Arriving in Paris at the Champs de Mars station, Michael takes in an epic view of the city from the top of the Arc de Triomphe before heading for Montparnasse, where wildly creative artists and writers of the 1920s and 1930s spawned new art movements. In one of the area’s elegant cafes, Michael learns about dada and the avant garde during the Crazy Years after the First World War.\n\nBackstage at the legendary Folies Bergere, Michael asks the 'enfant terrible' of fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier, about his homage to the black American dancer, Josephine Baker, and goes backstage to meet the stars of the show.\n\nEast of Paris, in Champagne country, Michael finishes his journey in style with a tour of the cellars at Domaine Pommery and a glass of fizz with the owner.
Source: BBC 2
Series 8: 16. Nantes To Lorient
Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful and historic regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of th ...
12-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 15. Zweisimmen To Lausanne
Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera.\n\nIn Lausanne, he contends with a knife-w ...
05-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
29-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 13. Zurich
In Zurich, Michael Portillo has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings and artistic haunts of the Dadaists, a group of artists who found refuge in the city during the ...
22-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 12. Sedrun To Schwyz
Michael Portillo ventures into the bowels of an immense hydroelectric dam to learn how the Swiss use their mountainous environment to power the country.\n\nHe winds his way by r ...
15-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 11. Maienfeld To The Rhine Gorge
Michael Portillo is transported 150 years back in time to the tiny Alpine village home of Switzerland’s most famous child, Heidi. In Davos, he follows in the footsteps of ...
08-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 10. Roskilde To Copenhagen
Michael Portillo concludes his epic rail journey across southern Norway, the Jutland Peninsula and the Danish archipelago. He crosses one of Europe’s epic rail engineering ...
01-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 9. Aarhus To Odense
Michael Portillo’s Scandinavian rail adventure reaches Denmark’s second city, Aarhus, an architectural playground with dazzling contemporary buildings set alongside ...
25-07-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 8. Larvik To Holstebro
Michael Portillo’s saga through Norway and Denmark resumes in Larvik on Norway’s southern coast, where he investigates the city’s prized natural resource, a di ...
18-07-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 7. Myrdal To Heddal
Michael Portillo’s rail journey continues on the Bergen Line, heading towards the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Carving through the mountains across some of Europe’s mo ...
11-07-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 15. Zweisimmen To Lausanne
Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera.\n\nIn Lausanne, he contends with a knife-w ...
05-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
Michael continues his rail journey through Spain with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide. At the Museo Reina Sofia, Michael hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque reg ...
24-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 8: 16. Nantes To Lorient
Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful and historic regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of th ...
12-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 8
Michael continues his railway journey from Sicily’s capital, Palermo, through the ancient town of Agrigento and the port of Siracusa to Europe’s largest volcano, Mou ...
16-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 8: 20. Lisieux To Giverny
In the apple orchards of the Calvados region, Michael Portillo discovers how the classic digestif has been distilled since 1865 at the Pierre Huet estate. Over a selection of vi ...
04-04-2025
BBC 2
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
29-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 5 - Reversions: 5. Genoa To Brenner Pass Part 1
09-06-2017
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 6
Michael Portillo continues his journey through Germany, guided by his 1936 Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide.\n\nAt the birthplace of Germany’s first democracy, W ...
28-12-2022
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 4
Arriving in Paris at the Champs de Mars station, Michael takes in an epic view of the city from the top of the Arc de Triomphe before heading for Montparnasse, where wildly crea ...
28-06-2024
BBC 2