WESTERN EUROPE - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 50

065 FeaSt your way throuGh
Southern italy

066 take the train-hotel From
pariS to madrid

Foodies who like a bit of exercise can now lace
up their walking boots and enjoy the best of both
worlds. Ferula Viaggi's five-day “Slow Foot, Slow
Food” holiday, based in Matera - an enchanting
city whose labyrinth of stone houses were
carved out of a ravine - is a gastronomic tour
of southern Italy that combines highlights of
Italian cuisine with walking itineraries, so that
you can feast on the best of the region's produce
without having to worry about your waistline.
You'll taste bread from bakeries in Matera,
wine from Aglianico and cheese from the
mountains, then burn it all off as you cross
the green meadows of the southern Apennines
towards the small villages of the Lucanian
hills and mountains in Basilicata. En route,
you'll stay in an agriturismo and a locally run
hotel, with workshops on slow food and cookery
courses.
For the more adventurous, Ferula Viaggi also
organizes cycling holidays in the region. Starting
from Matera, you'll pass through the orchards
and olive groves of the Bradano Valley, cycle
around the wheat-covered hills surrounding San
Giuliano Lake and climb up to the Lucanian
Dolomites. Guests stay in agriturismi and
three-star hotels and then return to Matera by
minibus. The total cycling distance is 330km
(you can also opt for an extra night in the
mountains at Pollino and another by the sea
at Maratea) and there are plenty of uphill and
downhill stages, so remember to pack windproof
clothing and a water bottle. Then help yourself
to another salami.

As you enter your private cabin, the train
manager checks your tickets and asks you
whether you'd prefer dinner at eight or ten
o'clock. Choose 8pm - in the summer - and
you can catch the sun setting over the French
countryside as you sit down to a three-course
meal and a glass of Rioja in the dining carriage.
When you return to your cabin, the curtains will
be drawn and the bed made. This is civilized
travelling, and it's not even the Orient Express.
Welcome to the “Francisco de Goya” train-hotel
- an intercity sleeper service from Paris to Madrid.
During the night the train trundles through the
southwest of France, the Pyrenees and northern
Spain, and you're woken up in time to take a hot
shower in your cabin, followed by breakfast before
the train pulls into Madrid at 9.10am.
This, of course, is the luxury way to do it - in
Grand Class. The next class down is Club Class
(a private cabin with a washbasin), followed
by Tourist Class (four-berth cabins with a
washbasin) or if you're on a tight budget you
can opt for just a reclining seat. Though prices
can seem a bit steep, remember you're saving a
night in a hotel, and the price for Grand Class
customers includes an excellent meal and wine.
There are similar train-hotels between several
other European cities: “Joan Miró” links Paris
with Barcelona, “Pau Cassals” links Zurich with
Barcelona, and “Salvador Dalí” links Barcelona
with Milan, plus you can join the train at
selected cities en route.

Need to know Trains depart daily from Paris
Austerlitz at 7.46pm. Your passport will be taken as
you board and is returned just before you arrive in
Madrid. In Grand Class or Club Class you're given
a key for your cabin, but in other classes don't
leave valuables in unguarded belongings. For more
details about the service, including a virtual tour of
the trains, see W www.elipsos.com. For reservations
visit W www.raileurope.co.uk; T [phone]
064.

Need to know Take the train from Bari to
Matera on the Appulo Lucane railway ( W www.
fal-srl.it - Italian only). There are also direct bus
connections from most main Italian cities to Matera
( W www.marinobus.it). For prices and booking for
walking holidays see W www.ferulaviaggi.it; T +39
0835 336 572; for cycling holidays see W www.
bikebasilicata.it.