London to the Mediterranean - without changing train

Swaying in a carriage on board the first Eurostar train from London to Marseille, the renowned French chef Raymond Blanc is telling a lyrical story about his mother's garden.

"It's about love," he says. "And passion. And connection." Maman Blanc's vegetable patch is, it turns out, a metaphor for the journey. At one point he breaks into song. It all makes perfect sense at the time, perhaps because the 7.19am departure time, combined with the prospect of leaving behind cold, grey London for the warmth of Provence, has fuelled a giddy atmosphere.

Blanc, chef-patron of the two-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire, is Eurostar's culinary director but not a regular fixture on board. Rather, his presence is part of the celebrations marking this inaugural journey: before the train leaves there are musicians and staff in Breton stripes and boaters at St Pancras International station, and everyone is smiling madly in a way that indicates they haven't had quite enough sleep.

It might seem early for such festivities but Eurostar's enthusiasm is understandable - this May 1 departure is perhaps the most exciting since the first trains ran from London under the English Channel to Paris and Brussels on November 14, 1994. For the first time, passengers can now travel from the Thames to the Mediterranean without changing trains. So, weekend breaks for residents of both cities will be easier, and visitors from outside Europe will be able to create hassle-free itineraries that flit between the Cote d'Azur and the British capital without recourse to flying. The direct train only cuts the journey time by about 40 minutes (compared with taking Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord then changing to a TGV from Gare de Lyon to Marseille) but, crucially, it removes the need to rush across Paris by Metro or taxi with luggage in tow.

Eschewing planes certainly makes for a more civilised departure. There is no trek out from the city centre to a distant airport, baggage does not have to be checked in, and no one confiscates your water when you pass through security. The only jarring note is the now rather dated-looking Eurostar trains, with their grimy exteriors and livery that has barely altered in two decades. That will change in November, when the company rolls out its brand new fleet. With interiors created by Italian design house Pininfarina, best known for its work with Ferrari, the sleek new trains will add seats and cut journey times across the continent, with Amsterdam being added to the list of destinations.

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On board, lunch of tarragon chicken and dauphinoise potatoes is served, and then a man arrives with a trolley of Provencal rose and begins a wine tasting, despite my watch telling me it is only 11.30am (though it is now a more respectable 12.30pm by French time). Slowly, the countryside outside turns increasingly Mediterranean. Soft green grass and flat farmland becomes pale rock and mountains. Cypress and olive trees line the track and the light grows brighter.

Four hours and 40 minutes after leaving London, the train slows to a stop at France's food capital, Lyon, before travelling on to the medieval city of Avignon. And finally, at 2.46pm - six hours and 27 minutes after setting out - we roll into Marseille, where it rains for only 25 days out of the year and the beaches are a bus ride away.

In truth, after hours spent looking out of a window at beautiful French countryside, arriving in Marseille is something of a shock. Long regarded as a raw, working-class city, the route from Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles to the old-town district of Le Panier makes it clear that this was a place created for work, not tourism. It is warm, of course, and for a Londoner that's almost worth the price of a train ticket alone, and the fruits of the city's recent role as a European Capital of Culture in 2013 and the €7bn Euromediterranee regeneration project become increasingly apparent once you reach the water.

Investment along the port has created a startling number of new landmarks designed by some of the world's most renowned architects. Best is the Museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM), a black box housing a new museum that has been linked to an old fort by a slim bridge. Local architect Rudy Ricciotti has made a latticework screen of concrete that hangs over the building, covering walkways and open spaces so that you can stand beneath its shade and look out at the yachts and ferries crossing the harbour.

Beside MuCEM is the Villa Mediterranee, with its upper deck jutting forwards like the ferries that sit close by, and along the port is Norman Foster's mirrored Ombriere, a sunshade that reflects water and boats on its ceiling.

The city's old charms still stand. A clean-up has encouraged a flourishing of cafes, galleries and bars and the Provence countryside is a short journey away. But architecture is the star of the new Marseille; that and the fact that you can leave your umbrella on the train.

Elaine Moore was a guest of Eurostar (eurostar.com). Direct trains run up to five days per week from London St Pancras to Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles and take six hours, 27 minutes. A standard class, return ticket costs from £97

Photographs: Robert Harding; Getty

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