Table of Contents for this Episode
Category: Trains in France
23 Nights in Southern France Without a Car
Annie Sargent: This is Join Us in France, episode 595, cinq cent quatre-vingt-quinze.
Bonjour, I’m Annie Sargent, and Join Us in France is the podcast where we take a conversational journey through the beauty, culture, and flavors of France.
I still have a cold. More on that later.
Today on the podcast: 23 Nights in Southern France Without a Car
Annie Sargent: Today, I bring you a conversation with Sally Shockman, an Australian solo traveler who spent 23 nights crisscrossing the south and southwest of France entirely by train.
She covered Bordeaux, Toulouse, Albi, Avignon, Nice, Lyon, and Paris in October, right through school holidays, and has plenty of practical tips on train travel, solo dining, [00:01:00] rainy days, and museum hopping.
Podcast supporters
Annie Sargent: Before we start, this show runs on listener support. If you want to work with me directly, I do itinerary consults, VoiceMap tours of Paris, and day trips around the southwest of France. Everything is at joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
And if you shop on Amazon anyway, starting at joinusinfrance.com/amazon costs you nothing but helps the show.
Magazine segment
Annie Sargent: For the magazine part of the podcast, after my chat with Sally today, I’ll discuss a new security protocol getting implemented in French trains, at train stations, and all sort of public transportation hubs in France.
Meet Annie and Sally
Annie Sargent: Bonjour, Sally Schokman, and welcome to Join Us in France.
Sally Schokman: Bonjour, Annie.
Annie Sargent: Wonderful to have you today. We [00:02:00] want to talk about your trip to France. It was kind of a long trip, you were here for… Tell us when you came and how long you stayed.
Sally Schokman: Well, first of all, it’s wonderful to talk to you, Annie, with you because it was a long trip. And it’s something I’d really like to share.
Trip Timing and Length
Sally Schokman: It was a month. So it was 23 nights in France, 23 days, 23 nights. Turned into a month, or nearly a month, because getting from Australia, you always have to wait a certain amount of days.
Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Yes, yes. And when was this trip? Was it 2025?
Sally Schokman: Middle of October, the first day of the French school holidays, I arrived at Charles de Gaulle.
Annie Sargent: Wonderful. Very good.
Train Travel Adventures
Annie Sargent: And you mostly took the train.
Sally Schokman: I, it nearly all, there were buses, but yes. Yes, I did.
So in that respect, it was a real adventure. It was not always easy, but I don’t think cars are or planes are easy anyway. The train system in France is amazing anyway, absolutely amazing, both local and intercity, [00:03:00] everything. An amazing system.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah. And do you normally take the train in Australia as well or…?
Sally Schokman: Yes. Well, no, because I don’t travel as much in Australia. I more, more go overseas. But I must say if families or anyone wants to go into state, they fly or go on a road trip. Trains, no. They’re not nearly as common. They exist, of course, but they’re not as regular as the trains in South and Southwest France, which are incredibly reliable, regular, and take you to places that you really don’t need a car in a lot of instances, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Right. Right. Well, it’s probably unfair to compare Australia to France. I mean, the size of the country, it’s a continent, whereas France is a small, little place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Solo Travel and Safety
Annie Sargent: And you traveled by yourself as well?
Sally Schokman: This time I did. I’ve done this before many, many years ago, way before I was married, about 30 [00:04:00] years ago. And funnily enough, I did go through some of the same places but never got out of the train except to change trains. So that was another reason I wanted to go to the South. I’ve been to Paris a few times. I’ve been to Europe quite a few times, but never to this part. And solo mainly because I figured it’s a long trip, I’m moving a lot, and my husband wouldn’t really… It’s too much movement for him. It was a lot of time in the train. I mean, most of the trips were four to six hours or, say, three, three to five and a half. And he’s not really crazy about that. He’d rather fly, or stay in one place. And I thought, “Well, it’s the sort of trip I want to do,” and I was a bit nervous at first, but really, France, it’s just the safest place, you know.
And I come back to Australia, and it’s, sadly, I won’t talk about, you know, there’s a terrorist attack a week after I arrive home in Australia. So I can never say… I mean, France, I never felt unsafe being alone, [00:05:00] ever.
Getting to Bordeaux
Annie Sargent: All right, so where all did you go? Tell us where you started and all the places that you went.
Sally Schokman: So, I landed at Charles de Gaulle, early morning, it’s always early morning coming from Singapore because you go Australia via Singapore. And I got the train straight down to, not quite straight, straight down to Bordeaux. The reason being because being school holidays, there wasn’t much available accommodation in Paris.
Look, it wasn’t the right thing to do. I couldn’t get a train straight from the airport because as soon as they become available online, they sell out. There’s very few of them.
Annie Sargent: Exactly, that’s the problem. There’s not enough from CDG to Bordeaux.
Sally Schokman: Exactly. So I got to Montparnasse. I got a taxi to Montparnasse, waited a few hours there, and then got a Ouigo down.
Ouigo Versus TGV Tips
Sally Schokman: I wouldn’t recommend Ouigo. If you’ve got a lot of luggage, I didn’t, but I wouldn’t recommend them anyway. They are really small, and being school holidays, in fact, being most of the time, all the trains were nearly [00:06:00] always full.
Except going for places like, you know, maybe Avignon to Nice, I had a bit of space to myself. But it was, the train was packed, and Ouigos are really quite… If you’re really tired, it’s sort of like…
Annie Sargent: Yes, but you would be, wouldn’t you?
Sally Schokman: Yeah, just get a TGV. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was the only option I could get.
Annie Sargent: Let’s explain briefly the difference. Ouigo and TGV are the same thing. The trains go at the same speed, more or less, but the problem is the services on board are not the same. The train cars for the Ouigo are packed in a lot more.
Sally Schokman: Exactly.
Annie Sargent: And there are more people. There are more families. French families take Ouigo because they can get good prices. And like you said, it’s school holidays. French people go places, and our trains get very, very busy.
Sally Schokman: Very busy.
Annie Sargent: Yes, and finding a spot for your luggage, I mean, I’m taking the train tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I’m taking… On the [00:07:00] way out to Paris, I’m going to be on a regular TGV, but on the way back, I’m going to be on a Ouigo. And the tickets are not necessarily… There’s two different apps, and they’re not necessarily linked. So it’s a bit of a… I think it’s easier for people if you pick, okay, I’m going to travel all the time on Ouigo or all the time on TGV. InOui is the name of it. Because then all your tickets are in the same place, and it’s just simpler. Yeah.
