The cheapest way for us to leave our south coast paradise to head to our friends’  (Nina and Rob) wedding in Germany, was to book an overnight train to Paris, then switch onto the super fast Thalys that would go direct to Koln (Cologne). We ended up spending our last day in Cannes, as there are few luggage storage spaces in France. I think they are wary of bombings as to get our luggage locked in a locker in Cannes we had to go through a security scanner into a separate room and lock our gear up for the day. Then we headed back out into the sunny beaches of Cannes, and looked out for more movie stars. We broke the snacking rule and had a picnic on the beach, then wandered the old town. We tried to book a ticket to a movie, not part of the official selection but still part of the festival for the general public – we were just a bit too late to take part in Cannes movie history!

We got on our night train in Cannes, 2 hours late, and after a debacle with finding our sleeper carriage and no lights, we had a luxurious nights sleep in the quiet and comfortable train – v different to Vietnam, but not as exciting either. We were worried we would miss our connection to Germany as we had to use the Paris metro to cross town from Gare d’Austerlitz to Gare du Nord. Now that we were experienced metro goers however it was no problem and we navigated the system, crossing Paris to our next train. Out of the window we got our last French view for a while, of the Seine with the dappling water and bushy spring trees, and old concrete buildings. It was so romantic!

We had to break the snacking rule again as we had a croissant and coffee waiting for our last train. Everything is better in Paris as the croissant tasted light and puffy, and the black coffee in a tiny cup was a perfect wake up.

The Thalys is the fast train from Paris to Cologne, it goes up to 300km an hour! It was only a few hours and we were in Cologne for lunch, being picked up by Nina’s friend. It was so nice to be picked up in a big strange city, and she took us by tram to their flat where we’ve been staying for a week! We have a lot of hospitality to repay once we settle down.