Great Continental Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 7: 2. Orleans to Reims on BBC 2

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 7: 2. Orleans to Reims

Michael Portillo travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims.\n\nBeginning in historic Orleans, Michael follows his Bradshaw’s guide to the magnificent stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix, which tell the story of the heroine of France, Joan of Arc. The image of the saintly teenage warrior endures as a symbol of resistance, and her life is celebrated in an annual parade. Michael meets her modern-day incarnation. \n\nAmong the spectacular Renaissance palaces and fortresses of the River Loire, Michael is intrigued to discover a castle much modernized during the 1930s, which became a refuge for a British royal couple embroiled in scandal. The wedding of the former king, Edward VIII, and the American divorcee Wallis Simpson at Chateau Cande in the summer of 1937 was shunned by the British establishment.\n\nMichael takes a spin around the track at Le Mans in a French-built car that won two endurance races during the 1920s.\n\nAt Versailles, Michael visits the opulent palace and neighbouring Trianon Palace Hotel, where his Bradshaw’s guide describes the signing of the Peace Treaty at the end of the First World War. \n\nArriving in the capital, Paris, Michael heads for Montparnasse, where wildly creative artists and writers of the 1920s and 30s spawned new art movements. Michael joins a life-drawing class at an art school with an impressive legacy. \n\nBackstage at the Folies Bergere, Michael asks the 'enfant terrible' of fashion Jean Paul Gaultier about his homage to the black American dancer of the 1920s Josephine Baker. \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

Most recent episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 6. Bergen To Flåm

Michael Portillo embarks on a Scandinavian railway adventure from the Norwegian port of Bergen to the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Spectacular scenery lines his route along two ...

04-07-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 5. Mostar To Dubrovnik

Michael Portillo is on the last stretch of his railway adventure through the Balkan countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. He enjoys a helter-skelter journey on the hi ...

27-06-2025

BBC 2

All episodes