Sally Schokman: The Trainline app seems to have them all in the same place.
Annie Sargent: Oh, that’s good.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. I found that pretty good. But look, this was the only one I could get. It’s the sort of line you have to book way ahead. Whether you’re coming from the airport or coming from Montparnasse to Bordeaux, it’s one of those trains you do have to book way ahead.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. And it’s school vacation, that’s the problem. It’s school vacation. Yeah.
Sally Schokman: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Bordeaux Stay and Hotels
Sally Schokman: Eventually got there, and I was exhausted. I got a taxi to the station, a [00:08:00] taxi from the station, which was beautiful. I got out at Bordeaux and just absolutely beautiful, but raining, as it did for the next five days I was there. Four nights, five days. Pretty much continuously.
Annie Sargent: Oh.
Sally Schokman: I got a bit of a break, but pretty much continuously. But that wasn’t for the whole vacation, that was really just Bordeaux.
Annie Sargent: Uh-huh
Sally Schokman: … and a few other spots. But look, I just tried my hardest. It’s still beautiful in the rain, Bordeaux. I stayed very central, which I did in all the places because, you know, my main consideration choosing a hotel was, is it quiet and central? So you can’t always have both. And this hotel was fantastic.
Annie Sargent: Did you go mid-range? Did you go luxury hotels? Cheap hotels?
Sally Schokman: So I went, I actually didn’t have a budget, but I still got astounded at some of the prices soon as I… because I’d been to Paris a few years earlier, and the difference between then and now, especially in Paris, [00:09:00] less so in the south, southwest, but the just how expensive everything was.
But I honestly… I didn’t have a budget, but I just wanted somewhere comfortable, and it was mainly three-star hotels. I’d rather stay there for safety than stay inAirbnb or anything like that. And this hotel was wonderful. Yeah. I don’t know if you want me to mention the names or not, I’m not sure, but-
Annie Sargent: Well, if you’d like to, it’s fine.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, this was great.
Quality Hotel Bordeaux Centre. Right near Opéra National and right near Notre-Dame de Bordeaux, close to Place du Parlement. Very central and beautiful.
Annie Sargent: Wonderful. And typically you stayed how long in each place?
Sally Schokman: So typically,three nights, four nights. And I did stay extra in Nice. I had two nights up my sleeve because there was a cancellation because of the weather. I was going to go Bordeaux to Hendaye and go to San Sebastián. So, there’s a train that links Bordeaux to Hendaye. Hendaye, I think you pronounce it.
Annie Sargent: Hendaye, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Hendaye, and you can [00:10:00] go to South San Sebastián. So I was going to detour to Spain for two nights, but all the trains were canceled, and I hadn’t booked that one ahead.
So I had two more nights up my sleeve, and I had an extra night in Nice and an extra night in Toulouse. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Okay. You had to make some adjustments along the way as well.
Sally Schokman: Absolutely, and they turned out fine. Yeah. Turned out good, actually.
Booking Hotels and Scams
Annie Sargent: Well, did you use a specific app to book your hotels?
Sally Schokman: Yeah, I used booking.com. But yeah, look, it’s okay. It’s okay mainly because, well, like anything can happen. I had to cancel the hotel in San Sebastián, and you can cancel without being, without having to pay in most cases. And also, I do find, I know it sounds like I’m a bit of a dinosaur, but I do find booking directly through the hotel, if you try and book online, often you can get pretend websites. That’s happened to me so many times.
Annie Sargent: Mm.
Sally Schokman: Fake websites. So, I’ve sort of learned. But I mean,if you’re really, really good, that won’t happen to [00:11:00] you. But it’s happened a few times. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. Usually I book either with booking.com or I call them, you know, on the phone, and it works fine that way. You don’t get any surprises. But… And very often when you call them, they tell you, “Oh, you get a better price if you booked online.” And I was, “Oh, okay.”
Sally Schokman: That’s true. That’s absolutely true, but my French wasn’t quite good enough.
Annie Sargent: Well, yeah, they speak English. They speak English.
Rainy Day Bordeaux Highlights
Annie Sargent: So in Bordeaux, did you have a favorite thing that you did in those rainy days?
Sally Schokman: Saint-Émilion was superb, even though it was raining, it was absolutely beautiful. I got the bus there. There’s a bus right outside the tourist office you can get there. But it’s a very irregular bus because being school holidays.
Annie Sargent: Ah, yes.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
Annie Sargent: School holidays, buses, they reduce the service. Because in France a lot of kids use the bus to go [00:12:00] to school. And we don’t have a school bus system. Like, we don’t have the yellow bus, I don’t know, do you have school buses in Australia?
Sally Schokman: Yes. Yeah, we do, but they don’t look any different.
Annie Sargent: Okay. Okay.
Sally Schokman: They just have a different sign at the front.
Annie Sargent: Okay. Okay.
So in France, I mean, there are school buses that are dedicated school buses that just run morning and night, but kids just take city buses to get to school.
And so during the school year, they have more buses going, and during school vacation, oh, all of a sudden half of the buses are gone… and you’re like, “What happened?”
Sally Schokman: Look, I must admit, it was difficult, and I would’ve liked to stay somewhere like Saint-Émilion a bit longer, even though it was raining. But it is just the most beautiful village to walk around, the views. There’s an amazingplace in… Because most people leave Saint-Émilion and walk around to the wineries, but because it was raining I couldn’t do much of that.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
But in the middle, middle of Saint-Émilion, there’s this Cloitre [00:13:00] de Cordeliers. I had to go because they actually make what’s called crémant. You know, cr- crémant, sparkling wine, as opposed to Champagne, and it’s very much like what we make here in Australia, and it’s… It even tasted like it. It was just amazing. It’s an old Franciscan monastery, and there’s a, like a cloister there where you can sit down, have a drink. There’s a shop, and then you can go even deep down under the cloisters. It’s absolutely beautiful. Right. So Cloitre de Cordeliers is how we’d say it in French. It’s a cloister, and they make wine.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. They make sparkly wine. And that was beautiful. The views of course all around Saint-Émilion are just astounding. I would highly recommend it. If you’re in Bordeaux, it’s much easier to get to when it’s not school, when it’s not off-season, shoulder season.
