trip to France for April 2026. I love your podcasts, Annie, and always helpful. Thanks so very much.