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: 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

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 4. Sarajevo

In Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Portillo traces the fateful last journey in 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, which ended in the ...

20-06-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 3. Knin To Split

Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches the Dalmatian coastal city of Zadar, once an important Venetian trading hub and still a centre for the production of a Venetia ...

13-06-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 2. Buzet To Pag

Ably assisted by Lila, an expert labrador, Michael Portillo hunts for truffles in the Istrian countryside near the hilltop town of Buzet. His railway adventure through the Balka ...

06-06-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 1. Pula To Pazin

Michael begins a journey across the Balkan countries of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Armed with shield and sword and weighed down by a heavy helmet, he mounts a valiant d ...

30-05-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

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

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 19. Bayeux To Argentan

At the medieval town of Bayeux, Michael Portillo heads for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to admire the striking 70-metre-long work of art commissioned to record William the Conquer ...

03-04-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 18. Rennes To Mont Saint-michel

Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches Rennes, capital of Brittany. At the Lycee Emile Zola, he hears how, in 1899, the school was used as a military court for the s ...

02-04-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 8: 17. Brest To St Brieuc

Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the naval port of Brest, home to France’s oceanographic fleet. Aboard the pride of the fleet, the 107-metre-long Pourquoi ...

01-04-2025

BBC 2

All episodes