Because I believe Bordeaux is… Well, Bordeaux’s very busy anyway. It’s a city. It’s very commercial, like Toulouse. It’s got a big city center. It’s got a lot of Zaras, H&Ms, all [00:14:00] those. But if you walk outside, if you just walk, like, past Place de Parlement around Eglise Saint-Michel, the most beautiful streets and alleys and little restaurants. You’ve really got to get out.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Like Toulouse, you just got to walk a bit and get away from the center, which is also gorgeous, but you really feel you’re more in the south of France when you walk outside.
Annie Sargent: Did you take any tours? Did you do any group tours, any VoiceMap tours?
Sally Schokman: I didn’t. Look, I’m sure I should’ve. There were a few things, I nearly got the boat, but that was canceled because of the rain. But yeah, a VoiceMap would’ve been good. This is a very touristy thing, but again, because of the weather and because if you want to rest your feet a bit, get… Those little petite trains can sometimes be really good. Really good, just to give you a really good scope of the city. They give you a bit of history as well, but nothing like an in-depth voice tour, which I should’ve done, but again, the weather was stopping me there.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. And the [00:15:00] little train in Bordeaux is electric, so it’s not even, like-
Sally Schokman: Yep.
Annie Sargent: … Some of these older petite trains are nasty. But the one in Bordeaux is nice. Like, breathe at your own risk, okay? You might die breathing that stuff.
Sally Schokman: Oh, my… Yeah, I didn’t think of that. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Weather Changes and Toulouse
Sally Schokman: So no, Bordeaux’s lovely, but in the end I had to change the… No, did I change? Yes. So of course I had to change my train ticket, and I went straight to Toulouse instead. Originally, I was going to go from Hendaye to Toulouse, which you can do directly.
So I was going… After San Sebastián, which I didn’t get to because it was canceled, I was going to go straight to Toulouse, but I still went straight to Toulouse anyway. I just skipped San Sebastián. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. That’s strange that they canceled all the trains. I wonder if it was the, like, the weather did this or what happened.
Sally Schokman: Yeah, yeah, all… It was the weather. It was the weather. And for that reason too, the train from Bordeaux to Toulouse was really slow. But the advantage [00:16:00] was the scenery is absolutely stunning, because you can see more when it goes slower. So I… That was really lovely. Yeah, it was a beautiful trip, absolutely beautiful.
Rain Gear and Museum Plans
Annie Sargent: So do you have any tips for rain gear, rain dress, for when it rains in France? What do you do?
Sally Schokman: Well, of course I lost my umbrella, but that’s not the point. I mainly went… the reason I went was to see museums, because I just adore them, adore all the museums. It was really a trip to practice my French, go to as many museums as possible. I mean, even though I love French food, it wasn’t so much a gourmet trip. I’d do that… If I was going to do that, I’d do that with someone else.
But yes, there are so many museums in all of these places that really in the rain you don’t have to worry. And still go to places like Saint-Émilion because you will still… You know, take an umbrella. You’ll still get a real feel for the town.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: For the village. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: So I’m going to, again, I’m going to Paris tomorrow, and it’s going to rain on me of course.
Yeah.
And so I’m [00:17:00] taking a raincoat, and I’m taking a hat, like a cap. So to keep the rain off of my face. And an umbrella. So, I will have a cap, the hood of the raincoat, and the umbrella, and hopefully my face will stay dry. Yeah. It’s mostly what I care about, because if my glasses get all, you know, wet and whatever, it’s hard to, it’s hard to handle life when you can’t see.
Yeah.
Sally Schokman: And they do… I mean, I was very careless losing my umbrella, but they sell them everywhere.
Annie Sargent: Oh, yeah.
Sally Schokman: That’s the one thing they sell everywhere. I found they don’t sell everything everywhere. But they definitely sell umbrellas. And yes, a raincoat and a cap is a really good idea because a lot of France doesn’t have undercover walkways everywhere like they do in other countries. A lot of it’s not undercover.
Annie Sargent: I can’t think of… Like La Rochelle has some, but in Bordeaux I can’t think of any. There’s probably some that I’m not thinking of right now but…
Toulouse Museums and Walks
Annie Sargent: Yeah, so the train slowed down for you on the way to Toulouse, and so you got to see the scenery.[00:18:00]
Sally Schokman: I got to see the scenery, and I got to spend an extra night in Toulouse, which meant I could go to Albi. Because originally it was only going to be two nights in Toulouse. And I just… And I thought about this afterwards. I thought, “If I was only going to spend two nights in Toulouse, I would never have got to Albi,” because there’s just too much to see in Toulouse. You need that more time. Got there the first day. Of course you get there at lunchtime, after lunch, because you’re coming from Bordeaux. And I saw a lot of museums there. Some of them were amazing. I mean, the Musée des Augustin.
Annie Sargent: Yes.
Sally Schokman: Impressionist art. The selection of Impressionist art there was just absolutely stunning.
Annie Sargent: It’s reopened. I need to go. I haven’t seen it since its reopening.
Sally Schokman: Absolutely stunning. I will say, though, Toulouse, like Bordeaux, everything opens at 11:00. It’s not the same in some of the other places, but that’s a bit hard to get used to, especially if it’s raining. But 11:00 o’clock is quite late, but I found Toulouse and Bordeaux similar in that respect. [00:19:00] Musée Saint-Raymond archaeological artifacts, well worth visiting.
Annie Sargent: And it’s right by the basilica, which is also very interesting.
Sally Schokman: Yes, the basilica as well, it’s next to Basilique Saint-Sernin or the other one?
Annie Sargent: Saint-Sernin, yes. Saint-Sernin.
Sally Schokman: Yeah, Saint-Sernin. w Saint-Sernin, oh, amazing. Absolutely amazing. And my, one of the highlights was the Convent des Jacobins.
Annie Sargent: Yes. Yes.
Sally Schokman: The Convent des Jacobins, because of the amount of stained-glass windows is just incredible, in the actual cathedral itself, but the rest of it is under renovation. Which I found throughout the whole trip, there were a lot of museums either closed or half of it under renovation. There was so much to look at, in the end, it didn’t, it really didn’t matter.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, Toulouse had a curse of that. Everything was closed for renovations at the same time. Because they all decided that they needed to get renovated around the pandemic, and it took a while [00:20:00] to complete all of these things.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. But there is so much to see there. And also because Toulouse is so, it’s hectic, it’s young, it’s vibrant, very busy.
I did a lot of early morning walks, because it wasn’t raining. I just feel like you get to see another side of Toulouse when it’s very quiet and you walk away from the city. I went to Saint-Etienne and Les Carmes and Le Marché, the undercover market. And I just… And there was no one on the street.
