We had spent the previous night in the castle, after taking the TGV from Paris to Nantes.

NEWYORKER: Sole Mate

At the moment making connections, for example between a Eurostar service from London to Paris and then to a TGV across France or an ICE high-speed train through Germany can be complicated.

CNN: The high-speed rail revolution

Last June, TGV Est opened in France, slashing journey times between Paris and Reims to 45 minutes from 90 minutes, and from Paris to Strasbourg in 2 hour 20 minutes instead of 4 hours.

CNN: The high-speed rail revolution

China already has the world's fastest long-range passenger train (the "Harmony" averages 220mph on the Guangzhou-Wuhan route, compared with 170mph for France's TGV), and soon expects to have the world's largest high-speed rail network too.

ECONOMIST: Business travel

But he said the French Government had a good record in dealing with war graves and had managed to build the Channel Tunnel and the TGV high speed railway line without causing significant damage to cemeteries.

BBC: New battle of the Somme looms

On the down side, opponents point out that the A1 motorway and the TGV line are already saturated, so new parallel services will have to be built - adding to the nine billion euros that the airport will cost.

BBC: Paris plans third airport

Recently, SNCF has announced their low cost service of high speed trains (TGV) that operate in the axis Paris-Lyon-Marseille-Montpellier that will contribute to multiply considerable the volume of expected passengers for the next year, and consequently, the potential WiFi users in the station of St Charles.

ENGADGET: GOWEX bringing free WiFi to French rail stations, starting with Marseille

Of course you can always fall for rural France in the traditional way - through the prism of hotels, restaurants and the windows of a car or TGV - but the options for visiting the countryside are so diverse it is a shame not to add a twist of authenticity to a trip.

BBC: L'Accueil Paysan: Bed & breakfast on a French farm