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   Two high-speed train routes are launching in France ( AFP )

Why the new French fast train to Bordeaux shows speed is overrated
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   “One of this year’s most significant European rail events takes place
   this month,” reports this commendable compendium of terrestrial
   mobility. “The opening of two new high-speed lines in western France.”

   From Sunday, the beautiful Breton city of Rennes will be 90 minutes
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   But even writing from an island which has proved unfeasibly sluggish in
   creating high-speed rail links, dare I suggest that this pair of new
   fast lines do not comprise the best thing since sliced tarte aux
   pommes?
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   The Eurostar train from London arrives at a handsome and manageable
   terminus, Paris Gare du Nord. But the high-speed lines to the sud and
   sud-ouest depart from the fearful muddle known as Montparnasse. When
   you alight from Metro Line 4 at the laughably named stop of
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   20th-century traveller, Portbou was one of Europe’s great transits.

   While high-speed trains whizz through on their busy way between Paris
   and Barcelona, this is a place for the traveller with time to spare.
   The resurrection of the night train shows that vitesse is not always of
   the essence. While the new high-speed lines created by
   SNCF will bind France ever closer, there is still room for a touch of
   class and romance on the rails.