So this is actually another thing about the whole trip. No one’s on the street at 9:00 o’clock. It’s completely different to here.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, they’re going to work. They’re on their way to work. The ones that are up are on their way to work.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. Precisely. Precisely. But a lot of things open late, but it means you can walk and get a really calm feeling of the city.
Yeah.
Which was lovely.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, so in Toulouse I can only highly recommend a guided tour with Elyse or her VoiceMap tour, which is excellent as well. Because it just makes it a little simpler [00:21:00] to find your way around, you know. I also give,when I do itineraries with people, I’ve written a kind of a long walk around Toulouse-
Sally Schokman: Mm-hmm
Annie Sargent: … that would take you probably 12 hours to complete if you did everything.
Wow.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
Annie Sargent: So but if you do it, like, you know, over two days, you see everything. If you do it that way, you see everything on foot.
Sally Schokman: That’s it.
Albi Day Trip Essentials
Sally Schokman: You need two days to see everything, and then you need another day for Albi if you’re going to do a day trip. And why wouldn’t you? It’s so close. It’s incredibly close. Very easy by train. The only thing is the trains aren’t that regular because of school holidays, I imagine.
I’m sure they’re more regular at other times. But it’s so close, so convenient. I went to Albi and I got a taxi from the station too. So, I spent 10 euros and got a taxi up to the village, just because you just want to save your legs sometimes.
Annie Sargent: Yes, yes, yes.
Sally Schokman: That was really well spent, yeah. So…
Annie Sargent: But I should say, [00:22:00] though, there’s also a little electric bus in Albi. It’s a short little bus that goes through, and I think it’s free. And it will take you around to all the sites. I saw it. I was in Albi on Saturday, and I saw it again. So it runs even off-season, because this is January now that we’re recording. And it’s pretty handy. But you have to know it’s there, and you have to wait for it sometimes, you know. So…
Sally Schokman: Yeah. I actually, I thought I did ask her at the tourist office about that. But look, it’s stunning. I mean, it is a walk up from the station. Getting back’s a bit easier, but…
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: It’s beautiful. The trains just aren’t that regular.
So, It’s so well worth visiting.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, Albi’s gorgeous.
Sally Schokman: One of the highlights of the whole trip, actually.
Annie Sargent: I’m now reading a book about Lapérouse, who was a French explorer. Actually, it has to do with Australia. It was one of the-
Sally Schokman: Yes.
Annie Sargent: Yeah
… it was one of the late explorers, because he only… I mean, he went, he came long after Cook and all of these explorers. Buthe was [00:23:00] born in Albi, and he spent most of his life, well, until 15, in Albi. And so I’m reading a book about him. There’s a small Lapérouse museum in Albi that I had never seen before, so I went to see that. Apparently they’re going to open a bigger one, but not until 2029.
Sally Schokman: Oh, okay.
Annie Sargent: … going to have to wait for that one. But Lapérouse is a very interesting, kind of tragic story, because he went around the world but never came home.
Sally Schokman: No. No, he didn’t.
Annie Sargent: He ended tragically on some coral reefs in Australia.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Anyway.
Sally Schokman: No, it’s true. That’s, but I know the museum you’re talking about. I didn’t get to that. And unfortunately, the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum was closed too for lunch. So I would have missed the train back if I had of, and I just heard another one of your, someone else on one of the podcasts say the same thing. It was closed for lunch, and I would have missed the train. It’s unfortunate.
Yeah.
Annie Sargent: So in the summer season, in the warm season, the Toulouse-Lautrec [00:24:00] Museum stays open throughout the day. But in off-season it does, it closes at lunch, and that’s a problem. Yeah.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
Market Lunch and Oysters
Sally Schokman: And I went to the undercover food market there, which was just beautiful.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. I just had a nice plate of oysters and a glass of wine in that market. It’s lovely.
Sally Schokman: It is a real lovely market.
Annie Sargent: They have these little tables, and you can go get a dozen oysters on the half shell and and a glass of wine, and you sit and… The people next to us, they even went and got some bread and some butter to go with their oysters.
Sally Schokman: They’ll give you bread and butter. No, because I found with the oysters, I got given bread a bit.
Not there.
Annie Sargent: Maybe I could have asked. Maybe I could have asked, but they didn’t offer any bread. But these people, they just went and got a big…there were six of them, so you know, they ate it all down.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
And they shucked them in front, and they open them in front of you always.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Yeah, which is great. I just, I love that. So I had quite a few oysters, actually. Not [00:25:00] there. I think I had a traditional meal there from… They had this, like, display of meals, and then they put them in an oven for you. So you choose something, and you put it in an oven. And that was great, because sometimes the menus are just so confusing. It’s really good to see what you’re going to eat.
Annie Sargent: Yes, yes.
Sally Schokman: The menus are confusing even in English.
Annie Sargent: This is a good advice for anybody who visits France. If the covered market, which are typically called les halles, if it’s open and it’s around lunchtime, go to les halles and see what’s there, because there are probably at least a few restaurants. Even if it’s not a very big place, usually there’s a place you can have a coffee or some wine or some oysters.
Market Lunch Solo
Annie Sargent: The people next to us were eating beef. You can have a lot of things. Having lunch the covered market is really, really good. The open air market don’t… Well, they have takeaway food. You’ll be able to buy, you know, a roast chicken to take away. [00:26:00] But inside, they actually have tables and chairs where you can eat, so.
Sally Schokman: It’s a very casual way to eat. And because I was traveling alone, I really liked that. Because some of the restaurants, I think, no, I’m not going to go in there by myself. Although plenty, although there are a lot that I could, and especially in places like Bordeaux, they advertise all-day dining. And I’m sure they do that for the tourists, because, you know, French people they’ll eat at 9:00 or whatever.
But so you can sometimes have an early meal before, if you’re alone, before everyone gets there. So yeah, you just pick your places. Some places are much easier to eat alone than others. Yeah. And markets were fantastic.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah.
French Meal Times
Annie Sargent: And it’s true that dining times are a bit late for, I know for a lot of Americans, starting to serve at 7:30 feels late to them. But it’s true that we also have restaurants that will serve all day. Like, they start serving at 10:00 in the morning, and they don’t end till 11:00 PM.
Breakfast Hotel Tips
Sally Schokman: Saying [00:27:00] that breakfast is always, there’s nothing ever open for breakfast. So breakfast in the hotel is really good. Yeah. It’s really good.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, unless you want a croissant. I mean, if you just want to stop by a bakery and get a croissant, and anymore, a lot of them also will do a cafe au lait to go.
