Guest Post & Giveaway - Thoughts on French Trains by Jan Ellis - Paris Weekend

Thank you, Rachel, for inviting me to take part in your Valentine's Day post about Paris. I'm a huge fan of the city and all things French!

To my mind, there's only one way to travel to Paris and that's by train. There's nothing quite like jumping on the Eurostar at King's Cross, holding your breath through the tunnel (or is that just me?) and popping up a short time later in La belle France. There's a melancholy sensation as you whiz across the plains of the north with its treeless landscape and low, red-roofed farm houses but entering the mayhem of Paris is always thrilling.

One of the perennial surprises about the capital is how French is always seems! Let me explain what I mean: London is like an exotic island marooned in the south-east of the country. It many ways it couldn't be more English and yet there is nowhere else quite like it in the whole of the UK. But Paris is France with nobs on: full of fiercely efficient waiters, excellent food, very chic people and enticing shops and galleries down every back street. It doesn't matter how many times I cruise along the Seine or sit at a pavement café pouting and trying to look like a native, it always feels like being on a film set.

I been lucky enough to visit the city many times over the years, but perhaps what I love most is the mad dash across town to catch the TGV south. I adore double-decker trains and made sure that my heroine in An Unexpected Affair caught one with her sister when they were travelling down to the Rhône-Alpes from Lille to look up an old flame.

The train really is the best way to cross the country, especially if you're on a romantic mini-break. Wave au revoir to the horror of airports with the endless hanging around and hatchet-faced customs officials and say bonjour to the Train à Grande Vitesse.

There is nothing to compare with the decadence of lounging at one of the high tables in the café-bar of a TGV Duplex eating delicious croques monsieur with a chilled vin blanc or two as the landscape hurtles past at 200 miles per hour. It's an experience that sets you up nicely for stepping off the train and into the heat of Marseille, Nice, Grenoble or wherever else you are fortunate enough to be heading. I can highly recommend it – and don't forget to call in at the Eiffel Tower on your way home!

Giveaway to win a PDF of French Kisses by Jan Ellis (Open INT)

Jan has very kindly said I can give away a PDF copy of French Kisses to one of my followers. 

Giveaway open internationally, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 19/2/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

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About Jan Ellis

Jan Ellis began writing fiction in 2013 and is proud to be a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. An Unexpected Affair, French Kisses and A Summer of Surprise were published as ebooks by Endeavour Press and will appear in two paperback volumes with Waverley Books in July 2016. The Bookshop Detective will hit the shelves in spring 2017. Jan's latest ebook, Kate in the City, will be out in March 2016.

* Find Jan's ebooks here: Amazon UK
* To read extracts and to discover more about the French locations for Jan's books, check out her website:http://www.janelliswriter.com
* You can also follow Jan on Facebook and on Twitter @janellis_writer.com

Thank you so much Jan for agreeing to come onto Rachel Random Reads and for the giveaway. I love your comparison of London and Paris.