SITTING in Eurostar departures at St Pancras Station was an old gentleman – let’s call him Arthur – reading a railway magazine pulled from an aged little brown suitcase. His smile purveyed a mixture of excitement and satisfaction as if he’d been awaiting this trip since boyhood, or at least since the Channel Tunnel opened 17 years ago.

You don’t find many Arthurs these days, and even fewer children who want to become train drivers, but there remains an old-fashioned romance of rail travel.

You lack the privacy provided by the car, but the chance to sleep, read, stare across countryside, or even watch a film on one of those new-fangled laptops, and still get from ‘A’ to ‘B’, can be a relaxing pleasure.

That’s what Bec and I hoped for as we headed by rail all the way from York to the wonderful city of Toulouse in south west France.

Now, for those wanting to reach their destination as quickly as possible, jump to paragraph 15 (and/or visit uk.toulouse-tourisme.com) to find out more about France’s “Ville Rose”. But, we, like Arthur, wanted our journey to be part of the holiday.

We had two hours by East Coast trains to London King’s Cross, then two-and-a-bit hours by Eurostar to Paris, followed by a five-hour TVG cross-country leg to Toulouse.

It’s not as quick as flying, but there’s far less hanging around in departures or arrivals, and trains go to town centres, so that makes up time. There’s also less restriction on luggage, and any Ryanair regular would tell you it’s a much comfier ride.

What’s more, doing it this way meant we could stay over in Paris too. A case of two-for-one when it comes to city breaks. Beat that, Arthur.

On the outward journey we had a night at the dainty Hotel Ariane, on rue de la Sabliere, and on the return we stayed in the Timhotel Gaite Montparnasse, on rue d’Odessa.

Both were chosen as they are near Gare Montparnasse, from where trains to Toulouse come and go. Also close is the underground Metro, which takes you from one famous Parisian landmark to another.

Ariane, with its small rooms but charming décor, overlooked a quiet backstreet away from the tourist trail, but was close to various eateries in a part of town which, though no longer home to painters aplenty like in yesteryear, still had an arty edge to it.

Timhotel Gaite Montparnasse, near the ‘Tour’ skyscraper, atop which you can view the whole city, was remarkably tranquil given it was amid a hotspot for nightlife, with a host of Parisian bars, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and, ahem, adult shops. Nearby was another Timhotel, one of several across the city, that had recently opened. Both were courteous and classy.

By the way, if you’ve time to kill before catching a train from Montparnasse, seek out the secret garden, Jardin de l’Atlantique, which is literally above the station.

I wonder if Arthur knew of this oasis among the 1970s high-rise blocks, or that Gare Montparnasse holds historic significance as the place where the Nazis surrendered Paris in 1944.

Talking of history, we went from looking at the past to staring into the future during our time in Toulouse – which has an historic centre but is also home to the Cite de l’Espace theme park.

An interactive and educational fun park for kids of all ages, you can learn about other galaxies and extraterrestrial life, as well as the space race here on Earth, checking out life-size models of the Mir Space Station and the Ariane V rocket along the way. Watching a (translated) 45-minute film in the Planetarium and Imax 3D cinema is a must.

Toulouse was a natural site for this park given it’s one of the bases of the European aerospace industry, with, among other things, the headquarters of Airbus and the largest space centre on the continent. There’s also an airport north west of the city, for those wanting to fly there.

There’s much more to Toulouse than space and air travel, however.

Sitting astride the River Garone and known as the Ville Rose (Pink City) – due to the colour of the local brick – the former Roman town is France’s fourth biggest city and arguably the most laid-back.

Not that Paris greeted us with the arrogance that besmirches France’s capital, but Toulouse, with its 100,000 students (about a quarter of the population) mingling effortlessly with the locals, has a relaxed, almost Mediterranean feel – perhaps augmented by a Spanish influence due to the migration following Spain’s civil war. Either way, people stroll rather than walk.

Indeed, enjoying the “Midi Toulousain” means taking the time to live.

We were lucky to stay in Hotel Albert 1er, in the centre of town, near the large Capitole square, to the front of which is a beautiful, free-to-enter historic town hall. Our room was spacious and the bed huge.

Nearby are two of the city’s greatest churches.

There’s the medieval Dominican Church of the Jacobins, with its relics of St Thomas Aquinas, and St Sernin’s, the largest Romanesque basilica in Europe, at 120 metres long.

The story goes that in the third century, Bishop Sernin, as punishment by the Romans for preaching Christianity, was dragged through the streets by a bull until death. The basilica, dating back to the 11th century, was built on the spot he died.

Across the city centre is the beauteous St Etienne’s Cathedral, which also dates back a millennium, and a splendid old Augustine monastery. An example of southern Gothic architecture, it now houses paintings and sculptures going back to the 12th century, as one of Toulouse’s several museums and art galleries.

Another, the excellent Natural History Museum, like Cite de l’Espace, leaves you contemplating the meaning of life but from a different perspective.

The space place is a taxi or bus ride away but the rest are in walking distance. Then again, there’s the relatively new underground, which only has two lines but is spick and span – something Arthur would appreciate.

For sports fans, the city has a football team and clubs in both codes of rugby, with the union team among Europe’s best and the league outfit, Toulouse Olympique, hoping to one day win a place in Super League.

Olympique play in the Co-operative Championship, alongside York City Knights, having been granted a place in the English leagues. Taking in a game at their lovely Stade des Nimines (aka Stade Arnaume), a Metro ride to the northern suburbs, is an enjoyable way to spend an evening whether in rain (we saw York win during an almighty thunderstorm) or shine (like normal), regardless of whether you follow a team (me) or don’t follow rugby at all (Bec).

Gastronomy is also part of the Toulouse lifestyle.

Like most cities, world foods are available, but then the local region – it’s in a beautiful part of France, with day trips aplenty – is famed not only for globally-renowned wines but also the freshness and flavour of its produce.

Bec and I tried the busy but cheerful bar-restaurant Le J’Go, on place Victor-Hugo, eating in the modern rustic dining terrace upstairs. We found the paté sumptuous – and learned that the local lamb was so good the natives get the sheep to reproduce all year round to meet demand.

Then there’s L’Epilogue, a stylish joint on rue de Metz, which provided proof duck is also a speciality of the region. As for its ambience, it’s like a laid-back version of what you’d hope to find in the centre of Paris.

And so we return to the French capital.

From our Timhotel base, we did a tour of some traditional sights – the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Museum D’Orsay and Sacre Couer. Saying this wasn’t a bad way to break up the journey back to York is an understatement. I hope Arthur had as good a trip as we did.


Fact File

Trains:

• York to London – East Coast Trains (advance return fares, booked online, start from £26 standard class or £79 first class; book via eastcoast.co.uk, phone 08457 225225 or visit any staffed station).

• London to Paris/Toulouse – Eurostar (Toulouse is accessible via Eurostar using a connecting TGV service in France. Return fares from London are available from £119. Eurostar also offers connecting fares from more than 200 stations in the UK. For information and bookings, visit eurostar.com or phone 08432 186186).

Paris tourism: visit parisinfo.com

Timhotel hotels (including Gaite Montparnasse and Montparnasse): visit timhotel.com

Toulouse tourism: visit uk.toulouse-tourisme.com and weekend-toulouse.com