Sally Schokman: Mm-hmm.
Annie Sargent: But not everywhere. To-go coffee is not common in France.
Sally Schokman: No, that’s what I found. It’s such a coffee culture here in Australia, so I just had to do without it a bit. I always had one every day, and it was really nice, but you just don’t find it as much, yeah.
Annie Sargent: But I would tend to agree with you. If you want a nice breakfast with, like, if you like an egg and if you like a bit of protein for your breakfast, eat your breakfast at the hotel. You will have more choices because once you’re out and about, you’re not going to find places that serve, you know, eggs and things. It’s very rare in France.
Sally Schokman: Mm, mm. Oh, [00:28:00] exactly. But the boulangerie is also, as you say, excellent, beautiful. I mean, of course I ate way, way too much of all of that. (Mid-roll ad spot)
Avignon Autumn Magic
Sally Schokman: So yeah, Albi was stunning. Absolutely stunning. And after Toulouse I got the train to Avignon.
Annie Sargent: Nice.
Sally Schokman: Pretty sure, yeah. Yeah, so it’s about a four-hour trip. And I was just completely over- stunned with Avignon. I just thought it was the most… To me, it just epitomizes everything that I dreamt the South of France would be. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s not commercial. Every corner you turn, there’s a park, a garden, a square, tables and chairs, maybe with or without a little cafe, a museum. I mean, there’s six museums in Avignon.
Annie Sargent: And they’re free, aren’t they?
Sally Schokman: Well, the best ones were free.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: It is just the most beautiful city to look at, city / village to look at. I mean, the Palatie [00:29:00] Park was wonderful. You don’t have to go inside. I did.
Annie Sargent: I liked it in there.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. Look, it’s very interesting inside. If you’re pushed for time and you miss the inside, I don’t think would matter. I think the garden’s gorgeous, but that’s… These little gardens are all over Avignon.
Gardens, squares, cloisters, and because it was autumn, it was just so picturesque and so beautiful. I could have spent extra time there actually, because I did three day trips while I was there. But I did get to see some lovely museums there, that Musée Calvet, which is free, and it had the most beautiful courtyard again. I mean, a lot of these museums are for the buildings as much as for the artwork.
Annie Sargent: That’s true. Yeah.
Sally Schokman: And that was one of them. That was free. And the other one that was free that was a real surprise is the Musée Lapidaire, which is the archaeological museum. It’s a small museum with one very big room, but full of the most amazing works. Such a surprise and just [00:30:00] gorgeous. There’s just so much to do there and see, and for such a small town, it’s beautiful.
Annie Sargent: I’ve had a few people on the podcast over the years tell me that they didn’t like Avignon, and I’m like, “How could you not like Avignon?” It’s such a… I mean, if you’re in the outskirts, it’s just like any French city. It’s a bit industrial. But if you go inside of the historical city center, it is fantastic. It is a beautiful city, like-
Sally Schokman: Absolutely beautiful. I have heard… So when I went to one of the day trips, the tour guide told us, she said, “If they give you a negative report about Avignon, it’s mainly from going there in the middle of summer, where it’s just so crowded, it’s less than enjoyable,” because it does get very busy. But certainly not when I was there. It was just… It was really, really like-
Annie Sargent: October is fantastic.
Sally Schokman: Fantastic to travel, particularly there, and it doesn’t have the nightlife that Toulouse has. Not that worried me, but everything closes really early.
Annie Sargent: Oh, yeah. [00:31:00] Sally went clubbing.
Sally Schokman: No, I didn’t go clubbing, but Toulouse is really full on for that sort of thing. I don’t… No, definitely didn’t go clubbing. Yeah. So no, it was gorgeous. Yeah. Highlight. Definite highlight. Yeah. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: All right. And after Avignon, where did you go? You went Nice afterwards, I suppose.
Sally Schokman: So yeah, I did. I did straight to Nice. I did a day trip to Arles, while I was in Avignon, so definitely recommend that. That’s even easier to get to Arles than it is to get to Albi from Toulouse. It’s just a local train, so yes, definitely that.
Nice Museums Markets
Sally Schokman: After Avignon, straight to Nice, and I had an extra day in Nice because of the cancellation earlier on. So I was lucky enough to get a direct train with no changes. And when you’re traveling so much by train, to get a train and not have to change at Marseille was just bliss.
So I got straight… And I think there’s about one a day that does direct.
Annie Sargent: Ah.
Sally Schokman: So that was really easy. And I stayed in the center of Nice, Avenue Jean [00:32:00] Medecin, not far from Vieux Nice, which is the old part of Nice. It’s really beautiful. Gorgeous.
Annie Sargent: Yes. And in Nice, you stayed how many days?
Sally Schokman: So I did five nights there.
Oh, nice.
Yeah. It was originally going to be four,but I, because of the cancellation, so I got to go to the Rothschild Mansion, which is, as so many of the guests have recommended, which was wonderful. I got, just got a local bus there that was fantastic. And it’s a really good way to see Villefranche. You could get a beautiful view over all of Villefranche. Yeah, it’s gorgeous.
Annie Sargent: Lots of nice museums. Yeah, Chagall Museum you were about to mention. Yeah, lots of nice museums in Nice.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Chagall Museum was fantastic and I think it’s a must-see because of the themes. It’s not like you’re looking at individual paintings of Chagall, you’re looking at a whole theme, the biblical stories. It’s really, really fantastic. And yeah, you just walk in, you don’t have to book [00:33:00] ahead. And that’s like the whole of the south of France, you don’t have to book anything ahead, you just walk in. You just book train tickets ahead.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. Do you really?
Sally Schokman: And you can probably just walk into a hotel too. There were so many vacancies.
Annie Sargent: Yeah. In October anyway, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah, in October, yeah. The Matisse Museum was crowded because there was a day of rain, but I honestly… I mean, I love Matisse, but I wasn’t… If you miss this museum, I don’t.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, it wasn’t your favorite.
Sally Schokman: It wasn’t my favorite, and maybe because it was crowded because it was raining. I don’t know, but yeah, there’s definitely… Nice is… There’s a lot to do there. The markets in Nice is something else to do there. The Saturday antique market is wonderful. Yeah. That’s in Puces de Nice. Yeah, what could I say? This-
Annie Sargent: In what de Nice?
Sally Schokman: They’re called Puces, P-U-C-E-S. How do you say that? Puces?
Ah, le [00:34:00] Puces. Le Puces. Le Puces de Nice, Le Puces de Nice.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that’s the flea market.
Sally Schokman: Yes, and it’s huge.
Annie Sargent: Okay, okay. I haven’t seen that one. Interesting.
Sally Schokman: So that’s every Saturday, and on the other days, there’s other themed markets.
Annie Sargent: Yes. And Nice is also full of beautiful baroque churches. So, it’s kind of, it’s like you’re so close to Italy, they had a lot of Italian artists who did beautiful baroque stuff in Italy and also in the southeast of France.
And really, the churches in Nice are gorgeous.
Sally Schokman: They are gorgeous. I probably didn’t get to see enough of them, but they were absolutely, and there are a few around Vieux Nice, Old Nice…
Annie Sargent: Yes.
Sally Schokman: … that we went into, a couple there. You’re right, baroque. Very baroque. It’s gorgeous. I think also there’s a lookout. We walked past it, Parc des Collines du Château.
Annie Sargent: Yes.
Sally Schokman: There’s a major lookout, and we walked past it and [00:35:00] I thought, “I’m not climbing those stairs.”
Annie Sargent: There’s an elevator.
Sally Schokman: But there’s actually a lift up.
There is.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
There’s an elevator.
Sally Schokman: That’s what I thought. I was so, so glad. My sister, I met my sister for a few days. She dragged me there, and I said, “Look, if it’s just stairs, I don’t think I’ll…”
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sally Schokman: But it is, it was really easy, and it’s a beautiful view.
Annie Sargent: Yes. Yes, and Collines du Château, there is no château up there, no castle up there, is-
Sally Schokman: No, no.
Annie Sargent: There used to be a château.
Sally Schokman: Yeah.
Annie Sargent: People go looking for the château, oh, where is the château? No, it’s not there anymore.
Yeah.
So what happened after Nice?
Day Trips Monaco
Sally Schokman: So around Nice, I went to Saint-Paul de Vence. These were just a day trip, and unfortunately I didn’t get enough time at any of these places. But this was just one of those small bus day trips. But I have to say that the highlight was Saint-Paul de Vence. It’s stunning village if anyone ever gets a chance to drive up there for a day. And it’s one of those places you can’t get public transport to at [00:36:00] all. I think you have to, you have to drive. It’s… You could spend a whole day half, half there. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: You don’t, they don’t have a bus from Nice that will take you to Saint-Paul de Vence?
Sally Schokman: Well, we did ask the tour guide that took us, and he said, “If you want to come back, the best way is Uber.” But he didn’t have any knowledge. There should be a bus up there, it’s really, really stunning.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Really. And you could spend, you know, you need half a day there at least, not just an hour or so like we were there. Just getting a feel of it, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Excellent. And so you had a tour guide take you there?
Sally Schokman: Yes. Tour guide took us there to Eze, to Antibes, and also to Monaco. Monaco we discovered, so we were dropped there for a few hours, and most people have connectivity issues because Monaco doesn’t cover your mobile phone. A lot of people are using their mobile phone plan from where they come from.
Annie Sargent: Uh-huh.
Sally Schokman: And just… So I’m using my Australian plan, but Monaco doesn’t [00:37:00] cover anything. So, if you do go there, take a map, a paper map, because we were dropped, and you can’t even ring anyone. And it’s, look, it’s small, it’s lovely, but you know, you can get lost. Without a phone, you can get lost, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Oh, interesting.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. So for some reason, there’s just no international connectivity unless you get something, yeah.
Annie Sargent: But in other towns you didn’t have this problem, just in Monaco?
Sally Schokman: No, no, it’s just Monaco because they have different regulations relating to cyberspace, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Oh, interesting.
Sally Schokman: And data and that sort of thing. Yeah, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Interesting.
Sally Schokman: Being the Kingdom of Monaco, which I think it still is, isn’t it? Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Oh, yeah.
Sally Schokman: It’s very much, you know, it’s a town but it’s not. It’s very glossy, Monaco. It hasn’t got the feel of, yeah.
Annie Sargent: I heard this week that Monaco is the place in the world where people live the longest on average, and it’s… I wondered if it’s because of all the hills.
Sally Schokman: There’s so many hills.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.[00:38:00]
Sally Schokman: Oh, so many hills.
Annie Sargent: You can’t go anywhere without going uphill. Both ways.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. That was interesting to see that. Yeah, very interesting. Yeah, I never thought I’d get there, but yeah.
Annie Sargent: You did.
Sally Schokman: No, it was good. I did. I did.
Annie Sargent: And this tour guide, is this someone you would recommend?
Sally Schokman: Now, look, the one I took, the tour I took from Avignon I would, but this one I wouldn’t because we spent too long in some places and not enough time in others, and he could have restructured a bit better. But also, in Eze, we went there, it was too dark, you know, so timing wasn’t right, and the garden in Eze closes early… in October, so you can’t see the view. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Oh, well yes. Yeah.
Sally Schokman: As well. Yeah. You know the garden at the top?
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you got to go there first.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah. You got to… So he didn’t, he just… So we spent three hours in Monaco. Which was crazy, when we had all these other places to see, yeah. So it wasn’t well structured, I wouldn’t [00:39:00] recommend it.
Annie Sargent: And you had found your tour guides with GetYourGuide or something?
Sally Schokman: Yes, GetYourGuide. But the one I found for Avignon was marvelous. We went to the Pont du Gard and, you know, lots of other places.
Annie Sargent: So, so that one you should probably let me know the… Maybe you have already. I’ll put a link to that in the show notes for this episode, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Definitely. Yeah. I’ll send you the details, yeah.
Annie Sargent: All right. Well, we got to move on to the next place because we’ve been talking 45 minutes already.
Sally Schokman: Oh, God, sorry. I’m going on and on, huh?
Lyon Food And Art
Sally Schokman: So, yes, I went to Lyon. Well, it was a long trip from Nice to Lyon. Very long. I changed at Marseille. Lyon is absolutely stunning. I walked, I think I walked from the station. I stayed, well, between the two rivers, like everyone… between the… Because that’s where the old part of the city is.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: And near Place de Republic in the Bellecour region.
Annie Sargent: Yes.
Sally Schokman: Beautiful hotel. Little, get a little three-star hotel. I had three nights there. [00:40:00] Absolutely beautiful. Stunning place to walk, very easy to get the train. I bought a three-day ticket, which I would highly recommend. And you can go as many places you like on the bus or the train.
Annie Sargent: So this is a three-day ticket to get around Lyon?
Sally Schokman: Yes, three-day, and it’s really easy public transport, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Uh-huh, yeah.
Sally Schokman: Yeah. Yeah, so it had the underground plus the buses. It’s just easy to work… I just worked it all out from Google Maps. As long as I’m on the right side of the road, I’ll get- … usually get to the place, or the right side of the station, I’ll get to the, where I want to go. It’s funny because, the famous Marché Paul Bocuse, that seems to be a fair way from any tourist attractions.
So I don’t know if it’s near any hotels. I got a bus out there, or you could walk out there. You could walk out there. But that is, that is a beautiful marché and… I mean, there’s some local specialties like civelles de Terrine with the pistachios. It’s a [00:41:00] famous Terrine. I tried some of that. So you can go to Marché Paul Bocuse and you could just get a tasting plate. I got the oysters. That’s… I actually sat down and had the oysters and then afterwards a tasting plate. And they give you a lot of things like the Terrine and charcuterie and a glass of wine and… Yeah, so that was lovely.
Annie Sargent: Yes. Lyon is a pork and cream and wine, red wine sort of place.
Yep.
Sally Schokman: It’s really, really well worth visiting. It didn’t seem to be that clo- but anyway, the buses are so easy it doesn’t matter. But my highlight there was the Musée des Beaux Arts.
Annie Sargent: Yeah.
Sally Schokman: For the building as much as the artworks. It was an old palace, apparently, but absolutely amazing collection. Downstairs it’s the archaeological collection and upstairs it’s the Renaissance French, Italian, Spanish, it’s… And it just goes on and on, but in a really beautiful way. It’s just, it’s quite large [00:42:00] but not overwhelming.
Annie Sargent: So you recommend the Beaux Arts Museum?
Sally Schokman: Oh, more than anything, I would say do not miss it.
Annie Sargent: Okay.
Sally Schokman: Do not miss it. If there’s one museum… It just surprised me so much. It was so well laid out, and it had a center courtyard, like so many of these buildings have, with just these amazing trees, all, you know, with the autumn leaves and… just beautiful. So yeah, that was a highlight. But of course there was the Basilica Notre-Dame, and you get… That’s up a hill. Talking about hills. Yeah. La Fourvière. So but your normal train ticket will get you up the hill. Yeah. Get you up to that, and that’s where all the attractions are, the Théâtre Romains, the Roman Theatre the Odéon, which is free, and there is a museum up there. I can’t remember the name, the Archeology Museum, but that’s well worth visiting as well. Yeah. All together. They’re all together, yeah.
(Mid-roll ad spot)
Annie Sargent: All right, let’s wrap it up. Last place you want to mention.
Sally Schokman: That was Paris. Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Next is [00:43:00] Paris?
Sally Schokman: Yeah, so I went Lyon to Paris. Yep.
Annie Sargent: Okay, good, good, good.
Paris Museum Day
Sally Schokman: So I had… Look, I arrived in Paris, I was really tired because I was used to the pace of south of France.
So I wasn’t quite prepared, even though I’d been to Paris before, and I was very sick the first day. So look, I must say, I reckon I wasted a couple of days in Paris, but look, I still had one most amazing day there. Not only one, I think it was more than that. So one day I stayed at Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
And I got up and I got the local bus to the Marmottan, which I hadn’t been before. Local buses, fantastic in Paris. Absolutely fantastic. You see so much, they’re always on time. You just flick your ticket, it’s your normal train ticket pass. So you just fill up your card or you buy online. I just filled up the card. So we did the Marmottan, and on the way back I went to a market in the 14th. I think it’s called Marché President Wilson.
Annie Sargent: Okay.
Marmottan
Sally Schokman: I actually saw that when I- on the bus going up to the Marmottan, so on [00:44:00] the way back, I got off the bus and went to this market. It’s a very long market. Sells everything from food produce to souvenirs to whatever. So I walked right down that. That was fantastic.
Then I went to the Petit Palace Museum. It was a short walk, because the trains were off. Some of the trains had stopped because weekend they renovate as well, or track work. Now that was another trip highlight. Petit Palace Museum, absolutely amazing. Free again.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah.
Sally Schokman: A just, a superb collection. And not so big it’s overwhelming. And again, it’s in a beautiful building. So I did two museums that day, but not at all overwhelming. Marmottan was lovely as well, The Marmottan.
Annie Sargent: Yeah, yeah. I’m going tomorrow to the Marmottan.
Sally Schokman: Oh, wonderful.
Annie Sargent: I’m looking forward to it.
Sally Schokman: Yeah, it is beautiful. It’s got a collection, it’s not only Monet, it’s his contemporaries as well and it’s… Yeah, again, it’s really well laid out, not too crowded. It’s a beautiful [00:45:00] experience. And then in the evening I walk, because I’m staying in Saint Germain, in the evening I walk to Eglise Saint-Sulpice.
Annie Sargent: Yes.
Sally Schokman: Which again, I haven’t had a good look at that. Never had a good look at it. I think I went once with the kids and we went in and out. But I had a beautiful look at… And the organ was playing, they were practicing. The choir was practicing. And I got to look at all the frescoes, the Delacroix frescoes. It was really, really… It’s a beautiful church. Absolutely, yeah.
Annie Sargent: Yes. Yes, yes.
Sally Schokman: Made famous of course by The Da Vinci Code.
Annie Sargent: Oh, it was famous before that.
Sally Schokman: Famous way before that. Long before that.
Yeah.
Annie Sargent: Very good. Very good. Well, we need to bring it to a close, but it-
Sally Schokman: Sorry. I’ve gone, talked too much.
Annie Sargent: It’s fine, it’s fine.
Train Travel Wrap Up
Annie Sargent: But it’s pretty clear to me that you had yourself a very good time, and that you would probably recommend people do this sort of trip.
Sally Schokman: I would recommend it because I think it’s, I think it’s less [00:46:00] stressful than driving, even though I know many of your listeners are fine with driving. But I think they do a lot of work for you on the trains. I mean, you just get there, you get in the train, if you can find the platform. You get on the train and you go. And from these places there’s so many things you can do without a car.
I mean, not all things, of course not all, but it takes a lot of stress out of the journey, it’s far more economical. You get to see… I mean, I didn’t hear any English spoken on the trains. I mean, I think you really get to, to travel with locals most of the time and you get to, you know, observe family life like I did because it was school holidays. I think it’s a great way to travel and I just think France does this amazingly. Even though they have strikes and weather happens, in general, it’s just so easy to get somewhere, in general.
Annie Sargent: Yes, yes. Well, it sounds like you’re able to roll with the punches very well as well.
You know, if something gets canceled, well, you figure it out.
There are always things that happen on a trip. You [00:47:00] just have to be a little bit nimble.
Sally Schokman: Always have to be flexible, yeah, any time of year.
Annie Sargent: Wonderful, Sally, you have been delight to talk to, Sally. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Sally Schokman: Oh, well, thank you so much for listening to me ramble.
Annie Sargent: You didn’t ramble that much. You didn’t ramble that much. You did great.
Merci beaucoup, Sally.
Sally Schokman: Merci beaucoup, Annie.
Annie Sargent: Au revoir.
Sally Schokman: Merci beaucoup. Au revoir. Au revoir.
Thank you, Patrons!
Annie Sargent: Again, I 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/joinus.
A special shout-out this week to my new Join Us in France champions, Stephanie Motter and Lara Hitchcock. Thank you very much, ladies.
And to support Elyse, go to [00:48:00] patreon.com/elysart.
France Trip Services
Annie Sargent: If you’re planning a trip to France and want expert help, I do itinerary consults, whether you have a rough plan and want to refine it, or you’re starting from scratch and feeling overwhelmed. I also lead custom day trips around the southwest of France, starting in Toulouse, generally, in my electric car.
And I have eight self-guided VoiceMap tours of Paris, and podcast listeners get a discount on the tours when you buy directly from my website, which also means more of your money reaches me instead of going to Apple or Google. And all of that is at joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
New Transit Security Powers
Annie Sargent: Let me tell you about something you might notice when you travel to France, especially in Paris and other big cities.
You’ll see security agents and police in and around train stations, metro stops, and public transport. And recently, there’s been a small change in what some of these agents are allowed to do. There’s a new decree that [00:49:00] gives more authority to the internal security teams of the SNCF and the RATP, that’s the metros in Paris.
You might hear them called the Suge and the GPSR. These are not new groups. They’ve been around for a long time. But what’s new is that they can now do things like bag checks, pat-downs, confiscate dangerous items, and intervene a bit more easily around stations, not just inside them. They can also ask people causing trouble to leave and crack down more effectively on things like illegal street vending around metro entrances.
What It Means for Visitors
Annie Sargent: Now if that sounds a little intimidating, let me reassure you, this is not a dramatic change. It’s definitely not something visitors need to worry about. Even the transport user groups quoted in the article that I read about this say this is more a small technical adjustment than a big revolution.
Also keep in mind that France has had [00:50:00] visible police presence in public spaces forever, sometimes with machine guns. This is normal here. It’s part of how public safety is handled, especially in busy urban areas.
It’s not aimed at tourists, and it’s not about targeting foreigners or immigrants going about their day. In fact, the goal is pretty simple, reduce petty crime, improve safety, and make public transport feel more secure for everyone. And the numbers show that things are already relatively stable with a slight decrease in incidents last year.
So when you see uniformed agents in the metro or at the train station, don’t worry about it. Don’t assume anything is wrong. It’s just part of everyday landscape in France. Use common sense, like you would anywhere. Keep an eye on your belongings, especially in crowded areas, and you’ll be just fine.
In other words, nothing to stress about, just another fine day [00:51:00] of riding the metro in France.
My Cold and Seeing a Doctor
Annie Sargent: And about my voice, so, my whole family has had a cold for about a week. Like, colds normally get better after a week. Theirs got better. Mine is still not good. So one morning, I woke up, and I thought, “Okay, I’m done putting up with this.”
And I could feel very, very stuffed up and just not getting better.
And so I called… There’s two ways you can make an appointment with a doctor in France. You can go to Doctolib, which is an app website, and you sign up, and you do all sorts of handshakes and back and forth, and then you’re in, and you can easily do your visit.
Or you can call. This particular doctor saves three spots throughout the day for emergencies. And so I called her secretary, and that secretary is not dedicated to her office. It’s a secretary that handles lots of different doctors.
But when my phone number pops in, it tells her that I’m a patient of this particular lady, and I sounded like I couldn’t hardly talk.
[00:52:00] And she was, she felt sorry for me, and she gave me an appointment the same day.
So I’m just saying this because sometimes, a lot of people, especially in the US, who have never experienced any sort of healthcare that’s not-for-profit, they imagine that it’s going to be horrible, then you’re going to be waiting forever, and you might be dead on the sidewalk before anybody takes care of you, and it’s not at all what happens.
How French Appointments Work
Annie Sargent: Now, there’s a little bit of know-how that needs to go into this. You need to learn how to make an appointment and how to get something quicker because if you go through the website, Doctolib, it’s going to take a week or two sometimes before there’s an opening that will work for you.
So just know that your doctor has usually a few spots, and if you’re completely new, you don’t have a doctor, whatever, start at a pharmacy and ask them what they recommend.
There’s also some emergency services that are available to all in Paris. They cost, you know, between 50 and 100 euros. But they’re really meant for real emergencies, [00:53:00] not for people who have a cold, so I don’t really want to talk about those today.
But honestly, healthcare in France is good, and it’s pretty fast when you need it to be pretty fast.
My thanks to podcast editors Anne and Christian Cotovan, who produced the transcripts and the audio, even with a quacky voice.
Next week on the podcast
Annie Sargent: Next week on the podcast, we’re talking about Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the man who helped save some of France’s most iconic monuments.
We have mentioned him on the podcast many, many times, and Elyse has done a deep dive on this man, so I’m looking forward to this. You know, in the 19th century, many historic buildings were falling into ruin. His work gave new life to places like Notre-Dame de Paris and Carcassonne, closer to me.
It helped preserve them for future generations. He did lots and lots of monuments. I’m sure if you’ve been to France more than once, you have seen some of those things. His influence is still all around [00:54:00] us, and like I said, you’ve probably looked at his work without even realizing it.
Newsletter and Farewell
Annie Sargent: If you want a short recap of what came out this week in France travel, news, a new episode, what I’m paying attention to, sign up for my free newsletter at joinusinfrance.com/newsletter.
Thank you so much for listening, and I hope you join me next time so we can look around France together. Au revoir.
Copyright
Annie Sargent: The join us in France Travel Podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Annie Sargent and copyright 2026 by Addicted to France. It is released under a Creative Comments, attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license.[00:55:00] [00:56:00]
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Episode PageCategory: Trains in France